West Bloomfield man shoots first feature film in Michigan
In 1996, 12-year-old Michael B. Chait saw “The Rock” — starring Nicolas Cage and Sean Connery — which changed his life forever.
“I never knew what directing could do in terms of feel, style, emotion, storytelling, camerawork. I just instantly knew, ‘Okay, film director. That's all I'm going for,'” recalled Chait, 37, of West Bloomfield.
His other influences include directors James Cameron (“Titanic”), George Lucas (“Star Wars”), Steven Spielberg (“Jaws”), Tony Scott (“Top Gun”), Ridley Scott (“Alien”) and “everyone that made my favorite 1980s/1990s action movies.”
“I just didn't grow up on them, they really shaped my love of film — the heightened cinematic worlds they created… that kind of largerthan-life escapist feel that's packed with emotion, powerful moments, and a lot of fun — that's what I aspired to do,” said Chait, an alumnus of Andover High School (now Bloomfield Hills High School) and Columbia College in Chicago.
Earlier this month, Chait — who's directed commercials and music videos — directed and co-wrote his first full-length feature film, “Wolf Hound.” It has been released through Lionsgate to several metro Detroit area theaters and via streaming sites Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV.
“Honestly, any movie today in 2022 that's not a tentpole from Hollywood that's seen in theaters is a miracle. The fact we've been given two weeks is another miracle,” said Chait. “Hopefully, (this movie) is the first of many.”
Inspired by the German flight squadron KG 200 that shot down, repaired, and flew Allied aircraft as Trojan horses back into battle, “Wolf Hound” occurs during World War II, specifically Germany-occupied France.
“We learned about the KG 200s, (which captured) Allied aircraft and fly them back into battle… and join up with unsuspecting formations of Allied bombers. They never really got away with it,” explained Chait. “Our movie is historical fiction — What happened if they got that close to succeeding and launching a devastating attack on London? I've never seen that before in a movie. There's only legends and hints and few concrete facts — it's a very shadowy topic on purpose because I think a lot of the records were destroyed.”
The hero of “Wolf Hound” is Jewish-American fighter pilot Capt. David Holden (James Maslow, “Sequestered”). Ambushed behind enemy lines, Holden must rescue a captured B-17 Flying Fortress crew, evade Nazi soldiers and foil a plot that could completely alter the outcome of World War II.
“My family is Jewish,” said Chait. “I immediately said: ‘The hero has to be a Jewish-American fighter pilot and I'm not budging on that.' I wanted to present audiences with a strong Jewish-American hero.”
Chait got the idea for “Wolf Hound” in 2013 when filming a commercial for the Yankee Air Museum at Willow Run Airport in Ypsilanti. The museum has one of nine still flyable B-17 Flying Fortresses remaining in the world.
“I stepped onboard that plane to do a location scout,” he recalled. “As soon as I stepped on — I'm not kidding — a wave of emotion overtook me because I realized 18-20-year-old guys were standing right there 80-something years ago fighting and dying not just for our country but freedom itself to rid the world the world of the greatest evil it's ever known, which I absolutely believe is the Nazis, and — unfortunately — still are the Nazis. I immediately thought: ‘First of all, the commercial has to be great to honor them.'”
Chait also realized he had a movie.
“In spite of an independent film budget, I wanted to make something that looks and feels like a studio film,” he said. “From what I've been hearing, we succeeded — at least, most of the time. It was definitely a lower budget than you would think.”