Michael Arthur Krauss is a television producer, a packager, and a radio interviewer. He is also an experienced company president having headed numerous companies including Michael Krauss Productions, Make It Happen Entertainment and Broadcasting, and Group M Productions. He is also a very experienced jazz drummer. He was born in Detroit, Michigan. He is the four-time winner of the ACE Award in 1985 for his work as a creator and executive producer of Mother's Day. As a television producer he helped to develop and produce many shows including Good Morning America, The Mike Douglas Show, Mother's Day, Mother's Minutes, and Everyday.
Career
Michael's first show was created as part of his graduation project for Wayne State University and was called Youth Must Know. It eventually aired on PBS although it wasn't required to air as part of the graduation project. Krauss went on to co-create and produce the Morning Show in Detroit. After the Morning Show he produced The Other Side of the Stars before producing The Mike Douglas Show, where he convinced John Lennon and Yoko Ono to cohost for 5 shows. Booking John and Yoko was a momentous occasion and took the 14th spot on VH1's list of "100 Greatest Rock & Roll Moments on TV". He is now working on a coffee table book to release about the shows with John Lennon. After the Mike Douglas Show, Krauss went on to produce for Good Morning America where he was nominated for two Emmys including one for "Producer, Best Daytime Show." After Good Morning America he went on to create and produce Mother's Day with Joan Lunden where he won an ACE Award for Best Show in 1984. Mother's Day was also awarded the Parent's Choice Award. Day ran for a total of 8 years on the Lifetime channel. After Mother's Day he created and executive produced the spin-off Mother's Minutes. "Minutes" were quick segments about taking care of children hosted by Joan Lunden. Joan and Michael released a home video called Your Newborn Baby: Everything You Need to Know. This video was called "one of the best instructional home-video programs ever produced" by TV Guide. The critical and commercial success of the home video lead to a book version as well. Krauss went on to produce many other shows but ended up collapsing his company, Michael Krauss Productions, in order to help raise his 3 daughters. In the past few years he started to bring the company back with a radio program called Great American Secrets, a segment on the Stu Taylor Show. He currently has offices in Cos Cob, Connecticut where he heads the company "Make It Happen Broadcasting," working in part with Vanessa Miller. Krauss is also an experienced author having written two books in conjunction with Mother's Day. He also wrote a nationally syndicated newspaper column called "Parents Talk" that was available in 88 different newspapers. "Parents Talk" was a column that was released in a stripping fashion.
Jazz drumming
Michael Krauss has been drumming for most of his life, having first picked up the drum sticks at age 7. His first major band was the Four Counts, a group with his high school friends from Mumford High in Detroit. After the Four Counts ended Krauss continued to play the drums and ended up sitting in with such stars as The Buddy Rich Big Band, Harry Connick Jr., Grover Washington Jr., and The Gene Krupa Band. He also played with Stevie Wonder while in Detroit. He led his own 15 piece group at the Blue Note in Greenwich Village.
