Michael Schelp

Michael Schelp is an American writer and director, former producer of the 2008 television series Cha$e, and former executive producer of MANswers. Schelp founded the New York-based production company Spark Plug Entertainment in 2006. The company has created several mockbuster direct-to-video CGI films.

In the 1990s, Schelp was Fujisankei Communications Group's spokesperson and manager of business development. In 2007, Schelp became producer for MANswers, a project of Fujisankei Communications International. Schelp has also acted as translator for Fujisankei, both in creating English subtitles for such projects as Dragon League, and in acting as interpreter for Fujisankei food star Harumi Kurihara when she visited the United States.

While with Fujisankei, Schelp founded Spark Plug Entertainment in 2006 as a New York-based production company to produce direct-to-video CGI films that were based on films from Pixar, DreamWorks as well as other major studios.

Spark Plug Entertainment was a New York-based computer animation company founded by Michael Schelp in 2006. It is the American equivalent of Video Brinquedo, specializing in low-budget direct-to-video knock-off films, with just as much hate directed toward it. Its first film was Bug Bites: An Ant's Life, first released in 1998 originally by Sterling Entertainment Group and later re-released in 2006 as Spark Plug was established.

Criticism and Reception

Films released by Michael Schelp's Spark Plug Entertainment were universally panned by critics and viewers for their extremely poor quality. Criticism focused on the low budget animation that clearly looked unfinished, grotesque character designs, Z-Grade editing, and atrocious voice acting.

Direct-to-video

• Operation: Dalmatian - Fun With Letters (1998) (writer/director)
• Bug Bites: An Ant's Life (1998; re-released 2006) (writer/producer) (piggy-back on A Bug's Life and Antz)
• Mee Christmas (2000) (writer/director)
• A Car's Life: Sparky's Big Adventure (2006) (piggy-back on Cars)
• Spider's Web: A Pig's Tale (2006) (writer/director) (piggy-back on Charlotte's Web)
• Plan Bee (2007) (writer/director/producer) (piggy-back on Bee Movie)
• Piper Penguin and His Fantastic Flying Machines (2008) (piggy-back on Surf's Up and Happy Feet)
• Car's Life 2 (2010) (piggy-back on Cars)
• Frankie Stein (2012) (piggy-back on Frankenweenie)
• Car's Life 3: The Royal Heist (2013) (piggy-back on Cars and Cars 2)
• Car's Life 4: Junkyard Blues (2014)

TV

• Cha$e (6 episodes, 2008) (producer)
• MANswers (19 episodes, 2007–2010) (producer/executive producer)