Having grown up in St. Joseph, Professor Michael Alan Herman is a Schoolcraft Theatre professor. Before his arrival to Schoolcraft, Michael Herman had graduated from the University of Southern California in 2016. Professor Herman has taught at Schoolcraft for three years and has been influencing his students’ acting performances and skills ever since.
This is one of the many reasons why Herman is a theater professor: to bring his skill sets to his students and watch them grow successful. Outside of teaching, he has many talents as a podcaster, writer, and actor.
Indeed, he was recognized by the Webby Awards, awarding him the “Best Fiction Podcast” in his ‘THE CALL OF THE VOID” podcast. The series is centered around one of the hurricanes in New Orleans, an experience Herman and his wife had experienced together during a trip. It is not only recognized by the Webby Awards on his project, but recognized by fans alike. Many have “THE CALL OF THE VOID” tattoos, some have even written fanfiction based on his work! Nonetheless, the podcast has amassed over 1.5 million downloads.
Herman has also written for Spotify, including dozens of non-fiction podcast episodes for the Parcast Network within Spotify. To this day, Herman says it is his favorite piece he has accomplished.
On the writing end, Herman co-wrote a thriller movie, “The Mad Whale,” starring James Franco and Camilla Bell, among many other acting projects. The movie is available for viewing on Tubi. He has also acted in projects like “Dead Girl Summer” on Amazon Prime Video and “Chasing Hope” on Tubi. Looking in the future, Herman has many upcoming works, such as the LIMINAL podcast (out this Fall) and HOUSE OF KA (early 2026).
In the meantime, if you are a fan of plays, you can catch Herman at The Penny Seats Theater or Theater NOVA. If you would like to see the variety of projects that Michael Herman has accumulated, please see his IMDB page. Speaking of being multifaceted, Professor Herman also assists Universal Studios, YouTube, Hulu, Fangoria, and many more corporations in their endeavors. Likewise, within the world of TikTok, he has written for over a million TikTok creators.
For his career, he thanks versatile actors and writers (Donald Glover, Zendaya, Greta Gerwig, just to name a few) for giving him his inspiration into his careers. For his students, he hopes he can give students future insight into the professional theater realm. Even for those who are not familiar with writing, podcasting, or acting, he has some encouragement for Schoolcraft students. Herman believes that if you take one class that you may have even the slightest interest in, enroll in the course. You may like it, you may hate it. Regardless of the class, at least you are taking the initiative to try something you may find enjoyment in. You never know, that course could drive the path to your future.
“You can only really learn by trying it. Maybe you hate it, and it’s a great story to tell later. But to risk not trying a dream is way worse.” said Herman. When the hard days come along, Herman has managed (and encourages other students) to follow the “Just show up” advice. Times may be tough, but the opportunities only come along if you put yourself out there.
Herman works on all four (writing, acting, podcasting, and teaching) at the same time. Yet, he still shows up and gives it his all to the students here at Schoolcraft.
He may be balancing a lot, but Herman wants to watch his students grow. In the motivational words of Michael Alan Herman, “We are here to improve the world and to inspire others to improve the world.”
