Mike '84 and Patrick '90 Henry: Creativity Runs in these Family Guys
Mike Henry vividly recalls the defining moment in his development as, well, a really funny guy.
“I was always the class clown,” said the 1984 Collegiate graduate, ”but I didn't always use the best judgment. Then, I had a chance to emcee the Key Club Chicken Dinner Talent Show. It was the first time I'd ever gotten up in front of a crowd and had license to just be funny.”
The annual event, presented on the Memorial Hall stage -- the home of the drama department back then -- is long defunct, but what has endured is Henry's talent. Indeed, in the years since, he's parlayed his prodigious gift into his role as a supervising producer, writer, and voice of several characters on the Emmy-nominated television show Family Guy.
This week, Mike and his brother Patrick, a 1990 graduate who's creative in his own right and is involved in several independent film projects, were on campus as guests of the Parents' Association. They told their story - one that hasn't always been filled with laughs - at the Upper School assembly Wednesday and to a gathering of parents and friends later that evening.
“I was always the class clown,” said the 1984 Collegiate graduate, ”but I didn't always use the best judgment. Then, I had a chance to emcee the Key Club Chicken Dinner Talent Show. It was the first time I'd ever gotten up in front of a crowd and had license to just be funny.”
The annual event, presented on the Memorial Hall stage -- the home of the drama department back then -- is long defunct, but what has endured is Henry's talent. Indeed, in the years since, he's parlayed his prodigious gift into his role as a supervising producer, writer, and voice of several characters on the Emmy-nominated television show Family Guy.
This week, Mike and his brother Patrick, a 1990 graduate who's creative in his own right and is involved in several independent film projects, were on campus as guests of the Parents' Association. They told their story - one that hasn't always been filled with laughs - at the Upper School assembly Wednesday and to a gathering of parents and friends later that evening.
Family Guy, to date the most visible of their endeavors, debuted on FOX in 1999. It's an animated program which, in Mike's words, is “a mishmash of pop culture references and crazy, sometimes politically incorrect, gags, all woven through the dysfunctional (Griffin) family.” The Flintstones, it ain't. “I think it's been popular,” he added, “because it tells the truth to some regard. We'll make fun of a lot of things. We'll 'go there' so to speak. We'll tell the dirty joke in a way that can be aired on network TV. We'll just do things that other shows won't do.”
Mike left Collegiate, went to Washington & Lee -- “I was a history but basically a party major” - returned to Richmond, and worked at the Martin Agency for two years. “I realized I needed to at least go be funny somewhere,” he said, “so I moved blindly to Los Angeles, did standup, waited tables, took classes at UCLA and the American Film Institute, and immersed myself in the entertainment world.”
Patrick, a three-time All-Prep League baseball player who pitched a no-hitter against Woodberry Forest his freshman year, enrolled at James Madison as an art major. “I took a couple of film classes,” he recalled, “and it was like, 'Wait a minute!' I saw a couple of Robert Altman films, and I thought, 'I can do this. This is what I want to do.'”
He transferred to the Rhode Island School of Design, triple-majored in film, video, and animation, and graduated in 1995. “When I was in school,” he continued, “I got the understanding of what it takes to make a film, from writing to the final edit. There's a creative process, definitely. It's having an eye, compositionally, for the visual frame and editing and the flow and pacing of a piece.”
While at RISD, Patrick met Seth MacFarlane, who would create Family Guy, and through that association, he and Mike joined the show's creative team.
Over the years, the Henry Brothers have worked on a myriad other successful projects both independently and collaboratively. In 1996, they created a commercial for the Texas-Wisconsin Border Café that won a Clio Award as well as top honors at the Richmond Advertising Show.
So how have they done it? Talent, of course. “Patrick is enormously gifted visually,” said their mother Barbara Sullivan Henry, a noted local portrait artist who, her bias notwithstanding, speaks the truth. “I've always known Michael was very special in his humor. He'd say things that were so hilarious that I'd stop in my tracks no matter how mad I was. “Patrick is more the artist. Michael is more verbal. They absolutely complement each other.”
Perseverance has played a role as well. “It's having faith in yourself,” said Mike. “It took me until my mid-30's before I was making a good living. That's 10 years of financial struggle and questioning and self-doubt. I can't emphasize enough how difficult a path it's been in pursuit of a creative dream.”
And passion. Definitely passion. “You really have to believe in what you're doing,” said Mike, “and make it as good as it can possibly be. It's a perfectionist type of drive that pushes you. If you don't have that passion, your work will never be as good.”
The Henry Brothers are creative geniuses. They've traveled widely. They're well known and respected in their industry. They haven't forgotten their roots, and they have a message for Collegiate's students, young men and women who walk the same hallways they walked and sit in the same classrooms.
It's not about their dream jobs. It's not even about being funny. It's about life.
“I don't think anyone who's here has any idea how lucky they are until they're exposed to other places,” Mike said. “The foundation of the honor system, just the values that are taught, as well as the high bar set in academics and the opportunities to play team sports. It's a great foundation. A character foundation. It pushes you to strive for excellence.” His brother nodded in agreement.—Weldon Bradshaw
Back
Mike left Collegiate, went to Washington & Lee -- “I was a history but basically a party major” - returned to Richmond, and worked at the Martin Agency for two years. “I realized I needed to at least go be funny somewhere,” he said, “so I moved blindly to Los Angeles, did standup, waited tables, took classes at UCLA and the American Film Institute, and immersed myself in the entertainment world.”
Patrick, a three-time All-Prep League baseball player who pitched a no-hitter against Woodberry Forest his freshman year, enrolled at James Madison as an art major. “I took a couple of film classes,” he recalled, “and it was like, 'Wait a minute!' I saw a couple of Robert Altman films, and I thought, 'I can do this. This is what I want to do.'”
He transferred to the Rhode Island School of Design, triple-majored in film, video, and animation, and graduated in 1995. “When I was in school,” he continued, “I got the understanding of what it takes to make a film, from writing to the final edit. There's a creative process, definitely. It's having an eye, compositionally, for the visual frame and editing and the flow and pacing of a piece.”
While at RISD, Patrick met Seth MacFarlane, who would create Family Guy, and through that association, he and Mike joined the show's creative team.
Over the years, the Henry Brothers have worked on a myriad other successful projects both independently and collaboratively. In 1996, they created a commercial for the Texas-Wisconsin Border Café that won a Clio Award as well as top honors at the Richmond Advertising Show.
So how have they done it? Talent, of course. “Patrick is enormously gifted visually,” said their mother Barbara Sullivan Henry, a noted local portrait artist who, her bias notwithstanding, speaks the truth. “I've always known Michael was very special in his humor. He'd say things that were so hilarious that I'd stop in my tracks no matter how mad I was. “Patrick is more the artist. Michael is more verbal. They absolutely complement each other.”
Perseverance has played a role as well. “It's having faith in yourself,” said Mike. “It took me until my mid-30's before I was making a good living. That's 10 years of financial struggle and questioning and self-doubt. I can't emphasize enough how difficult a path it's been in pursuit of a creative dream.”
And passion. Definitely passion. “You really have to believe in what you're doing,” said Mike, “and make it as good as it can possibly be. It's a perfectionist type of drive that pushes you. If you don't have that passion, your work will never be as good.”
The Henry Brothers are creative geniuses. They've traveled widely. They're well known and respected in their industry. They haven't forgotten their roots, and they have a message for Collegiate's students, young men and women who walk the same hallways they walked and sit in the same classrooms.
It's not about their dream jobs. It's not even about being funny. It's about life.
“I don't think anyone who's here has any idea how lucky they are until they're exposed to other places,” Mike said. “The foundation of the honor system, just the values that are taught, as well as the high bar set in academics and the opportunities to play team sports. It's a great foundation. A character foundation. It pushes you to strive for excellence.” His brother nodded in agreement.—Weldon Bradshaw
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