The Chicago native landed his first producing gig on the NBC series Midnight Caller starring Gary Cole. He next served as a producer Co-Producer of the acclaimed NBC series Reasonable Doubts, a one hour drama starring Mark Harmon as a cop bounced off his beat and thrown into a turbulent relationship with a deputy district attorney (Academy Award winner Marlee Matlin), who, although deaf, had a gift for hearing the truth.
For three seasons beginning in 1993, Michaels was Co-Producer of the ABC series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. The hit show showcased the talents of Dean Cain and Teri Hatcher as the title characters. He also Co-Produced Nick's Game, a one-hour drama pilot for CBS starring Richard Grieco as an ex-con who, upon release from jail, inherits a bar, a penthouse, and a savings account all in South Beach, Miami.
Some of Michaels' other producing credits include Charlie Grace, a one-hour ABC detective drama starring Mark Harmon as a private detective raising a 12-year daughter (LeeLee Sobieski) on his own in Los Angeles. Michaels also produced Escape From Atlantis, a two-hour cable movie for Starz/Encore and Cutty Whitman, a drama pilot for CBS starring James Remar as a bounty Hunter.
Jim's next project was the CBS series, Turks, starring William Devane that followed the home lives of two generations of Chicago policemen. Next up was the Mondo Picasso pilot for FOX followed by Cover Me: Based on the True Life of an FBI Family series for the USA Network. Michaels subsequently produced The Guardian pilot for CBS, the Odyssey 5 series for Showtime followed by Dr. Vegas for CBS.
Jim produced the new Golden Globe nominated Chris Rock inspired series Everybody Hates Chris. This Show has set the record for highest rated comedy ever to air on the UPN network. The show moved to the CW network where it was the only television series to film all 22 episodes before the WGA strike of 2007.
With the canceling of Everybody Hates Chris after 88 episodes, Jim is currently Producing Supernatural for Warner Bros. Television that also airs on the CW network.
Jim has been a featured Keynote speaker all over the United States for various organizations including the AFCI and sits on the FILM USA committee for the Producer's Guild of America. He has also guest lectured at many Universities including UCLA, Academy of Art University and NYU.
He has produced projects that have filmed in 9 different US States and 2 Canadian provinces. Illinois, Hawaii, California, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Nevada, Oklahoma, Florida, Ontario, British Columbia and Utah.
Jim graduated from the University of Evansville in Evansville, Indiana.