Michaels is best known as an Art Director for Troma Entertainment as well as directing and producing his own documentaries, Vampira: The Movie and The Wild World of Ted V. Mikels.

[citation needed] In 2015, Michaels began hosting a radio show on Universal Broadcasting Network called "Friend or Foe", where guests included Weird Al Yankovic and others.

The film featured testimonials by Sid Haig, Julie Strain, Kevin Eastman, Forrest Ackerman, Debbie Rochon, John Zacherle, Lloyd Kaufman, Bill Moseley, Cassandra Peterson, Jami Deadly, Jerry Only and horror historian David J. Skal.

Premiering in October 2006, Vampira: The Movie was released on DVD in September 2007 by Alpha Video, and won a Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Award in 2008 for Best Independent Production.

Michaels produced a documentary starring David Lynch called Beyond The Noise: My Transcendental Meditation Journey, by young film student Dana Farley, who has severe dyslexia and attention deficit disorder.