Alkemy X has added director Alexander Maxwell to its roster for U.S. commercial representation. As a founding member of The Mill’s live-action offering, Maxwell spent over a decade with the creative studio, evolving to become a go-to director at the studio for performance-driven storytelling, with his natural curiosity sparking authentic performances in actors and real people across his entire reel of work.
Maxwell’s background includes NYU’s Film program, then a move to the commercial production space while continuing to hone his creative aesthetic with indie film projects on the side. Among his credits are lifestyle content for the likes of IKEA, AT&T and Sleep Number, comedy for Progressive and Hot Pockets, and high-end brand work for American Express, Lexus and Verizon. In his personal work, Maxwell focuses on the central narrative of human aspiration, honor and integrity, and hubris. He is fascinated by the role environments–both natural and industrial–play in the human search for self-knowledge, and his cinematic universe is characterized by a surreally elevated, dreamlike quality.
Alkemy X EP Nick Pitcavage said, “Alex is the type of director that transcends a category. Sure, he has car work in his reel, he’s got transition work, great storytelling, lifestyle and visual effects integration work. But those categories don’t define him. He’s one of those filmmakers who overdelivers in whatever category he’s challenged with. He has a careful approach to each new piece of creative that he sees, which results in a story that you can’t look away from. We see many opportunities for him to direct multidisciplinary pieces of creative and continue his involvement into the postproduction side when it’s appropriate to do so. Alex expands our roster and our brand further into what boundary-pushing, integrated production looks like,”
Maxwell added, “The collaborative and creative culture that has been established at Alkemy X is something that really excites me. It’s the perfect fit for my style of directing. Here I have the ability to use any of the tools within our industry to advance the stories I want to tell.”
Born and raised in California to Argentinian parents, Maxwell is fluent in Spanish. He has stewarded may projects from ideation through directorial output and delivery. Outside of commercials, Maxwell’s independent films explore his propensity for exploration beyond his own environment, with shorts earning him numerous accolades, celebration on the film festival circuit, and amassing millions of views online. He is currently finishing development of a feature script based on his narrative short “Yellow,” which earned the Best Short Film award at the New York City International Film Festival and screened at Cannes.
First-Time Feature Directors Make Major Splash At AFI Fest, Generate Oscar Buzz
Two first-time feature directors who are generating Oscar buzz this awards season were front and center this past weekend at AFI Fest in Hollywood. Rachel Morrison, who made history as the first woman nominated for a Best Cinematography Oscar---on the strength of Mudbound in 2018--brought her feature directorial debut, The Fire Inside (Amazon MGM Studios), to the festival on Sunday (10/27), and shared insights into the film during a conversation session immediately following the screening. This came a day after William Goldenberg, an Oscar-winning editor for Argo in 2013, had his initial foray into feature directing, Unstoppable (Amazon MGM Studios), showcased at the AFI proceedings. He too spoke after the screening during a panel discussion. The Fire Inside--which made its world premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival--tells the story of Claressa “T-Rex” Shields (portrayed by Ryan Destiny), a Black boxer from Flint, Mich., who trained to become the first woman in U.S. history to win an Olympic Gold Medal in the sport. She achieved this feat--with the help of coach Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry)--only to find that her victory at the Summer Games came with relatively little fanfare and no endorsement deals. So much for the hope that the historic accomplishment would be a ticket out of socioeconomic purgatory for Shields and her family. It seemed like yet another setback in a cycle of adversity throughout Shields’ life but she persevered, going on to win her second Gold Medal at the next Olympics and becoming a champion for gender equality and equitable pay for women in sports. Shields has served as a source of inspiration for woman athletes worldwide--as well as to the community of... Read More