Filmmaker of the Week – Alex Alessi

Episode 41 of Filmmaker of the Week featuring Alex Alessi!

Give us a brief introduction of yourself, where you’re from originally and where you are now if different

I’m Alex Alessi, I was born in Edison, NJ and moved to a town called Millstone, NJ when I was 5 and I’ve lived around there ever since.

What is it that first got you into the world of filmmaking?

I was attending college for graphic design and I decided to take an acting class. I rediscovered a love for acting I had when I was younger and from there, I ended up making friends in the student film community and started to perform in student films. I bounced around as an actor in short films and a few features before I decided to write my own scripts and create my own projects to give me more opportunities to act. Through all the time acting, I forged relationships with filmmakers and I learned a great deal about directing, writing and editing films, and now I feel comfortable calling myself a filmmaker as well.

Share a little bit about your specialty in the film world

As an actor and filmmaker, I’ve discovered that I have many avenues to work in film. I have been a performer, writer, director and editor in several different projects with a lot of talented collaborators. I think I’ve learned that there is a certain rhythm in telling stories that just clicks with me, and as a drummer for many years I think when I can just find that rhythm in the edit, or scene I’m performing or writing, that’s when I really shine through as a filmmaker.

 What has been your most challenging project to date?

I feel like the next project is always the challenge, because tackling that new thing or finding the way to actually make it happen can be almost overwhelming, but to date the biggest challenge has been ‘When Everything’s Gone’. It took a lot of years to get it released and I had to wear a lot of hats. There were definitely struggles early, including me not wanting to direct at first, but I took on each and every obstacle and each solution helped me grow as a filmmaker. I learned a ton about vfx, cinematography, sound design, and storytelling in general.

Tell us a bit about your latest project.

I’m currently trying to get a series produced called ‘ Life in Waiting’, it tells the story of restaurant employees in a fun mockumentary format, and it shows not just their lives in the restaurant, but also explores the lives they’re working towards having outside of it. The whole idea is to shine a light on the people in the service industry firstly, to show that they’re people with hopes and dreams that just have to serve you that burger to make ends meet, but it’s also a meta commentary on reality tv and notion of following normal people with cameras for our entertainment. The pilot is on YouTube right now, but we are definitely hoping that can be something that we get to work on soon.

What is one moment you’ve had in any part of the filmmaking process where you learned a really valuable lesson?

There are so many lessons to learn with every project, make sure the boom operator is close enough, make sure your shots are planned right for any given scene, always get more b-roll than you think you’ll need, I mean the list can be endless. However, I think the most valuable lesson I’ve learned throughout everything is to always be open to your team’s ideas. Every person on your set should be there because you trust them in their role, so learning from them and taking notes from their ideas will always help you grow as a filmmaker and every idea, good or bad, will guide you to the best movie possible.

What are some of the 5-year goals for you as a filmmaker/creative?

The number 1 has to be being a working filmmaker, being hired to direct a feature or series, and being paid for it. Alot of the time as an indie filmmaker you’re putting your finances on the line and you’re putting it all out there for your story while working a 9-5. Being able to do that with a budget and a salary would truly be the best thing to happen. Regardless of that goal 2 is to make another feature with my team from ‘When Everything’s Gone’, we’ve all stayed close and helped on each others projects, but I think we’re all excited to dive into a new feature length story together. A third thing for me is to be paid to work on other filmmakers projects, I’m currently editing a documentary and might have a short film coming into my editing bay soon as well, and the more I can do as an editor, actor or even director for other filmmakers projects, the more I can start to develop my own. I think at the end of the day as a filmmaker you want to tell stories, so if you can do that and make a living that is the ultimate goal to have.

If you could work with one idol of yours, who would it be?

I think if I had to pick one of my idols to work with in any regard in the film industry; I think I have to choose Steven Spielberg. He is a legend, and he continues to redefine filmmaking over and over again. There is a treasure trove to learn from a filmmaker like him, whether it would be acting for him, writing with him, editing his films or even just being a PA on one of his sets, the years of knowledge he has would really be a valuable thing to gain. As we worked on the post production for ‘When Everything’s Gone’ I watched the documentary on HBO about him, and I was so inspired by how he solved problems on every film, especially ‘Jaws’, what a nightmare of a production, but he found a way to make it all work and now it is one of the best films of all time.

Name three films that have inspired you most in your journey.

The first film I have to admit to inspire me on my journey was Tim Burton’s ‘Batman’, as a small child seeing that film on TV, that’s when I found my love for acting. I had a comic book adaptation of the movie and I knew every line. I wanted to be Batman, I wanted to do the walk, the “Bat turn”, I loved the idea of becoming a character and from there I was always copying lines from films and dressing up as my favorite characters for Halloween, playing them before and after trick or treating. Another inspiration of mine was discovering ‘Bottle Rocket’ by Wes Anderson. Learning he and Owen Wilson had met in college, created a short film and turned all of that into two great film careers despite the first feature not doing well, it doesn’t get much more inspiring than that. I learned that if you just put your story out there and find the right people to believe in you that you can really create an amazing career and you get to do it with your best friends sometimes. The last inspiration for me has to be a filmmaker like Kevin Smith. The story of ‘Clerks’ is such an great inspiration to all indie filmmakers. Every thing about that movie getting made is in the playbook of no budget filmmaking (maybe don’t max out a bunch of credit cards). He had a location, he had a script, and he didn’t wait for permission to try and make it happen. Even when he was established and made ‘Chasing Amy’, he chose to make his film with the people he wanted for a fraction of the budget, he could have had if he went with what the studio wanted. Regardless of the films he makes and how you may feel about him, that kind of story about the small indie filmmaker from New Jersey definitely hits home even now.

Where can folks find out more about you online?

You can find me at www.alexalessi.com or on Instagram @alexalessi, and you can find my film When Everything’s Gone at www.wheneverythingsgone.com and it’s available to buy or rent on Amazon Prime Video or iTunes.

Any last thoughts or pieces of advice to filmmakers out there?

Don’t be afraid to share your stories. If you think it’s too expensive to make or you can’t afford to take the time to produce a full feature, create a short based on that film and put that out there. You never know who might see what you’ve made and where it might take you.

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