Meet Alex Merkin: Writer and Director

We had the good fortune of connecting with Alex Merkin and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Alex, what role has risk played in your life or career?
I think many people would agree that taking risks is a crucial ingredient in advancing their careers or distinguishing themselves among their colleagues and I’ve personally found this to be the case in my life and career. For me the risks can vary greatly from micro decisions I’m making daily hundreds of times on a set to major decisions like even taking on a film that has the cards stacked against it from a budgetary standpoint in the first place. But I’ve always believed that taking risks is as much about learning from my mistakes and growing from the inevitable failures that come with some of those risks as it is about reaping the benefits. I personally don’t feel you’re truly taking risks if you’re not making some mistakes or failing on some level along the way. There are a lot of situations where playing things safe won’t allow you the opportunities to achieve what you set out to, but fear of failing can freeze and inhibit your ability to make those risky (and necessary) decisions. I found that it was critical for me to embrace the possibility of failure as a necessary part of succeeding in order to be able to fully commit to the difficult and often risky decisions I felt I had to make. I believe you have to push your boundaries and test yourself in unfamiliar circumstances, and to do that you have to overcome your fears by embracing whatever the outcome might be. At worst, it can be a major opportunity to learn and grow and at best, it might be the opportunity to accomplish something new in your career.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I’m a filmmaker. I write, direct and edit, but I’m a director first and foremost. If there’s one aspect of my directing that sets me apart, I guess I’d say it’s the way I connect with and work with my actors. Or at least that’s what I’ve been most consistently told by the people I work with. I do my best to create the safest and most comfortable environments for the actors I’m working with to be creative and take risks and I think it’s an incredibly rewarding process when everything comes together.

I began studying filmmaking in high school and continued through college and shortly after graduating I used some of my student film work to help secure a position as the head of production at a young multimedia production company in New York City. But I left there shortly after to start my own company in the city called Fivelion Productions where we focused on commercials, music videos and visual effects as well as graphic design. My goal was to be able to start working professionally in production as soon as possible while continuing to learn as much as I could and then eventually attempt to transition into feature films. So, after directing a number of commercials and music videos I began to focus on creating a short film that I’d be able to use as a stepping stone towards directing features.

In 2005 my company brought the project I had been developing to First Look Studios and pitched the opportunity to make what we envisioned as a high concept branded short film called Across the Hall, hoping to find a cell phone company to sponsor us as the devices played a significant role in our story. Samsung agreed to sponsor us with Jon Kilik (Hunger Games, Babel, Inside Man) executive producing and Adrian Grenier (Entourage) starring. We were given the opportunity to build our sets on stages in Brooklyn and shoot the film on 35mm. First Look Studios and Samsung premiered the film in New York and Los Angeles and used it to promote Samsung’s new video phones.

The film would go on to win over 25 awards at festivals around the country and receive a number of offers from various producers to be adapted into a feature film. We eventually accepted one of those offers and in 2008 we went into production on the feature length version of Across the Hall, starring Mike Vogel, Brittany Murphy and Danny Pino. We built our sets on the iconic stage 28 at Universal Studios where some of my all time favorite movies had been filmed (Psycho, The Birds, Jurassic Park, among others). Jeff Bowler, Stephen Fromkin, Marco Garibaldi and Ari Palitz produced the film which was executive produced by Elton Brand, Evan Ferrante and Gary Gimelfarb, the latter two being my original producing partners from Fivelion Productions.

That same film has been adapted around the world in multiple film and theater productions. I’ve since had the great fortune of directing nine feature films, over 40 TV episodes and countless award-winning short films, music videos and commercials. I’ve had the good fortune and opportunity to work with a number of legends and some of my all time favorite actors. Most recently a film I directed, No Escape Room, enjoyed an extended run in the top 3 movies on Netflix. It’s been an incredible journey so far and I consider myself extremely lucky to be able to do what I do every day.

It was definitely not easy. I’ve made a lot of mistakes and I’ve learned a lot a long the way. I’d say one of the biggest lessons I learned was to never be precious about any aspects of a film. It’s very easy to fall in love with a scene or the idea of a scene and not be able to adapt when the circumstances in bringing that vision to life won’t allow you to execute that vision. If you’re stuck on it you can lose sight very easily. No scene or aspect of a scene should be able to sink your film by being cut or reworked. As filmmakers we often fall in love with sequences that we feel define us as artists, and that can be a very difficult thing to let go of. But we have to be able to balance our creative energy throughout the entire process and resist the urge to channel too much of it at one time into these moments that become our creative babies. Far too often those scenes are beautiful on their own and in isolation but throw off the balance of our projects and become the first ones to have to go in the editing process which is always a heartbreaking experience, especially after all the energy that’s gone into envisioning, filming and editing these scenes. It’s a common piece of advice but its true: kill your darlings.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Well, I’d probably be a very boring host because I really just love to work and spend time in nature when I’m not working. I go for a lot of hikes and would definitely bring them to one of my favorites like the rainforest trail near Fryman Canyon or one of the amazing trails in the Angeles National Forest, like Millard Canyon or Switzer Falls among others. If we had more time I’d take them towards Joshua Tree or up north towards the Sequoias or Sierra National Forest. We’d definitely eat at one of my favorite sushi restaurants, possibly Little Izaka-Ya (by Katsu-Ya) or Chiba’s or Katsunori or Sushi Zo. Breakfast there are just too many options but I love Blu Jam. Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
There are a lot of people in the industry I owe a great deal to for their support, but I’m going to take this opportunity to shoutout my first film teacher in high school, Jim Zulakis, who was an absolute mentor to me. Jim was one of the most influential and supportive figures for me while I was discovering my passion for filmmaking. He went out of his way to encourage and guide me and allow me access to the school’s video making and editing equipment so I could really explore the medium. I know for a fact that because of Jim my interest in cinema was able to evolve from a hobby to a passion and I will forever be indebted to him.

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Image Credits
Alexandru Dinca, Tyler Rousseau, Arlyn Stotts, Kristian Dane Lawing, Jon Russell Cring