Meet Alex Haney | Filmmaker, Music Video Director & Animator

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

Hi Alex, what do you attribute your success to?
I think the most important “success” factor to aspire towards for me is to BE UNDENIABLE and be a limited resource. Learn absolutely everything and be able to focus on only one thing at a time. The more you learn, the calmer, quicker and more efficient you are in any task, to me that’s what leads to lasting success because it can’t be taken away. I recently opened a small cinema camera rental company (www.cinderentalsnyc.com) and I’m starting a production company this year. I’ve worked in production most of my life and I’m still learning things and keeping up with technology and indie film culture on a regular basis.

Be good to your small business neighbors and just be really really really good at what you do and do that some more. Quality over abundance is important because we’re losing it everywhere in every industry. That’s my sword and I’m falling on it…

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am an independent filmmaker always seeking more funding or more independence. The two can collide, sometimes catastrophically but when you find the right balance, entertainment or maybe even art can be a direct result. So I kind of live in that space between always finishing something and needing more funding for the next one.

I find comfort in taking time to break down and analyze stories, scenes, and dialog. I think it’s how I’ve learned to understand the world around me a lot better. I wish I could slow down time and edit most of my real life interactions, I think a lot of people feel that way, so filmmaking, kind of like dreaming, is my way of examining life from a safe enough distance and training for the real thing.

I like stories that highlight duality and evade certainty or premature judgement, they’re healing in a way. I like to create a battle in the audiences mind between dark and light and I don’t want you to pick a side (yet). Somehow not forcing a clear moral line is just more satisfying if all the parts of the story fit together. In the end I think there’s a much greater truth there.

I recently released a short film that had been collecting dust as footage on a hard drive for a long time. The film, “Broker” is in festivals now and I think it shows promise of a good run. This film was a leap into something new and exciting for me. It’s a very human story about connection and accountability and although it took many years to develop and a low budget at that, I felt (in 2026) it contains themes that stand the test of time. I chose black and white as an element of the film to emphasize the character relationships through staging and framing and to highlight Paul’s Journey from darkness into light.

I also have a short sci-fi film “Confessions of a Paralyzed Robot” starring, Orange County Magician, Richard Ribuffo. It’s more of a visual poem or a fable in the philosophical vein of Phillip K. Dick, questioning the nature of consciousness all wrapped up in themes of loneliness and confinement. We are submitting that to a few niche sci-fi, art-film festivals throughout the next year.

Having live audiences view my work is never to be taken for granted and I truly appreciate the festival market carving out a space for people like me. At the moment I am screening two short films and an animated music video all within a week and my wife, director, Lu Bellini also has a short film and an award winning short screenplay circulating and killing it all over the country. All of our screenings are updated on my instagram and website.

My next release will be a feature film I’ve been working on for ten years. “McGregor’s Medal” is a dark comedy about a former world class athlete realizing life after competitive sports is even more cut-throat at home when you have the wrong kind of friends. I wrote it during the first trump administration after thinking about the obvious traps and pitfalls of an egregiously competitive, hyper-masculine agenda… at any scale. We are crossing our fingers for a 2026 release to festivals and will be seeking distribution.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
In Los Angeles you have to spend at least one day just driving around. Get out at Santa Monica pier and walk around, take pictures of the always perfect sky and the mountains from every angle. Food wise, In n Out burger is a must, really good Oaxacan style tacos at Tacos Manzano in Burbank… All About the Bread in W Hollywood for sandwiches, Pinks hot dogs right around the corner if your more inclined… I would also take you to record stores just to hang out. So many cool ones in LA and they appreciate the business, if you don’t collect records you might find a t-shirt or something with a band you haven’t thought about since high school prom. There’s also the strip on Magnolia blvd with all the cool vintage and old Hollywood shops like Blast from the Past. OMG this is gonna be so much fun, when are you coming?

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want to shoutout to a friend that passed away recently. Anthony Maddox was an unwavering pillar of support and education in the sub-genre of music documentary filmmaking. I worked with him since the early 2000s and most recently on a doc about Kool & the Gang. Part of our daily business would be to talk on the phone for hours at a time dissecting and constructing stories about music, culture, life, and storytelling itself. Anthony touched a lot of ground in his life and career, a notable rock and hip/hop documentary producer and director, owner of the Soul Train brand, true friend to many and he always had the time to dedicate to make something a little better, including friendship. I’ll miss him and the world will miss whatever he would’ve done next.

Website: https://www.haneyfilms.com

Instagram: @Alex_haney_films

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Haney_Films

Other: https://www.cinderentalsnyc.com

Image Credits
James O’Connor