Meet Alexander Sanchez | Director

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

Hi Alexander, what are you inspired by?
My family. My parents, their parents, and so on and so forth, led very different lives than we have here in the states. A lot of chicanos have big families—somewhere down the line we’re no longer taught Spanish, and the greater family surrounding us only speaks Spanish. Meanwhile they’re secretive about their interesting lives, but when you peer into your parent’s, uncle’s, aunt’s, and grandparent’s history you discover incredible stories. These stories are the central reason I’ve pursued filmmaking.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I’m a director who recently graduated from the TV program at Cal State Northridge. I’ve recently been hired to direct my first commercial in this upcoming month—so this is the very, very beginning of this endeavor as a director. It’s very uncertain but I’m certain in my love for filmmaking. More specifically, in science fiction. It’s a genre I need to spend my life working in. I had mentioned that my biggest inspiration was my family, and the story of the chicano in America I find to be an inherently science fiction story. When you come from a place you know to be your only home and choose to leave for an entirely different land—one with a different language, culture, and economy, you choose to change your families history forever. You choose immersion in someplace alien and to survive in an entirely different ecosystem. This is a science fiction story even more so for the 2nd and 3rd generation. You’re raised very differently than you would have been in Mexico. You might not speak Spanish like your family does, and they are no different than those Egyptian hieroglyphs archaeologists work to decipher. I realize this is very dramatic, but I suppose that’s going to be my job.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If it’s super hot out we’d first try the beach in Malibu. If it’s their first time in LA you have to get all the well known stuff out of the way: The Getty, LACMA, the Griffith, you show them Hollywood boulevard and watch their disappointment. If they love movies you could show them famous movie locations throughout the city. My favorite restaurant is a Thai place called Jitlada on Sunset or Lilianas in East LA, could try those. I still haven’t been to the Comedy Store so we’d probably go there one night. I have to say you could probably find a better tour guide than me.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I truly feel that I grew tremendously as a person after I met my girlfriend Sophia Hernandez while we were both recently attending Cal State Northridge. She’s an aspiring producer and has been an invaluable part of every story and ambition I have in mind. Though I’m still at the beginning of my journey, I realize that storytelling requires more than daydreaming at your desk or peering into the interesting lives other people have led. It requires for you to find new experiences. How can you make a love story without having been in love? How can you share the lives of characters on screen with an audience if not for sharing your own with somebody special? If storytelling requires a soul, I’ve found mine in her.

Website: https://williamalexandersanchez.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/w.alexsanchez/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-s-60557512a/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBq8GysWM4I

Image Credits
Sophia Hernandez