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

Hi Dean, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
For as far back as I can remember, I have been inspired by creating something artistic or looking at the art of others. There is something appealing about embarking on a journey of exploration done purely to see where it will lead—which, essentially, is what most artistic endeavors boil down to.

In the real world, of course, you need to pay rent, and a self-indulgent flight of fantasy into writing, performance, or anything else creative needs to be anchored to a way of getting paid. That’s the hard part.

But the choice to take the journey and figure it out along the way… that’s a no-brainer.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I’m constantly juggling a variety of projects, goals, and opportunities – some small-scale, some ambitious, and some financially motivated.

Right now, I’m in post-production on my third indie film, “Symutal”, which is based on a book I wrote with the same title, (available on Amazon). I’ve also just completed shooting the Alien TV series with FX, as an actor. These have been my primary focus recently.

Additionally, I’m working on securing funding for a few scripts I’ve written, and other in-development projects. One key lesson I’ve learned in a creative lifestyle is the importance of pushing forward on projects, especially artistic ones, without waiting for inspiration to strike. Balancing creativity with discipline is crucial, as it’s easy to get stuck if you’re not pro-active. It’s essential to mix wild creative pursuits with steady opportunities that help keep things afloat.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I live in Bangkok, which is a collision of several different worlds all wrapped up in a single city. As a film maker it is a magical place to shoot, and find inspiration in.

One of the most beautiful things here is the contrast between a futuristic Blade Runner / Neo Tokyo-esque city, and the decay of old Chinatown streets. You have the old and the new – the soulless high-rise megalopolis intermingled with the charm and character of a thousand street food stands.

If someone was here for a week, I would wait the first five days for them to go to all the places they have heard about – the temples, the beaches, the stuff in every online guide to Thailand. Then, in the remaining two days I would take them to the unfound, unexplored parts of the city that you can only glimpse by spending years scouting potential film locations.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My shoutout of support has to go to my mum. Mums, unlike dads, seem to be much better at saying things like “Do what makes you happy!”

When my dad passed away (around the time I finished high school), I took this suggestion to heart and decided to embark on a journey of creativity that I felt I had no right to take – I wanted to make films.

All my training and schooling up to this point had been based around a future career in computers and technology. I had literally no contacts, experience, or know-how in anything related to film or entertainment. But when the fork in the road appeared, I chose the path of art rather than business and career security.

An additional shoutout would be to Jackie Chan, or Philip K. Dick for sowing the seeds of inspiration in me through their unbridled insanity.

Website: https://deanalexandrou.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/deanalexandrou

Other: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1525674/
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1739978706

Image Credits
Josh Sullivan,
Theo Chalmers

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutLA is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.