Alexander Michaels

About Alexander

During my time at university, I achieved a 1st class honours undergraduate degree in Film and Television Studies. The course consisted of a mixture of critical theory and practical filmmaking modules. For my dissertation, I completed a critical analysis on representations of the father figure in Christopher Nolan’s films, specifically Batman Begins and Inception. Nolan is my favourite filmmaker due to his complex narratives and reliance on real stunts instead of CGI (wherever possible). Practical modules completed at university consisted of short films, a short animated piece, and a title sequence for a TV series. These modules were my favourite due to the hands-on nature of filmmaking, creating our screenplays into visual pieces that originated in our imaginations. For the two short films, I contributed as the cinematographer for one and the sound recordist for the other, providing me with a varied approach to filmmaking learning about the different roles. Since university, I am actively involved in the film industry in a range of ways. Since the start of 2024, I have been a volunteer reviewer for Lift-Off Global Network’s international film festivals. This role consists of reviewing submissions from aspiring filmmakers, utilising critical analysis skills developed at university to provide the filmmakers with constructive feedback on their film or screenplay in relation to direction, pacing, cinematography, and many other categories. In terms of practical work, I am part of a film club called Buzz Cinema (based in Leighton Buzzard), where we complete practical workshops to help each other learn new skills and embrace our unique creative viewpoints. When I joined, we started pre-production on a short screenplay a member of the club wanted to film. I contributed as the storyboard artist and then as a script supervisor during principal photography, as well as completed general runner duties including bringing equipment on and off set. Away from film, I have a part-time position mainly as a food and beverage assistant at English Heritage’s Wrest Park. Working in their café, I take orders from customers and communicate details of the order to my team to ensure the orders come out correctly. During events, I have operated food and drink stalls across the site, either working independently or with others. Some days where I am working, I go onto site early as the site duty manager, opening parts of the site, recording the contents of our safe on Excel spreadsheets, and writing and presenting the morning briefing to staff and volunteers. Once the site opens to the public, one of the site supervisors takes over from my role and I start working in the café. Often, the site is hired out by third-party contractors, where I have regularly helped out at these events and sometimes been the designated team leader. For example, in June 2025 we had an outdoor cinema event held by third-party contractors. Another member of staff and I were responsible for guiding the contractors and their vehicles onto site, greeting and guiding visitors on and off site, and locking the site at the end of the night. Each year we have had a film production company hire out the site for filming, with Amazon Prime and the BBC being our most recent contractors. Similarly to the outdoor cinema event, we were responsible for opening and closing parts of the site the film crew needed access to, answering any questions they had about filming limitations, and checking they were following appropriate health and safety measures. In the future, I wish to become a screenwriter and director, where currently I am writing screenplays of various durations. My feature screenplays I am going to try and give them as much coverage online as possible to reach a wider audience, while my short screenplays I hope to film to contribute to my portfolio. These screenplays take inspiration from my life and people I know, where I am inspired by traits of their personalities which I like to integrate into characters I create and then bring these fictional worlds to life.

Skills & Experience

Education