ALEX STEYERMARK (Director/Writer):
Alex Steyermark’s feature-film directing debut, PREY FOR ROCK & ROLL (2003), had its world premiere at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival, and went on to play at dozens of US and International film festivals, including the Toronto International Film Festival, the Tribeca Film Festival, and the Santa Cruz Film Festival (where it won the award for Best Narrative Feature). The musical film stars Gina Gershon, Drea DeMatteo, Marc Blucas and Lori Petty. Critical reaction to the film was effusive: Variety praised the "dynamite cast" and Gershon's "smashing performance" and declared that "pic feels authentic from first frame to last." The Hollywood Reporter said, "Steyermark makes an assured directorial debut," while The LA Times enthused, "Steyermark gets Gershon". PREY FOR ROCK & ROLL was released theatrically in the US by MAC Releasing in Fall, 2003, and subsequently released on DVD by Lions Gate Home Entertainment.
Steyermark's second feature film, ONE LAST THING... (2006), had its world premiere at the 30th Toronto International Film Festival. The film stars Cynthia Nixon ("Sex & the City"), Michael Angarano ("Sky High", "Seabiscuit","Almost Famous"), and Sunny Mabrey ("XXX: State of the Union", "Snakes on a Plane"). Featuring a stellar supporting cast that includes Ethan Hawke, Gina Gershon and Wyclef Jean, and written by Barry Stringfellow, the film was also an official selection at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival, before its commercial release in May, 2006. ONE LAST THING... was praised by Rex Reed in The New York Observer for its "accomplished direction. Steyermark elicits subtle, expertly modulated performances from a terrific cast." Additional critical praise included, among others, Luke Y. Thompson The Village Voice: "Steyermark gets great performances"; Mick LaSalle San Francisco Chronicle: "The across-the-board strong performances indicate a sure directorial hand"; Jeffrey Lyons NBC: "Intelligently directed... tender and touching"; John Anderson New York Newsday: "Propelled by Angarano's funny nuanced performance, One Last Thing is a rarified form of magical realism"; Jim Svejda CBS Radio: "Moving, funny, startlingly original. One of the year's first great surprises and clearly one of its best films." Produced by Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner's HDNet Films, the film was released in theaters and on DVD during May, 2006 via HDNet Films/Magnolia Pictures day-and-date strategy.
Steyermark recently completed his third feature film, LOSERS TAKE ALL. Produced by Andrew Pope, Winn Coslick, and Mike S. Ryan (from a screenplay by Pope and Coslick), the rock and roll comedy is a love letter to 80's indie rock, and features a stellar ensemble cast including Kyle Gallner, Aaron Himelstein, Billy Kay, Peter Brensinger, Adam Herschman, Allison Scagliotti, Alexia Rasmussen, and Tania Raymonde.
Steyermark recently wrote the screenplay adaptation of the novel IDORU by NY Times Best-selling science fiction writer William Gibson. He has also written and directed several award-winning short films and music videos, and also recently completed a feature-length screenplay, REAGAN YOUTH, based on the true story of seminal New York punk band, Reagan Youth.
Steyermark started his filmmaking career as a documentary cameraman and editor, before segueing to feature film picture and music editing. Prior to directing PREY FOR ROCK & ROLL, Steyermark distinguished himself as a film music supervisor and music producer, working with a wide array of recording artists (including David Bowie, Public Enemy, Michael Jackson, Dave Grohl, and many, many more) on films by such directors as Spike Lee (Malcolm X, Crooklyn, Clockers, Girl 6, Four Little Girls, Get On The Bus, He Got Game, Summer of Sam, Original Kings of Comedy, Bamboozled), Ang Lee (The Ice Storm and Ride with the Devil), Barry Sonnenfeld (For Love or Money), Jim Sheridan (The Boxer), Robert Rodriguez (The Faculty), Victor Nunez (Ulee's Gold), Bob Giraldi (Dinner Rush), Jim Gillespie (I Know What You Did Last Summer), Nick Hytner (The Object of My Affection), Jonathan Demme (Subway Stories), Mira Nair (Hysterical Blindness), Paul Schrader (Touch and Light Sleeper), and James Lapine (Impromptu), as well as on the acclaimed rock musical film Hedwig and the Angry Inch, among many others.
Steyermark is also an adjunct professor in the Graduate Film Program at Columbia University’s School of
the Arts, where he is the founder of the ASCAP/Columbia Film Scoring Workshop.