Relatable Comedy: Alexander Engel
As a director, writer, and performer, SHIFT Creative Fund winner Alexander Engel thrives on playing with a variety of themes and tones. After joining his high school’s film community and diving into films that used impressive symbolism, Alexander quickly co-directed a feature with a fellow classmate and fell in love with the filmmaking process before going on to NYU for his film degree.
“When I was a kid, I loved watching movies with my dad. He made each film seem more important in the world than it actually was by saying things like ‘This is the famous scene where such and such happens’. Movies just seemed so big, it planted the seed that I wanted to be part of them,” Alexander said, laughing at what sparked his love for the industry. “After making all these different works in high school and at NYU, I knew this was the career path that I wanted. I’m proud of pieces like my introduction video because only I worked on it.”
As Alexander has voraciously tackled his career, one genre always draws him: Comedy.
“I don’t often start a project by thinking ‘This is going to be funny.’ I just start writing the story and my brain leans into the comedy scenarios, although it is important as a writer to estimate the tone of the project you’re setting out to write. I have interest in a lot of styles and genres because I write what I want to watch and impressive films are inevitably going to influence whatever I’m working on, but I love comedy because it’s always something relatable — it’s just about understanding humans and situations.”
Alexander strongly taps into that philosophy for his short film Statistically Speaking, currently casting through HC&F and set to film in June.
“The idea started back in November or December when I had a lot of downtime with the pandemic. That old ‘Marry the person most likely to murder you’ statistic is true and funny. When we were knee-deep in the pandemic, I wrote on a variety of projects, but I saw more and more statistics on COVID and how cities were dealing with it, which kept numbers in the forefront of my mind. I also kept hearing about couples being stuck with each other and how it brought them closer together or how they drove each other crazy and split up.”
So, throughout the winter, Alexander wrote the short, which focuses on a paranoid husband who is convinced that his wife is trying to kill him.
“There’s a fantasy element of the script, too, because this guy’s view is meant to be off. There’s this comic factor with the protagonist being crazy, but the viewer can also relate to the guy on certain levels and can see his point.”
Again, his understanding of comedy comes into play.
“Understanding audience’s reactions to human situations is big for comedy. Writing a relatable situation and thinking ‘Oh it would suck if that happened’ and then having that thing happen because it gets that same reaction from the audience.”
After filming, Alexander plans to release the short film online to get the highest response, although he is also thinking of running it through specific festivals as he enjoys having content to show as a director. However, in the immediate future, Alexander’s attention is on casting.
“Casting is crazy to me. You can write a film and have a vague idea of the characters, but you haven’t actually seen them, so casting is finding the best people for those roles. It’s terrifying but it’s exciting. I love finding someone who can be additive to the film because even if someone is a perfect writer, there are limitations as to what a writer can bring to the project. The most exciting part is finding someone who can bring something new to the characters and the overall project.”
After selecting the cast, Alexander looks forward to revisiting the script and envisioning the actors perform it.
“That helps shape a rewrite. You can change small things according to a certain actor, like a character’s energy. That’s another step toward realizing the project. Actors are the lifeblood of the film because characters don’t exist without them.”
HC&F can’t wait to see how skilled actors supply lifeblood to this film, as well as to watch Alexander’s continued growth as he is currently developing a feature and hopes to work on long form content such as features and TV. Since he understands the industry so well, HC&F has no doubt that he’ll succeed.
If you want to see Alex’s work and connect with him, feel free to check out the videos and links below:
