The Life Of A Film Marker: Alex Leu

Alex didn't just wake up and state that he wants to be have a career in film and entertainment, he remembers before he could even walk, the feeling of those positive vibrations coming from his parents' old record player. His journey through film actually started because of music. Alex's passion for music grew so deep that he became a professional musician playing in bands and orchestras around Europe and then in the United States. The final step which really connected him to film was when he started to compose music for short films and commercials. After that, Alex began to write and direct his own films. 

Although Alex makes it look effortless, he did face and had to overcome multiple challenges. "The greatest challenge for a filmmaker, and any artist, at the beginning of their career is to survive just through their art. It takes time to build an audience, your reputation in the industry, your craft.

 

Being able to stay true to your artistic identity, and not succumb to the pressures of everyday reality, is especially hard at the beginning". Alex adds "there is the question of what sets you apart in this business? The world has seen it all and unless you figure out a way to differentiate yourself from the masses. You'll simply get lost in the crowd". In 5 years Alex sees his career flourishing into bigger achievements. He says "hopefully by that time my films would have played in theaters around the world, and touched enough people in a meaningful way, to create some kind of positive lasting effect in their lives. That is my vision of success to which I am striving towards. Another goal of mine is to be able to empower the young generation with the right tools for them to be able to succeed in life and career, both in a creative and practical day to day approach". 

During his free time, Alex teaches film making at SAME TV, which is the student TV station of The City College of New York. He used to be a member before he started film making and later become president for several years. He recalls during that time, alums would mentor him and his fellow members and after graduating college, he wanted to give back as others did before him.

 

A typical job is Monday though Friday and weekends off, not in Alex's world. His week doesn't include weekends and he works as soon as he wakes up in the morning and keeps going until he falls asleep late at night. He takes pleasure in what he does and likes to work on several projects at once that having a limited amount of relax time doesn't effect him. His career keeps him on his toes because everyday is different depending on the specific needs of a current project. 

Alex has worked on numerous projects which includes, a video for the 2014 Olympics involving four hip-hop artists and the Grammy Award-winning music producer Buck 3000, but his most interesting project was "CUNY is Happy". The music video is a remake of Pharrell Williams Oscar nominated song, "Happy". CUNY is the nation's leading urban public university serving more than 480,000 students at 24 colleges and institutions in New York City. "It was a real privilege to work on a project of this magnitude, we filmed all over New York City on many college campuses and involved close to two hundred students in it's production. Under the umbrella of Pharrell Williams' beautiful song, CUNY students, faculty, and administration, united to share and express their happiness. It was beautiful to experience so much positivity and most importantly, capture it in a video so it can spread and serve as a reminder of the power of contagiousness of positivity". Alex explained. 

You can watch the video in the link below.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=7H3ApVGWh1I

To see more of Alex’s work go to www.alexleufilm.com