Alex Turner (born 1971) is an American film director, producer and screenwriter, best known for his work in the horror film genre, including the film '' Dead Birds''.

Biography

Turner was born and raised in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, New York. He made his first film with a home movie camera given to him by his father, photographer Pete Turner when he was nine years old on Super 8mm. After graduating from the film program at

SUNY Purchase The State University of New York at Purchase, commonly referred to as Purchase College or SUNY Purchase, is a Public college, public Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Purchase, New York. Established in 1967 by G ...

, Turner moved to Los Angeles and worked on commercials and as a production assistant on low budget horror films, such as

Anthony Hickox Anthony Hickox (30 January 1959 – October 2023) was an English film director, producer, actor, and screenwriter. Hickox was best known for his work in the horror genre, with films like '' Waxwork'' and its sequel, '' Waxwork II: Lost in Ti ...

's '' Warlock: The Armageddon''. Alex's short film ''Chuck'' screened in over thirty film festivals. It was featured on the Sci-Fi Channel, and won the

Rod Serling Rodman Edward Serling (December 25, 1924 – June 28, 1975) was an American screenwriter and television producer best known for his live television dramas of the 1950s and his Anthology series, anthology television series ''The Twilight Zone (1 ...

award at the 2001 Long Island Film Festival. Turner's second short film, ''Disposal'', starring JK Simmons, was broadcast on IFC and was shown as part of

LACMA The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits (George C. Page Museum). LACMA was founded in 1961 ...

's 2004 Young Directors Night. '' Dead Birds'', Turner's first feature, starring

Henry Thomas Henry Jackson Thomas (born September 9, 1971) is an American actor. He began his career as a child actor and had the lead role of Elliott Taylor in the film '' E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'' (1982), for which he won a Young Artist Award and rece ...

Isaiah Washington Isaiah Washington IV (born August 3, 1963) is an American actor. Following a series of film appearances, he came to prominence as Dr. Preston Burke in ''Grey's Anatomy'' (2005-2007; 2014) Washington began his career collaborating with directo ...

and

Patrick Fugit Patrick Raymond Fugit (; born October 27, 1982) is an American actor. His breakout role was William Miller in the comedy-drama film '' Almost Famous'' (2000), which earned him a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination. Fugit has also had starring r ...

, premiered at the 2004

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...

. In a positive review,

Bloody Disgusting Bloody Disgusting is an American independent multi-media company, which began as a horror genre-focused news website specializing in information services that covered various horror media. The company expanded into other media including podcast ...

said, "Director Alex Turner masterfully tells the story with visuals rather than spending a great deal of time with dialogue." In 2009 Turner returned to the genre with '' Red Sands'', a psychological thriller starring

Shane West Shannon Bruce Snaith (born June 10, 1978), better known as Shane West, is an American actor, singer and songwriter. He is known for his portrayal of Eli Sammler in the ABC family drama ''Once and Again'', Landon Carter in '' A Walk to Remember' ...

Aldis Hodge Aldis Alexander Basil Hodge (born September 20, 1986) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Alec Hardison in the TNT series '' Leverage'', MC Ren in the 2015 biopic ''Straight Outta Compton'', Levi Jackson in the 2016 film ''Hidden ...

Leonard Roberts Leonard Roberts (born November 17, 1972) is an American actor. He portrayed Sean Taylor in '' Drumline'', Forrest Gates on the fourth season of ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' and D. L. Hawkins on '' Heroes''. Early life Roberts was born in St. ...

Callum Blue Daniel James Callum Blue (born 19 August 1977) is an English actor. He is best known for his roles on the Showtime (TV network), Showtime series ''Dead Like Me'' and ''The Tudors'', as well as his role as General Zod, Zod in the American televi ...

, JK Simmons,

Theo Rossi John Theodore Rossi (born June 4, 1975) is an American actor and producer. He portrayed Juan Carlos "Juice" Ortiz on the FX series '' Sons of Anarchy'' (2008–2014) and Hernan "Shades" Alvarez in '' Luke Cage'' (2016–2018). In 2024, he por ...

and

Noel Gugliemi Noel Albert Gugliemi is an American actor best known for his portrayals of Southern Californian gangsters. Gugliemi played Hector in '' The Fast and the Furious'' and '' Furious 7'', and loosely reprised the role for other media. Early life G ...

as US soldiers serving in Afghanistan just after the 2001 US invasion. In a mixed review,

Dread Central Dread Central is an American website founded in 2006 that is dedicated to horror news, interviews, and reviews. It covers horror films, comics, novels, and toys. Dread Central has won the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Award for Best Website f ...

said, "Director Alex Turner manages to deliver nominal tension and a couple semi-solid scares, but mines no new territory."

References

External links

* * Living people Film directors from New York City State University of New York at Purchase alumni American horror film directors 1971 births {{US-film-director-1970s-stub