Ian Alexander — Director & Editor

Latest Work

A 2021 five-part TV mini-series about the life and career of American singer and songwriter Alicia Keys. Alicia revisits her rise to stardom and the hard road she took from being an impressionable young artist in a tough industry, to being the empowered icon she is today. Alicia visits with her father to heal past wounds and liberate herself from the past.

ALICIA KEYS 'NOTED' DOCU-SERIES

YouTube Originals

The emergence of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) brought a revolution to the digital art world. NFTs not only offer a new vehicle for digital artists to make a financial living, they also legitimize their work as art by enabling originality, ownership, and provenance. “(N)ever (F)orget (T)his Episode 01: Not Not Art” explores the possibilities of this new technology through the lens of multimedia NFT artist, Luna Ikuta, whose ethereal, video portraits of foraged, desaturated plants come back to life as ghostly emanations of their previous forms.

(N)EVER (F)ORGET (T)HIS

The work of Japanese artist Motoi Yamamoto carries more weight than meets the eye. His large-scale installations created with salt are an expression of loss, acceptance, and preservation. Born in Onomichi, Hiroshima Prefecture, Yamamoto started using salt in his installations as a way of coping with death — both the passing of his sister in 1994 due to a brain tumor and, years later, the loss of his wife of 25 years due to breast cancer. His work became a catalyst for dealing with grief, as well as a vehicle for acknowledging those no longer with us.

INTO THE LABYRINTH

The New York Times

The rebirth of a restaurant. The legacy of Black entrepreneurs. Told through the eyes of Vic & Dana Cooksey, owners of a beloved Southside Chicago BBQ restaurant that permanently closed during the pandemic and social uprising, the film highlights their entrepreneurial spirit that runs generations deep, unwavering faith, and a community that uplifts them. Recognition: Webby Honoree

SOUTHSIDE MAGNOLIA

The pandemic changed everything. In 2020 when a violin teacher in Rio de Janeiro was no longer able to meet with her students in-person, she thought she had no choice but to take a break. But with the knowledge that her students relied on their violin lessons for connection and they were becoming lonely — she created an unconventional way to start up her private violin lessons again.

INSTRUMENT OF CONNECTION

Introducing Nice Tan. From writer-comedian Carla Lee comes a multicultural, female-led sketch comedy series set in the San Francisco Bay area that takes on identity, political correctness and life in a world that is not as woke as it wants to be.

'NICE TAN' SKETCH SERIES

Meet Marko, the host who makes the rainforest feel like home. He built his sustainable house "Arca" to let guests reconnect with nature, deep in Brazil’s Mata Atlântica. But he refuses to take credit for its ingenious, open-ended design. For the whole roof structure, he says, he copied a leaf.

'ARCA' HOST STORIES SERIES

SXSW Official Selection and Catalyst Award winner, 'This Isn’t Me' is a coming-of-age story for the developmentally deferred, a series about becoming the person you could be—if only you were someone else. An entirely uncivilized mix of the absurd, the irreverent, and the heartfelt, THIS ISN'T ME follows a hapless gay man’s misguided search for happiness. Think of it as a gay Curb Your Enthusiasm for the Millennial generation, inflected with a Girls-esque pathos.

THIS ISN'T ME

The International Museum of Dance is reimagining what a museum can be by providing innovative ways to experience, connect with, and celebrate the art of dance. Explore the language of dance and become a part of the movement. 'Vanishing Point', the Museum of Dance launch film, features dance styles from around the globe.

VANISHING POINT

MUSEUM OF DANCE

To meet the world’s growing demand for food, we need to change what we grow and how we grow it. Mineral is developing new technologies to help build a more sustainable, resilient, and productive food system. Mineral’s robotics, sensing and software tools collect and interpret diverse data from the field. Together we will embrace nature's complexity and diversity to build a more sustainable, resilient, and productive food system.

PROJECT MINERAL

Google + Company X

An album release film for Tristan de Liège. I was asked by director Adrian Rojas Elliot to construct a film that would align with the tonal depth of the album and intrigue viewers through textures, sound design and movement. "Usawa means balance. Each album I make represents a time or phase of my life for me, one that I unknowingly enter when I start to express myself through sonic exploration, collaboration, and improvisation, and that I fully appreciate and realize only retrospectively as I am leaving that time." says musician/producer Tristan de Liège.

USAWA

Tristan de Liége

Eboni 8 is a black-sci fi comedy musical short that takes place in the near future. Shameka “Susan” Heart, an aspiring fashion designer finds herself stuck in an entry level security guard position at SISTAH YASSS, a progressive premier, black-owned, fashion publication. Susan fantasizes of taking on the fierce Naomi Banks, lead fashion editor at Sistah Yasss. Dreaming of her big break in the fashion world, Susan shares her frustrations with her supervisor and head of Sistah Yasss security, Connie Winter. When the two women are greeted by the mysterious and finely dressed Mr. Cash, Susan’s dreams of finally getting her big break into the fashion world are close to becoming a reality.

EBONI8

Powderkeg Media

EXPERIENCE WHAT'S INSIDE

San Francisco based production company Avocado & Coconuts worked closely with Lyft's creative team to develop a film that launched their new post IPO "Y" campaign. "They told us we needed to make a 90-second short that sums up their mission, which is basically to redesign cities for people instead of cars." director Spencer Macdonald told Film Supply. "I couldn’t have done it without the other editors, though, Cooper Kenward and Ian Alexander Levine. They were essential in designing the structure of the whole piece, understanding what did and didn’t work."

THE SOUND OF Y

In 2016 Intel approached Lady Gaga and asked "How would you use Intel technology in your live performance?" Gaga partnered with Intel to put together the incredible, high-tech performance, which was a collaborative display of technology and music that included a dancing robotic keyboard and facial projection technology. "Tributing David Bowie is the most incredible honor that anyone's ever given me," Lady Gaga exclaims.

LADY GAGA'S DAVID BOWIE TRIBUTE