Alex Turner is an American film director, producer and screenwriter, best known for his work in the horror film genre, including the cult classic Dead Birds

Dead Birds (2004 film)

Dead Birds is a 2004 American horror film directed by Alex Turner.-Synopsis:A handful of thieves discover that they have more to worry about than the law in this independent horror story, set during the American Civil War.-Plot:...

.

He made his first film with a home movie camera given to him by his father, photographer Pete Turner

Pete Turner (photographer)

Pete Turner is an American photographer. He is perhaps best known as one of the first masters of color photography. PDN voted him as one of the 20 most influential photographers of all time and in 1981 the A.S.M.P. awarded him the prestigious Outstanding Achievement in Photography honor.Noted...

 when he was eleven years old. His skewed vision of the world was apparent at an early age in Super 8mm epics like Dr. Griffin's Creation and Starflight 7.

After graduating from the film program at SUNY Purchase, Turner soon immersed himself in the world of feature and commercial production in New York and Los Angeles. Memorable events from this time include a disastrous stint as a pigeon wrangler on a shoot for commercial director Steve Horn and working as a production assistant

Production assistant

A production assistant, also known as a PA, is a job title used in filmmaking and television for a person responsible for various aspects of a production...

 on several low budget films including Anthony Hickox

Anthony Hickox

Anthony Hickox is an English film director, actor, film producer and screenwriter.His works include Waxwork and its sequel, Waxwork II: Lost in Time, Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat, Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth, "Prince Valiant", "Children of the Corn", "Warlock: Armageddon", "Payback",...

's Warlock: The Armageddon

Warlock: The Armageddon

Warlock: The Armageddon, is a 1993 American horror film directed by Anthony Hickox, and produced by Peter Abrams. It is considered a sequel in-title-only to the 1989 film Warlock, and it stars Julian Sands returning in the title role....

. Turner eventually began directing music videos and made the transition to directing commercials for clients including McDonald's

McDonald's

McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...

, General Electric

General Electric

General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...

 and Quaker State

Pennzoil

Pennzoil is an American oil company founded in Los Angeles, California in 1913. In 1955, it was acquired by Oil City, Pennsylvania company South Penn Oil, a former branch of Standard Oil. In 1963, South Penn Oil merged with Zapata Petroleum; the merged company took the Pennzoil name. During the...

.

Alex's short film Chuck has screened in over thirty film festivals. It was featured on the Sci-Fi Channel

Sci Fi Channel (United States)

Syfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...

, and won the Rod Serling

Rod Serling

Rodman Edward "Rod" Serling was an American screenwriter, novelist, television producer, and narrator best known for his live television dramas of the 1950s and his science fiction anthology TV series, The Twilight Zone. Serling was active in politics, both on and off the screen and helped form...

 award at the 2001 Long Island Film Festival. Turner's second short film, Disposal, starring JK Simmons, can be seen on IFC

Independent Film Channel

The Independent Film Channel is an American cable TV network that airs independent film and related programming. IFC programming includes commercially interrupted feature-length films, original documentaries, shorts, animated series, original series, acquired series, and content exclusively for...

 and was shown as part of LACMA

Los Angeles County Museum of Art

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art is an art museum in Los Angeles, California. It is located on Wilshire Boulevard along Museum Row in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles, adjacent to the George C. Page Museum and La Brea Tar Pits....

's 2004 Young Directors Night.

Dead Birds

Dead Birds (2004 film)

Dead Birds is a 2004 American horror film directed by Alex Turner.-Synopsis:A handful of thieves discover that they have more to worry about than the law in this independent horror story, set during the American Civil War.-Plot:...

, Turner's first feature, starring Henry Thomas

Henry Thomas

Henry Jackson Thomas, Jr. is an American actor and musician. He has appeared in more than 40 films and is best known for his role as Elliott in the 1982 Steven Spielberg film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.-Early life:...

, Isaiah Washington

Isaiah Washington

Isaiah Washington IV is an American actor. A veteran of several Spike Lee films, Washington is best known for his role as Dr. Preston Burke on the ABC medical drama Grey's Anatomy from 2005 to 2007.-Personal life:...

 and Patrick Fugit

Patrick Fugit

Patrick Raymond Fugit is an American actor best known for his debut performance in the lead role of Cameron Crowe's film Almost Famous.-Career:...

, premiered at the 2004 Toronto International Film Festival

Toronto International Film Festival

The Toronto International Film Festival is a publicly-attended film festival held each September in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In 2010, 339 films from 59 countries were screened at 32 screens in downtown Toronto venues...

.

In 2009 Turner returned to the genre with Red Sands

Red Sands

Red Sands is a 2009 horror film movie set in Afghanistan in 2002. The film is directed by Alex Turner, whose previous effort was Dead Birds, in 2004.-Plot:...

, a psychological thriller starring Shane West

Shane West

Shane West is an American actor, musician and songwriter. West is best known for portraying Eli Sammler in Once and Again, Landon Carter with Mandy Moore in A Walk to Remember, Darby Crash in What We Do Is Secret, and Dr...

, Aldis Hodge

Aldis Hodge

Aldis Hodge is an American actor currently starring as Alec Hardison on the TNT series Leverage.-Life and career:Aldis Alexander Basil Hodge was born in Onslow County, North Carolina on September 20, 1986. While both of his parents served in the U.S...

, Leonard Roberts

Leonard Roberts

-Early life:Leonard Roberts was born on November 17, 1972, in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1995, Roberts graduated from DePaul University Theater School with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in acting.-Career:...

, Callum Blue

Callum Blue

Daniel James Callum Blue , better known as Callum Blue, is an English film and television actor, best known for his roles on the Showtime series The Tudors and Dead Like Me as well as for his role as Zod in the American television series Smallville and British...

, JK Simmons, Theo Rossi

Theo Rossi

Theo Rossi is an American actor, best known for his role on the FX series Sons of Anarchy as Juan Carlos "Juice" Ortiz....

 and Noel Gugliemi

Noel Gugliemi

Noel Gugliemi is an American actor.He was born in Santa Monica, California, to an Italian-American father and a Mexican-American mother. Gugliemi voiced the character of Cortez in the video game 187 Ride or Die. He is most noted for portraying a stereotypical southern Californian Latino gang member...

as US soldiers serving in Afghanistan just after the 2001 US invasion.

External links