We Talk About:
- Alex’s career path
- Starting your own production company
- Working in a male-dominated industry
- How to work through hard times
- Alex’s daily workflow
- Having appropriate expectations of your employees
- Rolling with the punches
Resources:
Show Notes:
Alex Saks makes movies happen. She’s the principal of Page Fifty-Four Pictures, a filmmaker-driven, independent production company. Despite grabbing drinks with the likes of Diane Keaton, she’s one of the most down-to-earth and hard working girls out there. She’s been honored by Variety and the Hollywood Reporter as a person to watch. She talks about what it’s like to build a career in a male-dominated industry, learn the imperativeness of hustle, and be your own boss.
Question Highlights:
- What led you to where you are today?
- What have been some of the challenges as a woman in this industry?
- What are some of the tools you use to get through hard times?
- How has the pandemic impacted you?
- Do you do anything consistently that sets you up for success?
Guest Bio:
Alex Saks is the principal of Page Fifty-Four Pictures, a filmmaker-driven, independent production company created in 2017 which produces and finances feature films. Ms. Saks has produced fifteen films in the past five years. Her most recent films include: Red Rocket, directed by Sean Baker (and to be released by A24), Charlie Day’s directorial debut El Tonto (starring Kate Beckinsale, Jason Sudeikis, Ken Jeong, Edie Falco, Common, and John Malkovich), and Shoot the Rooster (starring Margo Martindale, Ann Dowd, Judy Greer, and Henry Winkler), directed by Stephanie Laing.
In 2020, Ms. Saks’ film, The Glorias, (directed by Julie Taymor, based on Gloria Steinem’s best-selling autobiography, My Life on the Road, and starring Julianne Moore, Alicia Vikander, Timothy Hutton, Janelle Monáe, Bette Midler, and Lorraine Toussaint), premiered at The Sundance Film Festival and, later that year, on Amazon Prime. Saks’ film, Chemical Hearts, (starring Lili Reinhart and Austin Abrams, directed by Rich Tanne) also premiered on Amazon Prime in 2020.
In 2018, Ms. Saks produced Paul Dano’s directorial debut, Wildlife (starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Carey Mulligan), which made its world premiere at Sundance followed by screenings at Cannes, Toronto, and The New York Film Festival. Wildlife was acquired and released by IFC Films to immense critical praise. That same year, Paramount Pictures released Saks’ summer blockbuster hit, Book Club, starring Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candace Bergen and Mary Steenburgen. The film grossed more than 100 million worldwide.
In 2017, Ms. Saks’ film, The Florida Project, made its world premiere at Cannes to unanimous critical acclaim and was acquired by A24. Written and directed by Sean Baker and starring Willem Dafoe, the film earned honors and wins from The AFI, The National Board of Review, The Critics’ Choice Awards, and over 40 critics groups nationwide. The Florida Project also garnered nominations for the Golden Globes, BAFTAs, Spirit Awards, Gotham Awards, the SAG-AFTRA Awards, and the Oscars.
Her other credits include: Thoroughbreds (the psychological thriller written and directed by Cory Finley, starring Olivia Cooke, Anya Taylor-Joy, and Anton Yelchin, and released by Focus Features), POMS (directed by Zara Hayes, starring Diane Keaton, Jacki Weaver, Pam Grier, Celia Weston, and Rhea Perlman, and wide-released theatrically by STX), Dude (the dramatic comedy written and directed by Olivia Milch, starring Lucy Hale, Kathryn Prescott, Alexandra Shipp, and Awkwafina, and released by Netflix), Fun Mom Dinner (the comedy directed by Alethea Jones, starring Toni Collette, Molly Shannon, Bridget Everett, and Kate Aselton, and which sold to Netflix and eOne’s Momentum Pictures), Joshua: Teenager vs. Superpower (the documentary which won the 2017 Sundance Film Festival Audience Award in the World Cinema Documentary category before selling to Netflix), and What They Had (the drama written and directed by Elizabeth Chomko, starring Hilary Swank, Michael Shannon, and Blythe Danner, and released by Bleecker Street).
In 2017, Saks was honored by both Variety in its annual “10 Producers to Watch” and The Hollywood Reporter on its “Next Gen: Hollywood’s Up-and-Coming Execs 35 and Under” lists. She then went on to be recognized by Town & Country magazine as one of its 2018 “50 Modern Swans.” She is an annual guest at Marie Claire’s Power Trip for women at the top of their given fields. Prior to her producing career, she served as an agent at ICM, where her work in the independent and international group revolved around the packaging, financing, and selling of independent films including: Tallulah, Results, The Intervention, Time Out of Mind, Sandcastle, The Overnight, Skeleton Twins, The One I Love, Infinitely Polar Bear, Stockholm, Pennsylvania, and People, Places, Things. She began her career at The Mark Gordon Company, before working at Automatik and IM Global under Brian Kavanaugh-Jones as a creative and production executive.
Ms. Saks is a graduate of Wake Forest University where she received her degree in History
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