Max Esposito

Background

About Max Esposito

I’m a storyteller and deep believer in the power of the film and photo mediums to create empathy. I use these mediums as extensions of my own curiosity about people - everyone has a story if we spend the time to listen. I have freelanced for over 15 years, working as a director, cinematographer, producer and occasionally an editor. I’ve helmed national TV campaigns, created feature and short documentaries that have screened around the world, and consulted with organizations and non-profits on how to amplify the reach of their missions through visual storytelling. Most recently, I was commissioned to create a 25-minute documentary for Columbia University’s Knight First Amendment Institute. The film examines the fraught relationship between law enforcement and journalists covering protests in the United States and was acquired by the La Times' Oscar-winning Short Docs series. As a commercial director, I have created commercials and branded content for Google, Reebok, DraftKings, Dunkin, Fidelity Investments, Jack Daniels, al fresco and U.S. Cellular among others. I have traveled extensively for work, filming in Japan, Ireland, Central America, the U.K. and throughout the U.S. My work for Google and the Ad Council was recognized at the South by Southwest Film Festival. My work about veterans earned a Citation of Merit for Filmmaking from the Massachusetts House of Representatives. My first feature-length documentary, Paper Lanterns, played a role in the historic meeting between then President Barack Obama and atomic bomb survivor Shigaeki Mori in Hiroshima, in 2016. I have screened films at the United Nations Headquarters, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, and numerous film festivals. I enjoy exploring beyond my own creative comfort zone, producing films in unique genres. My collaborations with New Balance and Bodega have been featured by Hypebeast; my work has been featured in a TED Talk; and I have been sought out to direct documentaries for a world-leading private equity firm. I guest lectured on visual storytelling at my hometown alma mater, Boston University, where I was also a member of the university's Division I Track and Field program. I now run much less competitively in Brooklyn, NY.