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Hey, I'm Max!
Los Angeles, California
Ever since I was four years old, when I forced my parents to watch and subsequently act out "The Wizard of Oz" with me every single night, I have been captivated by the power of stories to transform the mundane into the magical. After attending college at Washington University in St. Louis and completing New York University’s MFA program in filmmaking, I am excited to be following my own yellow brick road, creating stories that enchant and inspire others just as my most treasured films have done for me.
My Projects
My Films
Root for the Villain
2018
• Series
by Max Rissman
Projects I'm Supporting
Assisted Living
New York • Series
Comedy, Satire
Bridget and Jo are two high-powered personal assistants/failing feminists who test the boundaries of human decency to excel at their jobs.
This project got the green light!
The Great Divide
Denver • Feature
Thriller, Western
In 1879 Colorado, a destitute ranch heiress must seek restitution by joining forces with the dangerous outlaws who murdered her father.
This project got the green light!
Another Period in Time
Atlanta • Series
Comedy, Drama
A free black woman from 1863 wakes up in 2018 ATL & meets an entitled millennial. Can she get home or learn to love avocado toast & selfies?
This project got the green light!
Endless Light
Fairbanks • Feature
Drama, Sci-Fi
Returning home, a bipolar woman attempts to decipher her brother's suicide through occult intervention with Alaska's wilderness.
This project got the green light!
RUNAROUND SUE
Natchitoches • Feature
Drama, Music
RUNAROUND SUE is a small-town Southern bartender known for breaking hearts... until THE WANDERER comes to town.
This project got the green light!
Passion & Progress
Lakeland • Series
Documentary
When people of color set out an ambitious goal to reach their highest potential, only to be faced with societal barriers.
This project got the green light!
I Friggin Love you
Los Angeles • Series
Drama, Romantic Comedy
Love can make you or break you.
This project got the green light!
Blossom
Los Angeles • Feature
Documentary
Transgender entertainer/activist Blossom C. Brown finds answers to her troubled past while aspiring a career in the entertainment industry.
This project got the green light!
STiGMA
Atlanta • Series
Drama
As Senator Ingram stares down an easy reelection, things become unstable when he is diagnosed with a mental illness.
This project got the green light!
Someone Will Assist You Shortly
Hampton Bays • Feature
Drama, LGBTQ
A gay hospice nurse climbs back into the closet to care for his abusive dad and the behaviorally challenging nephew he never knew he had.
This project got the green light!
Magic Hour
New York • Feature
Comedy
A suburban housewife decides to finally live her dream of going to film school without telling her philandering husband and bratty daughter.
This project got the green light!
The NEW FREEDOM
Denver • Feature
Horror, Thriller
It's not just about survival. It's about a community.
This project got the green light!
Displaced
New York • Feature
Horror
A young black man in Brooklyn must prove his new white neighbors are emissaries from the Satanic cult they both survived as children.
This project got the green light!
Maiden
New York • Feature
Horror, Thriller
While passing through a small town, a modern-day witch must fight her way through a cult of men to find a young woman who’s disappeared.
This project got the green light!
New Recruits
Fremont • Short
Comedy, LGBTQ
New Recruits is a military satire about why young men and women choose to serve in the Army and the headstrong leadership that prepares th
This project got the green light!
Kew Gardens Festival of Cinema
New York • Festival
Film-related Business, Shorts Program
Show us your film. We'll show you success.
This project got the green light!
Pozole
Los Angeles • Short
Comedy, Drama
Maia prolly killed her Nana.
This project got the green light!
Wise Gals
Boston • Short
Crime, Drama
In an alternate 1980s underground, organized crime is ruled by women. Up-and-coming mobster Sophia is ready to take the throne.
This project got the green light!
Project Gaslight
Rochester • Feature
Horror, Thriller
New tenants harbor a secret that jeopardizes a young family as the pregnant wife descends into paranoia and delusion.
This project got the green light!
Lost Bayou
Lafayette • Feature
Drama, Family
A struggling addict ventures out into the Louisiana swamp to discover that her estranged faith healer father is hiding a troubling secret.
This project got the green light!
Little Evil Bookshop
Seattle • Feature
Comedy, Satire
When the world's most powerful occult leader visits a modest mystic bookshop, its owner must impress him at all costs.
This project got the green light!
A Room Full of Nothing
Austin • Feature
Adventure, Romance
In this Swiss Army Man meets Eternal Sunshine adventure an artistic couple's life takes a bizarre turn when they wake up alone in the world.
This project got the green light!
The Atavist
Pittsfield • Feature
Adventure, Sci-Fi
A young woman travels to the past, but when the things she leaves alter history, she must get them back to save the future.
This project got the green light!
Fantastic Santa Monaco
Los Angeles • Feature
Drama, Satire
A film about a group of performance artists who are looking for love, connection and significance in Los Angeles.
This project got the green light!
Interference
New York • Short
Drama, Thriller
A violent altercation between a police officer and a black man left one person dead. A couple passing by must decide what they believe.
This project got the green light!
CASHED
New York • Short
Comedy, Drama
Suddenly unemployed on her 25th birthday, Jess struggles to find peace (and pot) amidst the unique obstacles of life as a Millennial in NYC.
This project got the green light!
An Act of Terror
Charlotte • Short
Drama, History
The true story of Virginia Christian, a 16-year-old African American girl accused of murder in the Jim Crow South.
This project got the green light!
Pay to Stay
New York • Short
Horror, LGBTQ
A couple take a mini-vacation to repair their relationship, unaware the AirBNB they rented may lead to their untimely end.
This project got the green light!
Exposure
Pepin • Feature
Romance, LGBTQ
Two women set off on separate journeys of self-reflection and contemplation. What happened between them? How did the relationship die?
This project got the green light!
e.ro.sion, noun
Jersey City • Short
Romance, Sci-Fi
Following the ending of a relationship, a girl slips into a parallel reality where her heart and soul slowly disappear before her eyes.
This project got the green light!
The Adventures of Penny Patterson
New York • Short
Comedy, Teen
Penny faces growing obstacles to winning the science fair after her boyfriend becomes a superhero.
This project got the green light!
Again
Los Angeles • Short
Comedy, Drama
A man watches Groundhog Day again, and again, and again, as a strange woman fixes him lunch. Will the heart recover what the mind has lost?
This project got the green light!
About a Donkey
New York • Feature
Comedy, LGBTQ
A quirky ensemble comedy about growing up, about growing old, and about a donkey.
This project got the green light!
Hard-ish Bodies
Austin • Short
Comedy, Shorts Program
An ensemble comedy featuring the men and women of Stoney’s Rock Hard Palace - a male strip club with dancers of all shapes and sizes.
This project got the green light!
Joanne
Brussels • Feature
Horror, Thriller
Joanne thinks she's normal; the Conspiracy knows better, she’s a bellwether. They kidnap her and find she's more than even she knew.
This project got the green light!
Love in the Last Five Days
Los Angeles • Short
Comedy, Thriller
A dark comedy set at the outset of zombie apocalypse. How do you find a reason to live on when everything you love is slowly slipping away?
This project got the green light!
Twelfth Night
Los Angeles • Feature
Comedy, Romance
A girl washes up on the shore in the coastal town of Illyria. What follows is a story of love, loss, and a little harmless revenge.
This project got the green light!
Groupers
Los Angeles • Feature
Comedy, Drama
A female grad student captures 2 homophobic males to be a part of a controversial experiment at the bottom of an empty pool.
This project got the green light!
The Fob and I: Season Two
Los Angeles • Series
Comedy
A webseries about 2 Indians that are different.
This project got the green light!
Pair of Normals
New York • Series
Comedy, Music
An anxious, divorced psychic and a disheveled college dropout cross paths in NYC and struggle to put their disastrous lives back together.
This project got the green light!
Twentyfiveish
Los Angeles • Series
Comedy, Drama
Rosie travels with her best friend Tucker for a long weekend, and faces former high school friends as they all face uncertain futures.
This project got the green light!
Hexer
Cardiff • Series
Comedy, Drama
A lineage of a thousand female Hexers and he ruined it. Hexer is just your normal story with LGBTQA+ characters, PoC's and blood magic.
This project got the green light!
Root For The Villain
New York • Series
Comedy, Drama
In a world where 1% of the population has superpowers, Lana is a young parole officer who works with nonviolent super-villains.
This project got the green light!
Pieces Season 3 Web Series
New York • Series
Action, Drama
Pieces is about a group of girls from Brooklyn NY who discovers this secret world of Credit card scamming.
This project got the green light!
TableTalk - Season One
New York • Series
Comedy, Fantasy
A group a friends deal with the changing rules of life seen through the lens of their weekly board-game night.
This project got the green light!
Cleaner Daze
Santa Cruz • Series
Drama, Transmedia
Jasmine, the new counselor at a Juvenile Drug Treatment Center, struggles to mentor a colorful crew of teenage drug addicts.
This project got the green light!
The Karate Tortoise Series
New York • Series
Comedy, Sci-Fi
A Damsel goes on a quest to protect the clumsy superhero, Karate Tortoise, from becoming the lunch of the evil chef, Fatty Bonati.
This project got the green light!
Descensus ad Mortem
Aliso Viejo • Short
Drama, Thriller
Are you afraid to fall...
This project got the green light!
Tales from Shaolin Part One - "Shakey Dog"
Philadelphia • Short
Action, Crime
In the Slums of Shaolin, No Score is Simple.
This project got the green light!
THIS IS MEG
Los Angeles • Feature
Comedy, Drama
The "true" story that shows a raw look at a professional Comedienne’s life in relationships, career and self-journey all within a week.
This project got the green light!
Black Kungfu Chick
Los Angeles • Series
Action, Drama
Just an ordinary girl from South LA learns kungfu from her premed teacher to protect her community from local menaces in more ways than one.
This project got the green light!
Film Festival Secrets 2.0
Atlanta
Film-related Business, Filmmaker Resource
Join the community that will shape the next edition of this practical guide to film festivals.
This project got the green light!
Kinesthesia
Los Angeles • Short
Drama, Shorts Program
Frustrated at her inability to accurately remember a particular time of happiness in her life, Minny sets out to find it again.
This project got the green light!
