Alexander Freeman (filmmaker)
Alexander Freeman (born 19 June 1987), is an award-winning American film producer, director, editor, screenwriter and public speaker with cerebral palsy and a graduate of Emerson College where he studied Film Production with a concentration in Directing. His production company, OUTCAST PRODUCTIONS, is based in Boston, Massachusetts.
2006-2010
In 2006, Freeman founded his social justice advocacy production company OUTCAST PRODUCTIONS, devoted to telling stories AbOUT disability, sexuality, race, poverty, substance abuse and women's rights. He sought to engage, educate and encourage viewers to take part in changing how people perceive and treat minorities in society.
In 2007, Boston producers Artemis Joukowsky, Dan B. Jones and Steve Marx, of No Limits Media financed Freeman's directorial debut short film The Raven (2008) with an $5,000 budget starring Paul Horn (Gone Baby Gone) and Marianne Ryan (American Experience: John and Abigail Adams). The film premiered at the Coolidge Corner Theatre in 2008 after he transferred to the University of Massachusetts Amherst. In 2009 while at UMass Amherst, Freeman independently wrote, produced, directed and edited his follow-up short films, The Tell-Tale Heart (2009) starring Paul Horn, and I Care: A Documentary About Independent Living (2013). I Care: A Documentary About Independent Living was inspired by the treatment he received at his first school Fitchburg State University from his case manager at The Bridge of Central Massachusetts, Cindy Lull. The film was financed with a $4,000 budget given by the SEIU which Freeman secured after being internationally selected for the 2010 Very Special Arts AFI-Discovery Channel Silverdocs Apprenticeship upon the submission of his film. Steve Marx, Freeman's mentor since The Raven, collaborated on both films and donated his time and equipment to help Freeman's career.
Just before leaving UMass Amherst in 2010, Freeman got to work on another short film Meet Annabelle (2010) which he wrote, produced, directed and edited with the help of his cast and crew who donated their time and equipment, including director of photography, Kenny Caudill. Meet Annabelle was based on Freeman's own experience of feeling like an outsider at UMass Amherst, as a filmmaker attending a school that concentrated on science and research and that was unwelcoming of film production. Freeman made the film as a social commentary on disability, physical attraction, misperception and materialism drawn from what he observed from people he encountered.
The same year, Freeman connected on-line with award-winning Polish music producer and film composer, Miro Kepinski, who later became his composer and continues to work on many of Freeman's films.
2011-2014
With these three films complete, he applied and was admitted to Emerson College in 2011 were he majored in Film Production with a concentration in Directing, earning his B.A. in 2014. Freeman made multiple films at Emerson College, often working with his classmate Brandon Golden, on short films such as Seven Days (2013), A Life Imperfect (2013) and Love and Hope of the Next Generation (2013) but his 2013 feature documentary The Last Taboo (2013) about the [...] lives of people with disabilities,which he wrote, co-produced and directed on a $1,575 crowdfunded budget, with a crew of 30 people whom all volunteered their time gained Freeman worldwide attention. The Last Taboo was also produced by Freeman's classmates Anne Scotina, Andrew Christenson, Gabriella Iarrobino and edited by his best friend Ryan Egan, all of whom donated their time. Freeman conceived The Last Taboo while taking a documentary filmmaking class at Mount Holyoke College during his time at UMass Amherst. The film was inspired by a personal experience he had when he first came to UMass Amherst, but could not make it without the resources and crew available at Emerson College. In an interview with WBUR Former Senior Editor Margaret Evans, Freeman said "We might be in a chair, but everything still works. I’ve got a heart. I’ve got a mind, and I’ve got a body [...] Everyone deserves to be touched. People need to have the attitude of ‘Hey, I may not have done it before but, yeah, let's give it a try.’" Later in an interview with ABC News Digital Reporter Susan Donaldson James, when she questioned Freeman regarding his film The Last Taboo in her article on disabled brothels in England, he said "If we are denied our right to sensuality, we are denied being human." In another interview with Nerve Former Editor Kate Hakala, when she asked Freeman about his message to others who have questioned [...] and relationships with people with disabilities and the mindset they need to have, he said, "I think more able-bodied people have to ask that question to themselves and be open to having relationships with people who might not line up with the guidelines that they have in their minds. It has nothing to do with the person's physical ability or challenges at all. People with disabilities are perfectly capable of having [...] and perfectly capable of having romantic relationships and perfectly capable of having one-night-stands."
2014 - present
Since graduating Emerson College, Freeman has continued to make short films including The Bag (2015) based on the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing and Going Up (2016) based on president elect Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and the Cold War as well as the syrian conflict. He will be filming a new documentary called Dancing Under The Autumn Moon (2017) and is in development on another feature documentary called CrippleFace (2018).
The Last Taboo
The Last Taboo tells the gripping and heart-warming story of six people with various physical disabilities and an able-bodied partner who was in a relationship with one of them. These individuals share their perspectives on intimacy, relationships and what their experiences have taught them about themselves. The Last Taboo asks viewers to to step outside of our comfort zones in order to reconsider our misconceptions regarding disability, identity, gender, attraction, beauty and sexuality.
The Last Taboo, which won Best Screenplay at the 2013 BOSIFEST in Serbia, is being distributed by Amazon and Community Channel (UK). The film is also being used by multiple universities and organizations including the Norwegian Health Department's Medical Physicians [...] Education program.
The Last Taboo also was chosen for Official Selection at:
- 2013 10th European Film Festival: Integration You and Me
- 2014 We Speak, Here Online Film Festival
- 2015 New England Online Film Festival
Universities and Organizations using The Last Taboo include the University of Illinois, University of California, Santa Cruz, the University of Chicago, the University of Washington, Widener University, Hawkeye Community College, Emerson College, Academy for Adolescent Health, the Center for [...] Pleasure & Health, and United Cerebral Palsy.
The Wounds We Cannot See
In his final year at Emerson College, Freeman co-wrote, produced, co-directed and edited the short film A Life Imperfect (2013), which won 3rd Place in the College Narrative genre at the MY HERO International Film Festival, 2014. Freeman's short film inspired the feature documentary The Wounds We Cannot See (2017), which he wrote, produced, directed and co-edited.
The Wounds We Cannot See tells the gripping story of former US Navy Airman Nancy Ross of Hingham, Massachusetts. Ross was violently raped during her service in 1988 and has since struggled with addiction, mental illness and depression. She continues to battle Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as a direct result of her attack and subsequent abusive relationships. While Nancy has Undergone extensive therapy since her honorable discharge from the Navy she still suffers from addiction and lives in constant fear of the future.
The film was made possible with a $7,000 grant he received as the Winner of The HSC Foundation's National 2014 Advocates in Disability Award and by his crew, who donated their time. The film was also made possible by support from the City of Mlawa in Poland, and was finished by Freeman's friend and colorist Darin Wooldridge at Technicolor, where Freeman had interned. The Wounds We Cannot See won Best Documentary Feature at the 2016 Long Beach Indie International Film, Media, and Music Festival.
Awards and recognition
- Best Documentary Feature: Documentary for The Wounds We Cannot See, Long Beach Indie international Film, Media and Music Festival, Long Beach, CA, 2016
- Official Selection: Documentary for The Last Taboo, New England Online Film Festival, 2015
- Winner: Narrative for A Life Imperfect, 3rd Place College Narrative, MY HERO International Film Festival, Santa Monica, CA, 2014
- Winner: Narrative for Thank You, mtvU's College Filmmakers Sweetest Escape Online Contest, 2014
- Official Selection: Documentary for The Last Taboo, We Speak, Here Online Film Festival, 2014
- Winner: The HSC Foundation National Advocates in Disability Award, Washington D. C., 2014
- Official Selection: Documentary for The Last Taboo,10th European Film Festival: Integration You and Me, Poland, 2013
- Best Screenplay: Documentary for The Last Taboo BOSIFEST, Serbia, 2013