David Alexanian

American director, producer, writer, cinematographer and photographer. 

In 2000, David founded Elixir Films, purchased the rights to one of his favorite childhood books, Where the Red Fern Grows, and made the book into a feature film starring Kris Kristofferson, Ned Beatty, Dabney Coleman, Mac Davis and Dave Matthews for Disney.  Several months later he went on to bring a live theater version of Connor McPherson’s gut wrenching play The Good Thief starring his dear friend Broadway superstar Brian D’arcy James to the Court Theater in Los Angeles. Though it wasn’t until 2003 when David got on a flight to Sydney, Australia with Charley Boorman and Russ Malkin to meet up with Ewan McGregor that David’s career would take a major direction change. Sitting at the Sydney Opera House the four would hatch a plan to ride around the world from London to New York through far off and rarely visited places like Kazakhstan, Mongolia and Far Eastern Russia on motorcycles and in 4X4s. It was at that moment Long Way Round was born. With an ultra tiny crew the adventure was filmed and the story was told in a way that gravitated audiences the world over, not only due to Ewan and Charleys remarkable charm and chemistry but also do to the uniquely authentic style of the filmmaking.  A book accompanied the series which was translated into more than 40 languages. The series appeared in every television market around the world. The adventure travel, especially overland travel, industry and the motorcycle industry did not know what hit it as thousands of inspired viewers flocked to buy similar dual-sport motorcycles and visit far off countries on their own.

A few years later the foursome would reunite with a plan to ride from the northernmost tip of Scotland to the southernmost tip of South Africa through Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Zambia, Malawi, Botswana and Namibia. Sticking to the roots of a small team filming with the best hand held cameras of the day, Long Way Down showcased Africa to audiences with an intimacy and accessibility like never before.  A companion book was also written, commemorative motorcycles and 4X4s were launched.  The series was shown the world over. David returned to Los Angeles and cut a special two hour director’s cut of the ten hour series and it had wide release in movie theaters in the United States to precede the launch on TV.  Attending the premier of the theatrical version was Emilio Estevez who, after watching the film, asked David to team up and produce the screenplay he had recently finished writing set on the 800km pilgrimage called the Camino de Santiago. Emilio and David agreed to bring the best of their styles together and a produce a film that would have the authenticity and intimacy of a documentary and the refinement and scope of a major motion picture. They flew to Spain and after several months The Way directed by Emilio and produced by he and David starring Martin Sheen, Deborah Unger, Jimmy Nesbitt and Yorick van Wageningen came to life.

Returning to the US, David was then approached by reggae superstar Ziggy Marley who asked if he wanted to make a film set in Africa during the 2010 World Cup.  The two immediately hit it off, spent months together filming conversations and Ziggy recording music with his band for a series on Netflix that would go on to be called Marley Africa Roadtrip.  Ziggy told stories that had never been shared before about his relationship with his father, the legendary Bob Marley.  As it turns out, Bob was a massive football fan having regularly trained with his dear friend Pele and Ziggy thought his father would have been thrilled that Africa would finally get a chance to host a World Cup. David and Ziggy agreed to fly to South Africa with two of Ziggy’s brothers Rohan and Robbie, crisscross the country, meet local musicians, teach them Bob’s music and put on massive free concert in Soweto during the football matches. The series was filmed in David’s familiar style. Audiences loved the original music, the jam sessions, the live performance and the unique electric atmosphere of the event but what connected them most was the genuine closeness they felt to the amazing characters they got to know on camera.

David, Russ, Ewan and Charley were back together again in Cupertino, California meeting the folks from Apple TV Plus at their launch event in 2019 and agreed to make an eleven part series for their new streaming service called Long Way Up with a plan to not only travel to new lands, South and Central America, but also in a very new way, on fully electric motorcycles and 4x4s.  With little time to plan and even less existing charging infrastructure to rely on, the four friends flew to Ushuaia, the tip of Argentina, and made their way north through heartbreakingly beautiful and enchanting places like the archipelago Tierra del Fuego, the glaciers of Patagonia, the Atacama Desert, the mountains of the Andes, La Paz, Lake Titicaca, Medellin, and Oaxaca to name a few. Having maintained their low key, small crew shooting style and after taken full advantage of the latest in camera technology, the latest series hopes to be as inviting and eye opening as those that came before it.

Philanthropy has always been a big part of David’s work from the ArtHeals event he organised with friends Tracey Effinger and Greg Lauren in the weeks following the tragedy of September 11th. The three reached out to nearly 200 artists to donate works and held a live auction emceed by Viveca Paulina and her husband Will Ferrell. Together, in one evening, all the works were sold and the proceeds donated to the Twin Towers Orphan Fund.  When filming all three installments of the Long Way series, David and his partners have sought to highlight the wonderful work that UNICEF does whether it be for the children in the city of Chernobyl, on the streets of Ulaanbaatar or in Choloma, Honduras. Since the start there has always been a deep desire and commitment to help support the numerous non-profit organizations he and Elixir Films have come across over the years including McMillan Cancer Support, Riders for Health, Walkabout Foundation, Jo’burg Child Welfare, Cool Earth and Third Millennium Alliance.