Alex Ross Perry is an American filmmaker and actor. Prolific in independent film, he is best known for writing and directing Listen Up Philip (2014) and Her Smell (2018).
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Early life
Perry grew up in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, where he worked on a local television news program during high school. After graduating, he moved to New York City to attend NYU. He graduated from NYU's film program in 2006. From 2005 to 2007, Perry worked at the East Village-based video store Kim's Video, where he met many of the cast and crew members who later worked on his films, including director of photography Sean Price Williams. He was influenced by Philip Roth, Vincent Gallo, Jerry Lewis, and Thomas Pynchon.
Career
Perry's first feature, Impolex, premiered in 2009. Made on a budget of $15,000 and shot on 16mm film stock, the film is an absurdist comedy inspired by Thomas Pynchon's novel Gravity's Rainbow. It was released theatrically in 2011.
Perry's second feature, The Color Wheel, premiered at festivals in 2011. The film, a dark screwball comedy influenced by the work of Philip Roth, was co-written by Perry and Carlen Altman; the two also play the lead roles in the film. It was named the best undistributed film of 2011 by the Indiewire and Village Voice polls, and placed 12th in a similar poll conducted by Film Comment. It was released theatrically on May 18, 2012.
