Alfred Price’s Stories, Lessons & Insights

We recently had the chance to connect with Alfred Price and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Alfred, thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day to share your story, experiences and insights with our readers. Let’s jump right in with an interesting one: What battle are you avoiding?
The battle that I constantly avoid in my life is my perpetual self-doubt. The inner monologue that plays over and over in my head, telling me that I can’t achieve success or that my art isn’t good enough. Being at war with oneself will ultimately lead to failure because it will prevent us from taking the necessary risks and make us settle for the safer route. I avoid this battle by reminding myself why I am an artist to begin with and that the journey will not always be a smooth ride.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I am a film director and producer currently residing in Philadelphia. I have recently completed principal photography on ‘The Job,’ a short crime thriller about a contract killer who finds his tragic past has come back to haunt him during a routine hit. I am also currently developing two other short films, as well as a feature project that I hope to announce some time in 2026. I also work as a production designer and art assistant for films and commercials. All art departments on a film set are filled with the most creatively bizarre and mentally insane people in entertainment. I fit right in.

Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
Tough first question. I’d like to think that I never allowed the world to tell me who I had to be and have always rebelled against the machine while marching to the beat of my own messed-up drum. But we all have to accept our place in the world and become the thing we never wanted to be in our life. Like those commercials about becoming your parents. Still trying to avoid being that in my mid-forties as much as I can. The words “conform” and “settle” have never been in my vocabulary. But eventually the world said you have to pay your bills and maintain a house and buy insurance and deal with kidney stones. Now that I think about it, I guess the me before was up until I decided to quit my job and pursue a career as a filmmaker. Because I made that change in my life, I was able to discover myself not only as an artist but also as a person. My confidence and acceptance of myself was something that took many years to find through intense self-reflection and attempting my best to break down my ego. I’m still on that journey, but I’ve figured out who I am and who I want to be.

Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
As the Nine Inch Nails song says… I tried, and I gave up. I almost gave up on filmmaking in film school when my personal life began to spiral out of control. I finished my first short film that wasn’t a class project, and it was an absolute failure. Bad story, bad direction, no clear vision, and I was way over my head at that time. I hated everything about it, and I felt that I wasn’t cut out to be a film director. During the shoot I was going through a messy breakup, and my parent’s health began to deteriorate, with my father passing a few years later. Life took over, and I fell into a deep depression that was fueled by vodka, cigarettes, and many bad decisions. Somehow I was able to graduate, and I went back to being another cog in the wheel. I didn’t follow through with the mission. I never said it out loud, but I clearly gave up on my dream. I don’t know what happened, but something inside of me changed. I enrolled again in school to learn more about cinematography, something I didn’t pay much attention to in film school. After the first class was when the pandemic hit. Classes cancelled and tuition refunded. Okay, forget this; I’m done. In my mind the world was ending, and I was fine with that notion. Cue REM… And I feel fine! But then the world didn’t end, and I was given a bit of a gift during a dark period of human existence. That gift was time. I studied up on cameras and cinematic theory and began to really study the history of cinema and lay the foundation for my own artistic expression. Then I decided I wanted another shot. I want to make movies. So I enrolled in online classes to study producing and business management in entertainment. The world began to go back to normal, and we were allowed out to play again. I was making strides and developing my battle plan to become who I’ve always wanted to be. That’s when I decided at the age of 40 to finish my coursework in Los Angeles and see if I could really make this happen. Three years later… here I am.

Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. Whose ideas do you rely on most that aren’t your own?
I rely on the ideas of my peers the most. Making a film is a collaborative art, and you are nothing without your cast and crew. Ideas and suggestions happen all the way up to when the director yells “action,” so we have to rely on each other to shape the world in front of the lens. As a director, I allow my cast and crew to put their own brushstrokes onto the canvas. Yes, I am at the helm and ultimately want my own vision to make it to the screen, but I also want my crew to present good ideas and collectively make the shot better. If it turns out to be a really good idea and it works, it’s in the film.

Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
Well, there are certainly a lot of stories that I hope people don’t tell about me when I’m gone. Do we have a Men In Black memory eraser thingy yet? If there is anything that I do want to be remembered for, it is my loyalty to my circle of friends and my passion for bringing positivity into their lives. I honestly do not care if I am remembered for my art because at the end of the day it does not define who I am in the world. While it gives me a self-sense of purpose, those are things that do not matter in the grand scheme of life. We are here for a very short amount of time, and to me, having meaningful relationships and building a more positive and sustainable existence for the next generation to inherit the world is more important to me than any film or piece of art.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thealfredprice/
• Other: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm9165077/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_2_nm_6_in_0_q_alfred%2520price