Brad Mays
A veteran of dozens of stage, television and independent film productions spanning some thirty years, Brad Mays' professional experience began with an internship at the McCarter Theatre's resident repertory company in 1970 in Princeton,New Jersey. By the age of 18, he was directing main stage productions at Baltimore's Corner Theatre experimental theatre company; during this time, he also became interested in film making.
In 1982, Mays moved to New York City, where he directed a number of off-Broadway stage productions, including REQUIEM by Linda Chambers, DRAGON SLAYERS by Stanley Keyes, and the acclaimed THE WATER HEN by Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz. During this time he also produced and directed his first feature-length film, STAGE FRIGHT, which was premiered at the1989 Berlin International Film Festival.
After relocating to Hollywood in 1989, Brad Mays worked in a variety of capacities: screenwriter, script doctor, post production supervisor, producer,editor and director. He also staged a number of highly-acclaimed and award-nominated theatrical productions: JOAN by Linda Chambers, The PERSECUTION and ASSASSINATION of JEAN-PAUL MARAT as PERFORMED by the INMATES of the ASYLUM of CHARENTON UNDER the DIRECTION of the MARQUIS deSADE by Peter Weiss, a highly controversial multimedia production of Anthony Burgess' A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, and the critically acclaimed 1997 hit production of Euripides' THE BACCHAE, which he adapted to film in 2002.
In 2008, Mays completed work on the documentary film SING*ularity, a portrait of Ann Baltz's world-famous OperaWorks training program for classical vocalists. Mays' 2008 romantic comedy feature, THE WATERMELON, was featured at the 2008 San Diego Film Festival,was recipient of the "Diamond Award" at the 2011 California Film Festival, and is currently in national distribution. Other films include the feature-length political documentary THE AUDACITY of DEMOCRACY, the multiple award-winning short A WAY BACK IN, the award-nominated 2011 comedy web series CUSTOMER DISS-SERVICE, and the 2012 comedy short, THE DONUT SHOP, winner of "The People's Choice Award" at the 2012 San Francisco Black Film Festival, and "Best Comedy" at the 2013 San Diego Black Film Festival.
In 2009, Mays was invited by producer Annie Wong to participate - along with Nobel Prize winner Wole Soyinka, theatre scholar Richard Schechner, and acclaimed actor Alan Cumming - in a discussion about THE BACCHAE for the acclaimed PBS series AN INVITATION TO WORLD LITERATURE, which is
now a permanent feature of Annenberg Media's educational website.
May's most recent feature films are the documentary I GREW UP IN PRINCETON, a unique exploration of what life was like in the shadow of one of the world's great universities during the cultural and political upheavals of the late 60s/early 70s; ROAD RAGE,a bleak comedy about falling in hate, which premiered in March of 2016; AIDEN'S BUTTERFLIES, a short film portrait ofa young boy who is doing his part to save Moncarch Butterflies from extinction; and JUBILATE TREGO, a loving feature tribute to one of the greatest American choral directors of the 20th century. He is currently in pre-production on two feature films, HARRY and CLAIRE, an almost tragic love story; and TWO TRENTONS, a feature documentary about a city's struggle to survive.
