Alexa-Sascha Lewin
Alexa-Sascha Lewin spent eight
years working as a natural history filmmaker under the auspices of Masaba
Pictures, the production company she co-founded with her husband, Brad
Rister. Her work found her trekking mountain gorillas through
rebel-infested Rwandan jungles and hanging out of a helicopter to capture
stampeding white rhinos in the South African bush. She has collaborated
closely with the United Nations Environment Programme. Born Free Foundation,
The Jane Goodall Institute, and many other prominent conservation organizations. Alexa-Sascha began her career
in narrative features, interning for Robert Redford's South Fork Pictures
and Propaganda Films, until she jumped on board a theatrical feature
documentary shoot filming the most beautiful landscapes in the world.
After taking a break to backpack solo around the world (48 countries
explored to date), Alexa-Sascha returned to the biz, working in television
and documentaries for PBS, ABC/Kane, Discovery Channel, A&E, and
the BBC. Alexa-Sascha has also worked as a commercial photographer,
freelance writer, and in-resident movie critic for Mary-Kate and Ashley
Olsen's website. Wanting to transition back to narrative features,
Alexa-Sascha collaborated on the development of several independent
films with the Mount Film Company, and worked in Lithuania on Ed Zwick's
latest film, Defiance, as the Assistant to the Producer. In 2008, Alexa-Sascha was selected
as one of 8 women out of an applicant pool of over 200 for AFI's Directing
Workshop for Women. Alexa-Sascha was awarded the Panavision New
Filmmaker grant, as well as, the Animal in Content Entertainment (ACE)
grant for $10,000 through the Humane Society of the United States.
Her film, The Honeysting, marks Alexa-Sascha's narrative directorial
debut. Alexa-Sascha holds a B.A. from
Wheaton College (cum laude in German and Film), and studied at the University
of Television and Film Munich, Brown University, and Oxford University.
She speaks fluent German and conversational French.
