Max Woertendyke

Born at Beth Israel Hospital in New York City, Max's family moved to Williamsburg, Brooklyn just a few months before his first birthday. His mother was a dancer who now calls Monza, Italy, home and his father was a LaMaMa regular suspect who became a professor down at Pace University in NYC. Max grew up on Metropolitan Avenue, attended the local public schools PS 132, and John Ericsson JHS 126 before going to Stuyvesant High School, where he helped lead his junior class to a first place SING! win. Upon graduating, Max studied at McGill University in Montreal where he pursued a degree in History and English Literature, and was a member of The Players' Theater Board of Student Directors. After returning to NYC and working with a number of respected companies and artists on everything from classic plays to experimental films, Max applied and was accepted into the Juilliard School of Drama where he was the recipient of both the Jonathan Madrigano Entrepreneurship Grant and the Juilliard Career Development Fellowship, and one of the founders of the Film Fest at Juilliard. In his first year after graduation, Max made his Broadway debut in Ivo Van Hove's A View From the Bridge, appeared in The Public Theater's Mobile Unit production of Romeo & Juliet, and directed and produced the first full season of web series Moe & Jerryweather thru his production company G44 Productions. Max has also directed and produced a number of short films including Three Dates, Pretty Crystals, and Cakeface, as well as internet spec commercials and museum exhibition video content. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife, and one of his original creative collaborators, Maria Simeone, with whom (along with Lia Woertendyke) they founded first Backyart, a multi-disciplinary arts event that ran for over 3 seasons and showcased work from over 250 individual artists.