Alex McDowell

Alex McDowell is an award-winning narrative designer working at the intersection of Design, Technology and Storytelling. He is founder and creative director at Experimental Design, where he and his team design the future for industries and institutions, building worlds across media. He is a Professor of Practice at USC's School of Cinematic Arts, where he holds the William Cameron Menzies Chair in Production Design. He is director of the USC World Building Media Lab which researches the future of storytelling in post-cinematic media, including spherical storytelling and mixed reality; and the World Building Institute, which stages the legendary Science of Fiction Festival and narrative workshops around the world, including at the Berlin Film Festival, Sundance New Frontier and FMX. McDowell is a production designer of feature films for over 30 years, working with directors David Fincher, Steven Spielberg, Tim Burton, Terry Gilliam, Zach Snyder and Anthony Minghella among many others. As Visiting Artist to the MIT Media Lab (2005-2010) he designed the robot opera "Death and the Powers." His awards include Royal Designer for Industry for the UK's RSA (2006), the President's Award (UK Designers & Art Directors, 2013), the Future Voice Award (Interaction Awards, 2014), the ADG Excellence in Production Design (2005), and San Diego Film Critics Society (2002); nominations for awards at BAFTA (2006), Saturn (2010), OFTA (2003, 2006), and VES (2003); and the 2013 D&AD President's Award.