Alex Winter is a director, writer, and actor who has worked across film, television, and theater.
Winter entered show business as a child actor with co-starring roles on Broadway in The King & I and Peter Pan and came to prominence in movies such as Warner Bros’ hit The Lost Boys and the wildly popular Bill & Ted franchise. As a filmmaker, Winter’s narrative features include the cult classic Freaked for 20th Century Fox and the critically acclaimed Fever for Lionsgate, which screened in the Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes.
Winter is the founder of Trouper Productions, which services his directing work. In 2020, Winter released two new documentary feature films, Showbiz Kids, which premiered on HBO to critical acclaim, garnering a Critics Choice nomination for Best Score. Followed by Zappa, the first all-access documentary on the life and times of Frank Zappa. The Kickstarter campaign for this project was the highest-funded documentary in crowdfunding history. Magnolia Pictures released Zappa to widespread acclaim. A Critics Pick in the New York Times, Zappa was nominated for Best Music Documentary by the Critics Choice Awards.
The highly anticipated third installment in the Bill & Ted franchise, Bill & Ted Face The Music, opened in August 2020 and is Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. It was the number-one movie in the U.S. and UK, among other countries.
Previous documentary work includes The Panama Papers, about the biggest global corruption scandal in history and the journalists who worked in secret and at great risk to break the story. A multiple award-winner, The Panama Papers is executive produced by Laura Poitras, opened to a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Also released worldwide is Trust Machine, which is about the rise of Bitcoin and the blockchain.
Deep Web is about the online black market Silk Road and the trial of its creator, Ross Ulbricht. The film premiered on the Epix/MGM network, opening as the #1 documentary on iTunes and earning a Cinema Eye nomination among several award wins. Downloaded is a VH1 RockDoc about Napster and the digital revolution. The film premiered at SXSW and garnered worldwide acclaim at theatrical and festival screenings.
Winter’s latest feature documentary is The YouTube Effect, produced by Winter/Trouper Productions in partnership with Gale Anne Hurd/Valhalla Entertainment and Glen Zipper. The film premiered at Tribeca in June 2022, completed a sold-out theatrical run in July 2023, and was released worldwide on digital from Drafthouse Films beginning August 8, 2023.
Winter’s new acting project is now in release, the gonzo horror-comedy Destroy All Neighbors, which premiered on Shudder and in limited theaters in January 2024.
Winter recently directed, produced, and acted in the feature film Adulthood, coming in 2025. In the fall of this year, Winter will return to Broadway, co-starring with Keanu Reeves in Waiting For Godot, directed by Jamie Lloyd.