‘Lurker’ Director Alex Russell on Making a Splash at Sundance With His First Film and Exposing the Parasitic Nature of L.A.’s Music Scene: ‘I Was Purging Something About My Surroundings’

variety.com:

Ellise Shafer When Alex Russell arrived for the first day of shooting his feature directorial debut, “Lurker,” he realized he probably had the least on-set experience of anyone involved. “I had no idea what I was doing,” admits the 34-year-old writer-director, who got his start in the writers’ room of FX’s “Dave” and then moved up to both penning and producing duties on “The Bear” and “Beef.” But once he started filming the first scene — where the tense drama’s two main characters, played by Théodore Pellerin and Archie Madekwe, meet — Russell breathed a sigh of relief. “That was the only day that I teared up,” he says. “I was like ‘OK, we have a movie.'” And it turned out to be an acclaimed one, having world-premiered at the Sundance Film Festival — Russell’s first-ever time attending a fest — in January to industry buzz and rave reviews. “It was like the fantasy that you hope for, because people actually liked the movie,” he says. “You can go into that theater and gain or lose anyone — that’s why I was like, shaking up until the last moment.” “Lurker,” which Russell also wrote, follows a retail employee, Matthew (Pellerin), who becomes part of the inner circle of Oliver (Madekwe), a pop singer on the verge of superstardom.

But as he gets closer to the singer, their relationship takes a chilling turn. Russell drew on his own experience being enmeshed in the L.A.

music scene for inspiration, and called on some of his friends — like rapper and actor Zack Fox and producer Kenny Beats — to help put together the film, which was in development for around four years.

After selling to “The Substance” distributor Mubi out of Sundance in a competitive situation for a mid-seven-figure price, Russell takes “Lurker” to Berlin Film.