Somewhere between the emotional, adolescent honesty of John Hughes, the improvised character-driven comedy of Christopher Guest, and the stylized, storybook vignettes of Wes Anderson, lives the work of Alan William Harris.

Growing up in Northern California, Alan spent his formative years exploring the arts – whether it be painting his high school crush in oils, playing music in a handful of indie garage bands, or obsessively memorizing John Hughes movies.  But it wasn’t until years later that Alan discovered his misspent youth was actually a solid foundation for a career as a director. 

It was in early 2002 that filmmaking first landed on Alan’s radar quite by accident. Having just moved to New York (via Portland, OR), Alan found himself taking improv classes at The Second City and Upright Citizens Brigade theaters. There, he befriended several talented actors and comedians who were looking for a way to share their quick-witted, on-stage banter with more than just a handful of people filling a black-box theater on a Friday night. So, long before YouTube became a household name, Alan and his friends began shooting completely improvised short films with Alan at the directing helm.

With absolutely no script, a pre-determined free location, a borrowed DV camera, and an occasional prop or two, Alan learned how to direct and tell visual stories the really old fashion way – by winging it.  It wasn’t long before Alan had co-founded the film collective, Collars Up, launched a website featuring dozens of improvised shorts, and began garnering attention from film festivals across the country for this unique style of filmmaking. 

Back in New York, the improvised shorts that Alan was directing (and editing) were also getting noticed.  This time, by Alan’s bosses at MTV where he was working as a producer.  After winning a few written pitches, Alan was made a staff writer and director in MTV’s coveted on-air promos department.  Soon, his MTV commercials, with fresh take on comedy, diverse cast of characters, and almost timeless visual style, began winning awards including several Creativity Annual Golds, Cable POPP, Beacon and Prism wins, and even two EMMY nominations for his PSAs.

Today, Alan’s is a freelance Writer, Director, Editor, and Creative Director, lending his talents to various networks and brands from BET and NBC to GEICO and Disney. He’s been fortunate enough to write for and/or direct countless talented actors including a few comedy greats like Steve Carell, Paul Rudd, Tim Meadows, Jane Lynch, and Kevin Hart. Alan is also currently trying to get his first feature film off the ground, a coming-of-age comedy titled LOTUS.

When not working, Alan enjoys writing and illustrating children’s books, woodworking, and spending time in the Poconos with his partner, Ryan, and their two kids, Sally (6) and Fox (3).