Alex Burger

Alex Burger^[1] (born 12 June 1972) is a playwright and screenwriter. He is known for head-writing Seasons 3 and 4 of Umlilo (Zulu for “the fire”), the SAFTA Award-winning^[2] South African drama. He is now based in Los Angeles, working on a number of feature and television projects.

Early life and education

Alex grew up in Wenham, Massachusetts, on the north shore of Boston. When he was a child, Alex and his family were a part of a 60-person magic troupe, performing in over 1,200 performances of Le Grand David and his Own Spectacular Magic Company.

Alex attended Deep Springs College in California and then Harvard College, where he graduated magna cum laude in The Comparative Study of Religion. He earned an MBA at INSEAD in Singapore & France.

In his 20s Alex worked with Mother Teresa in Calcutta, India, and then went on to do civil rights work in Alabama for seven years, where he wrote numerous publications.^[3][4][5] He was awarded the “Spirit of Dr. King Award” for his work on racial justice.

Writing career

Alex began work as a poet, winning the Alabama State Poetry Society Award in 1997. He then wrote for the theatre; his first play, Ain’t Nothin’ Changed, was performed in San Francisco as part of the Playground Theatre Festival^[6] and then won the Harvardwood writing competition in 2010.^[7] His play Whose Blood: A Tale of Desire and Despair Set in a 19th Century Operating Theatre had a fully sold-out run at London’s Old Operating theatre (2012).^[8][9][10] The play was then written up in Wellcome Trust Magazine^[11] and was the subject of a chapter in the book Challenging History in the Museum.^[12] Other plays include Mashoga (My Wife) (Glasgow Any Objections Festival 2013), The Inkanyamba (Market Theatre Lab, 2015), and Fees Must Fall (Wits University, 2016).

Alex's work in television includes head-writing Seasons 3 and 4 of the SAFTA Award-winning Television Show^[13] Umlilo (Zulu for the fire) (e.tv 2015-2016). The show was the most-watched drama in South Africa at the time and has won awards for Best Drama and Best Writing. Other credits include writing for Doubt (Mzanzi Magic, 2016), Hard Copy Season 4 (SABC 3, 2016), 90 Plein Street Season 5 (SABC 2, 2016), and Isithembiso (2017). He has also successfully created projects for Stained Glass Productions, Quizzical Pictures, and The Bomb Production Company.

In addition to writing, Alex is also a seasoned instructor, having lectured in writing at theUniversity of Witwatersrand (2015-2016), Market Theatre Laboratory (2014-2016), and the California Institute for Integral Studies (2017–present).^[14] Alex’s nonfiction work includes the unpublished manuscript Someday It Will Rain: A Journey Through Big Oil and Development in Africa, for which he is represented by Lowenstien and Associates in New York City.

Since 2017, Alex has been based in Los Angeles where he is working on a number of Television projects including developing a new show for ABC's Lincoln Square Productions, co-creating a new series with celebrated author Carolyn Cook, and working on a short for Mundo Loco films.

Activist career

Alex has 20 years’ experience running development and civil rights projects in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the USA. He has a long-standing relationship working with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector division of the World Bank^[15] where he won the IFC Corporate Award. He served as the Vice-President of Community Affairs for AngloGold Ashanti from 2011 to 2013, Africa’s largest mining company.^[16] He has served on numerous boards, including the United Way of Central Alabama, the Southern Partners Fund, and Be Strong Families.^[17]

Filmography

Writing Awards and Recognition

• Member of the London Royal Court Theatre’s Invitation Writer’s Group, 2011^[18]
• Harvardwood 1st Place Playwriting Competition, 2010^[19]
• Harvard Alumni A.R.T. Grant to support the development of the play Whose Blood, 2010^[20]
• 1st Prize Short Fiction Competition Award sponsored by the Times Literary Supplement (UK), 2009^[21]
• 1st Prize Alabama State Poetry Society Competition, 1997

References

External links

• Alex Burger on IMDB https://www.imdb.com/name/nm8261011/)
• Alex Burger Website http://www.alexburgerart.com/