Here is the biography of Brad Mays:
Brad Mays is a veteran of dozens of stage, television, and independent film productions spanning over thirty years. He first became interested in theatre and film while attending high school in Princeton, New Jersey in 1970.
Mays began his career by appearing in his first school play, Joseph Heller's "We Bombed In New Haven," and was later invited to participate in a work/study program at the McCarter Theatre, a professional repertory company housed in an elegant proscenium house in town.
After his family moved to Baltimore, Mays became involved in an experimental theatre company, the Corner Theatre ETC, where he had the opportunity to participate in several plays written by Gordon Porterfield, a highly controversial Baltimore playwright.
Mays went on to study at Towson University and later directed and co-starred in a well-received production of "Equus," which he followed up with Euripides' "The Bacchae." He also directed productions of "Chamber Music" by Arthur Kopit, "White Whore And The Bit Player" by Tom Eyen, and Brecht/Weill's "Threepenny Opera."
Mays' first New York effort was an evening of one-act plays written by his long-time friend Linda Chambers, which were performed at the Cubiculo Theatre. He later directed a highly inventive staging of "The Water Hen" by Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz, which critic Mark Matousak praised for its "masterful comic direction."
Mays took his first shot at independent filmmaking with his production of "Stage Fright" (1989),which played at the Berlin Film Festival. He then moved to Hollywood, where he worked as a script writer and doctor for several years before directing plays such as "Dragon Slayers" by Stanley Keyes and a two-act version of "Joan" by Linda Chambers.
Mays began film editing as a way of paying the bills and went on to edit numerous films for other directors, including "Resillience," "Shakespeare's Merchant," "Dodo," "Showgirls - Provincetown, MA," and "Crystal Fog."
He directed and edited the documentary feature "Sing*ularity" in 2006, which depicts the innovative methods employed by Ann Baltz's famed OperaWorks Program for the training of opera singers. He also directed the romantic comedy "The Watermelon" in 2008, which received its world debut at the San Diego Film Festival.
Mays has also directed several other films, including the political documentary "The Audacity of Democracy," the award-nominated comedy web series "Customer Diss-Service," and the comedy short "The Donut Shop."
In 2009, Mays was invited to participate in a discussion about "The Bacchae" for the acclaimed PBS series "Invitation To World Literature." He has also written two plays, "A Tissue of Lies: A Story of Horatio, Fortinbras and Wittenberg Following the Overthrow of Denmark" and "Culture War: Savonarola and the Medici's."
Mays' most recent feature films include the documentary "I Grew Up in Princeton," a unique exploration of what life was like in the shadow of one of the world's great universities during the cultural and political upheavals of the late 60s/early 70s; "Road Rage," a bleak comedy about falling in hate; "Aiden's Butterflies," a short film portrait of a young boy who is doing his part to save Monarch Butterflies from extinction; and "Jubilate Trego," a loving feature tribute to one of the greatest American choral directors of the 20th century.
In September of 2019, Mays premiered his feature documentary film "Two Trentons: An American City Speaks" at the New Jersey International Film Festival, where it won the "Best Documentary, Honorable Mention" award. In 2020, he directed the music video "Leviathan," for Detroit producer Blake Harrington. He also worked as cinematographer on "Rags Of Time: J. Robert Oppenheimer," for his friend, director Patricia Robinson-Linder.
In 2022, Mays premiered his feature documentary film "3 Degrees of Connection" at the Global Nonviolent Film Festival, where it won the "Best Director of a Feature Documentary" award. The festival's jury referred to Mays as "the best documentary director in the United States."
