Max Retik is a film director specializing in narrative and documentary projects living in Los Angeles.
Max began to teach himself filmmaking in 4th grade, when his parents gave him a flip video camera for his birthday. As a technologically inclined kid, he began to experiment with cinematography and editing, improvising the film in a day with neighborhood friends and editing it on the classroom iMac during recess. As he got older, Max began to see filmmaking as an extension of his own voice and as way to tell stories that challenge our beliefs and highlight the absurd, the awkward, the things that make us human.
With over a decade of experience, Max has created work for clients such as Apple Music, Microsoft, Universal Music Group, and Boston Children’s Hospital. Blending a passion for storytelling with strong technical expertise, he has taken on many roles across projects ranging from broadcast and independent documentaries to feature films, short films, and emerging formats like interactive media, VR, and AI-generated media. His work has screened at dozens of international film festivals, including Cannes, SXSW, and TIFF.
Max continues his lifelong journey of self-learning and expression through the medium of moving images and sound. He is currently the execute producer and founder of June Films, improving his daily journal app called Meanwhile, as well as experimenting with virtual production and other forms of interactive media.
