Lexi Alexander

A former World Karate and Kickboxing Champion, Lexi Alexander found her calling to become a filmmaker while traveling around the world competing and teaching martial arts seminars. Born in Mannheim, Germany, Lexi dreamed of eventually moving to Hollywood and made it a point to attend every karate tournament that took place in the United States. Finally at age 19, after winning the Long Beach International Karate Championship, Lexi decided to stay in California, equipped with nothing more than two duffel bags and a pair of boxing gloves.

Pursuing her dream of becoming a filmmaker, Lexi enrolled in the renowned Joanne Baron Studio of Dramatic Arts and the Piero Dusa Acting Conservatory while simultaneously taking classes in directing, producing and writing at UCLA. To finance her education and living expenses, Lexi worked as a stunt woman specializing in martial arts, giving her the opportunity to learn about the filmmaking process from a practical side as well. Her short films, Pitcher Perfect, about the struggle of a teenage baseball prodigy, and Fool Proof, another teenage comedy, as well as several school projects, opened the door for many commercial assignments, most notably for extreme sports companies.

Lexi combined her extensive knowledge of boxing with her passion for filmmaking in her third short film, the 2003 Academy Award-nominated Johnny Flynton, the true story of a boxer who was accused of murdering his wife and convicted on circumstantial evidence, focusing on the moral ambiguities that surround all aspects of professional fighting. In the fall of 2003, Odd Lot Entertainment optioned Lexi's original screenplay, Greenstreet Hooligans, and by the spring of 2004 they were prepping the movie for production in London.

Lexi has finished directing Punisher: War Zone starring Ray Stevenson as Frank Castle / The Punisher and it was released in December 2008. Her absence at San Diego Comic Con 2008 helped fuel rumors that she has been taken off the project due to creative differences, but these rumors were dispelled by the film's cinematographer Steve Gainer. In a subsequent December 2008 interview[1] Alexander confirmed that she had had serious battles with Lionsgate, but denied that she was ever officially off the movie. "My name was never off, nor would I want it taken off, nor did I ever get a pink slip. The truth is that we had probably the same discussions that any other film has." Despite the much publicized discourse, Alexander says she's "extremely happy" with the final film:

“ It came at a price, I would say, but I made the film I wanted on the screen. I think personally, in my opinion, it would have been very dangerous to put a compromise on the screen for my own career and for the promises I made to these actors who I talked into joining the film. I don't really care that it was an uphill battle; I'm glad with what's on the screen.