Brad Mays - Home

In 1982, Mays moved to New York City, where he directed a number of off-Broadway stage productions, including REQUIEM by Linda Chambers, DRAGON SLAYERS by Stanley Keyes, and the acclaimed THE WATER HEN by Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz. During this time he also produced and directed his first feature-length film, STAGE FRIGHT, which was premiered at the 1989 Berlin International Film Festival.

After relocating to Hollywood in 1989, Brad Mays worked in a variety of capacities: screenwriter, script doctor, post production supervisor, producer, editor and director. He has also staged a number of highly-acclaimed and award-nominated theatrical productions: JOAN by Linda Chambers, The PERSECUTION and ASSASSINATION of JEAN-PAUL MARAT as PERFORMED by the INMATES of the ASYLUM of CHARENTON UNDER the DIRECTION of the MARQUIS de SADE by Peter Weiss, a highly controversial multimedia production of Anthony Burgess' A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, and the critically acclaimed 1997 hit production of Euripides' THE BACCHAE, which he adapted to film in 2002.

In 2008, Mays completed work on the documentary film SING*ularity, a portrait of Ann Baltz's world-famous OperaWorks training program for classical vocalists. Mays' 2008 romantic comedy feature, THE WATERMELON, was featured at the 2008 San Diego Film Festival,was recipient of the "Diamond Award" at the 2011 California Film Festival, and is currently in national distribution. Other films include the feature-length political documentary THE AUDACITY of DEMOCRACY, the multiple award-winning short A WAY BACK IN, the award-nominated 2011 comedy web series CUSTOMER DISS-SERVICE, and the 2012 comedy short, THE DONUT SHOP, winner of "The People's Choice Award" at the 2012 San Francisco Black Film Festival, and "Best Comedy" at the 2013 San Diego Black Film Festival.

In 2009, Mays was invited by producer Annie Wong to participate - along with Nobel Prize winner Wole Soyinka, theatre scholar Richard Schechner, and acclaimed actor Alan Cumming - in a discussion about THE BACCHAE for the acclaimed PBS series AN INVITATION TO WORLD LITERATURE, which is now a permanent feature of Annenberg Media's educational website.

In 2015, Mays moved back to the Princeton area. Most recently, his feature films are 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 galling in hate, which premiered in March of 2016; AIDEN'S BUTTERFLIES, a short film portrait of a young boy who is doing his part to save Moncarch Butterflies from extinction; and JUBILATE TREGO, a loving feature tribute to one of the greatest American choral directors of the 20th century. His social documentary feature, TWO TRENTONS: An American City Speaks, premiered in late 2019 at the Trenton International Film Festival, and has subsequently continued to be featured in other film festivals around the country. In 2021, Mays began production on 3 DEGREES OF CONNECTION, a feature documentary film which explores the environmental, racial, and other social challenges of Lewes, Delaware. On September 16, 2022, the Global Nonviolent Film Festival announced the inclusion of both TWO TRENTONS: An American City Speaks, and 3 DEGREES OF CONNECTION as official selections in their 11th annual film competition. On the day of its screening, festival co-founder Bruno Pischiutta, in his televised introduction, referred to Brad Mays as "the best documentary director in the United States." The festival's jury ultimately awarded Mays with "Best Director of a Feature Documentary" for TWO TRENTONS: AN AMERICAN CITY SPEAKS. The Seaside Sustainability Film Festival of Gloucester, Massachusetts also featured 3 DEGREES OF CONNECTION as an Official Selection in their first annual presentation. While all of this was happening, Mays also finished writing two plays - the first, "A TISSUE OF LIES: A Story of Horatio, Fortinbras and Wittenberg, Following the Overthrow of Denmark"; and the second "THE CULTURE WAR," an historical play about Savonarola in 15th century Florence, Italy.

Brad Mays works for a number of performing arts and television production companies.