About
Maxim Vinogradov is the American-Canadian son of Jewish refugees from the former Soviet Union.
He is regularly lauded for working very hard and being a joy to be around. He has brought baked treats to work on more than one occasion. He genuinely loves researching things and will spend hours making sure info is perfect.
At Orchard Lake Middle School, Max was the sole recipient of the Viking of the Year Award, honoring the 8th grader who exemplified kindness, leadership, and academics, as decided by faculty. He gave a speech at graduation.
He lives in Calgary, Alberta and is willing to relocate anywhere except Ohio.
Education
| COULD BE YOUR SCHOOL Doctor of Philosophy | ASAP 3.97 GPA | Please | UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY Master of Fine Arts | April 2025 3.96 GPA | Drama (Playwriting) | UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Bachelor of Arts | April 2019 3.7 GPA | High Honors | English |
Experience
Teaching Assistant | UCalgary, DRAM 203 (Creativity) | Fall 2024
- Wrote and delivered three lectures to 100+ non-majors: Richard Florida’s “creative class,” collaboration, and Edward de Bono’s Six Thinking Hats. Included in-depth explanations of collectivism in Western art, game theory in performance, and devising theatre.
- Graded and advised students through all assignments, including final projects of sculptures embodying fears of exploring creativity.
Teaching Assistant | UCalgary, DRAM 471 (Adv. Playwriting) | Fall 2023
- Wrote and delivered a lecture on dialogue, with 20 in-text examples across classic and contemporary world dramatic literature, and multiple devised exercises on creative approaches to dialogue.
- Graded scenes and provided in-depth feedback for students, including mentoring two one-acts into fringe/student productions.
Graduate Assistant Non-Teaching | C. Martini, P. Balkwill | 2024 – 2025
- Aided playwright and professor Clem Martini in the development of his upcoming script, including dense research into climate litigation, developing agricultural practices, and firefighting equipment.
- Aided Drama Division Lead Peter Balkwill in the development of his project on Indonesian puppetry, facilitating dozens of interviews and transcriptions with dalongs of wayang kulit and wayang wong.
Development / Resident Playwright | Slipstream Theatre Initiative | 2017 – 2020
- Four commissioned plays and three published scripts. Rigorous research, drafting, and editing for production.
- Intensive grant writing, patron fundraising, youth outreach, and correspondence with donors, including penning newsletters.
Freelance Writer | 2018 – Present
- Really? no, Really? – wrote monologues and researched episode ideas for Jason Alexander and Peter Tilden’s iHeart podcast.
- Screen Rant – wrote 5-15 news articles weekly on film and TV, with an average readership of 16,000 and a personal invitation to the Motion Picture Association’s Domestic Press Registry.
- MovieWeb – from the above position promoted to write evergreen features on screenwriting tutorials, celebrations of female and POC film legends, and the viral article “Is Jackass Female Gaze Cinema?”
- Asian Center SEMI – wrote short plays and films advocating Hep B vaccination among southeast Michigan’s Asian male population.
Misc. Professional Theatre/Film Work. | 2014 – Present
- Production Team – helped oversee a safe and comfortable work environment at The Public Theater in NYC for 2018 Shakespeare in the Park season, including Othello and Twelfth Night, Astor Place shows Cyprus Avenue, Fire in Dreamland, and the Runaways Gala.
- Stage Manager – 70+ performances for Wagonstage Theatre’s 2024 traveling summer show The Underlings by Clem Martini, including logistics of all transportation, payroll, and client liaising.
- Director – 2017 production of A Night of Stars with Tennessee Williams, which was nominated for Best New Play at the Wilde Awards (“Michigan Tony’s”) and won Best Actor (Bailey Boudreau).
- Actor – seven professional productions, winning a Wilde Award for Acting (Brad – Band Fags) and a Broadway World Detroit Award for Best Shakespearean Actor (Mercutio – Romeo and Juliet).
- Filmmaker – three short films, winning Best Comedy at Orchard Lake Film Festival (Zuckerberg: The Real Story), Best in Show at DAFT Film Festival (Everyone Dies in the End), and Best Experimental Film – Runner Up at Lightworks Film Festival (Please Clap).
- Composer – four short films, winning Best Original Score at Lightworks Film Festival (Please Clap). Scored and led Jim Lair Beard’s Shakespeare’s Greatest Rival at UCalgary.
Selected Writing Awards
The Kennedy Center’s National Partners of the American Theatre Playwriting Award for Best Full Length Play by a Collegiate Playwright (2018).
Susan Glaspell Playwriting Award for Best National One-Act Play from the QCTW (2020).
Semi-Finalist for the National Playwrights Conference at the O’Neill Theater Center (2020, 2022, 2023).
The Arthur Miller Creative Arts Award for Best Art Thesis in Class of 2019 from Univ. of Michigan’s Goldstein Honors.
3 Hopwood Awards in Drama (school record, passing Arthur Miller), 2 Leonard & Eileen Newman Prizes in Dramatic Screenwriting, Hopwood Award in Screenplay from the University of Michigan Hopwood Program.
Wilde Award for Best New Script from EncoreMI (2018).
Professional Productions
P.Y.G. — Slipstream in Detroit, MI, 2016.
A Night of Stars with Tennessee Williams — Slipstream in Detroit, MI, 2017; Theatre Nova in Ann Arbor, MI, 2018; Regular Theatre in Cincinnati, OH, 2019.
Lost in 3 Pines — Slipstream in Detroit, MI, 2018.
My Dad was Fifteen Feet Tall — Outvisible Theatre Co. in Detroit, MI, 2019.
Dancing — Planet Ant Theatre in Detroit, MI, 2019; Regular Theatre in Cincinnati, OH, 2020.
Matea — Slipstream in Detroit, MI, 2020 (due to pandemic, cancelled).
Reading / Uni. Productions
A Night of Stars with Tennessee Williams — KCACTF Region III Reading in Madison, WI, 2018; KCACTF Region III Design Storm in Indianapolis, IN, 2019.
Lost in 3 Pines — Basement Arts at the University of Michigan, 2019.
Talking to Your Kids About Guns! — Alchemy at the University of Calgary, 2024.
U Need F.R.I.E.S. With That — Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Offices for the UCalgary Orientation Play, 2024-2027.
Girl on Parade — Alchemy at University of Calgary, AB, Winter 2025.
Selected Publications
A Night of Stars with Tennessee Williams (play), Slipstream, 2017 & 2018.
Lost in 3 Pines (play), Slipstream, 2018.
P.Y.G. (co-written play), Slipstream, 2016.
Rabbit Eats ’Round Six (short story), Café Shapiro Anthology, vol. 21, 2018.
Explained: Is Jackass Female Gaze Cinema? (feature article), MovieWeb, 2022.
Sessue Hayakawa: Who Was Hollywood’s First Heartthrob? (feature article), MovieWeb, 2022.
Here’s Why We Could Watch Spike Lee’s Movies Forever (feature article), MovieWeb, 2022.
5 Iconic Movies You Didn’t Know Were Written By Women (feature article), MovieWeb, 2022.
In Defense of the Stoner Movie (feature article), MovieWeb, 2022.
Get Out: How to Write Dramatic Narratives (feature article), MovieWeb, 2022.
Here Are 10 Screenwriting Tips From 30 Must-See Movies (feature article), MovieWeb, 2022.
Filmmaker Robert Downey Sr Passes Away At 85 (obituary), ScreenRant, 2021.
Richard Donner, Superman & The Goonies Director, Dies at 91 (obituary), ScreenRant, 2021.
Active Certifications / Unions
Dramatists Guild of America
MPA Domestic Press Registry
COVID-19 Compliance Officer (CCO)
MI-OSHA Forklift Certification (2023, Expired<3)
Languages
Spanish: intermediate experience with speaking, reading, writing (passed out of UMich equivalency exam).
Russian: two years of lessons with speaking, reading, writing.
French: one year of lessons with reading and writing.
Other Interests
Comedy: booked for stand-up multiple times at both The Hollywood Comedy and Flappers in Los Angeles. Did improv/sketch at Planet Ant: alma mater of Keegan-Michael Key, Tim Robinson, and Sam Richardson.
Musicals: four years into co-writing a rock opera about Baba Yaga in WWI.
Gardening: worked at a plant nursery, focusing on perennials.
