Alex Helfrecht

Agent: Julian Friedmann & Leyla Hattabi

 Alex Helfrecht was born to an American father and British mother and grew up in the UK, France, and the Caribbean. They studied English at University College London before training as a theatre professional at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.

Alex writes and directs for stage and screen, focusing on adaptations of classic literature and music, and on showcasing emerging writers and composers. Theatre credits include the dystopian satire 2+2+2 featuring Richard E. Grant; FIESTA: The Sun Also Rises (after Ernest Hemingway) at Trafalgar Studios; and 1800 Acres at Riverside Studios starring Cathy Tyson and Tobi Bakare. Most recently, Alex directed Lost Watches by Lorenzo Allchurch at Park Theatre, with Jason Isaacs as the voice of William Burroughs, praised as “compelling, soundly performed and touching” (The Reviews Hub).

Their acclaimed short films include Battle for Britain (starring Julian Glover) and Nyet: A Brexit Border Farce (Olivia Williams, Beatie Edney, Garry Mountaine), sold to Sky. Alex’s debut feature The White King (2017) starred Agyness Deyn, Jonathan Pryce, Greta Scacchi, and Fiona Shaw, premiering at Edinburgh International Film Festival and was distributed internationally.

Alex’s sophomore feature, A Winter’s Journey—an animated-live action adaptation of Schubert’s Winterreise starring John Malkovich, Martina Gedeck, Jason Isaacs, Marcin Czarnik and Gabriella Moran—is due for release in 2026 with Mk2 handling international sales.

Alex will serve as Writer-in-Residence in Alingsås, Sweden, in 2025 to work on their debut novel Dissolution, also being adapted into a chamber opera. They live in Oxford with their two children and are a breast cancer survivor.