Getting Hooked on Max
Model, Writer, Director, Actor, and Heartthrob…
I got to know Max’s work from his YouTube Channel Maxisms. It is a collection of sexy, funny, informative, short videos from the multi-talented Max Emerson. Max has also stared in Glee, Eastsiders, and The Real O’’Neals to name a few.
In doing some more digging I discovered Hooked, the movie he wrote and directed. Hooked is about a homeless teenage prostitute named Jack, who battles through a violent world of reckless johns between New York City and Miami, desperately seeking a better life with his boyfriend Tom.
I decided to reach out to Max and he took time out of his busy schedule to answer a few questions about his life and his movie Hooked.
Can you tell me a little about yourself?
Hi, I’m Max. I’m an aspiring writer/director working as an actor/model. I use social media to fund projects that are either super fun or give me a sense of purpose. My partner Andres, our shepherd/husky Sarge and I enjoy travel, the outdoors and long surfs on the beach at sunset.
Where did the idea for your movie Hooked, that you wrote and directed, come about and can you tell us a little about it?
First of all, I’m thrilled that you enjoyed Hooked. It’s far from perfect (due to its tiny budget and my utter dearth of credibility as a filmmaker), and has received far less visibility than it deserves. I hope that sometime in the next decade it gets rebooted with whoever is playing Spiderman as the lead. ;)
Hooked was just one of many queer-centric projects sitting in a file on my computer. Given my social media following at the time (about 250k mostly gay men), Hooked seemed like the largest project on my roster that had a solid chance of completion. The impetus for the film is simple; the gay community needs to be taking better care of itself and make more of an effort to teach its youngest members the value of more than just sexual currency. In the early stages of my career as a model and actor, my friends and I experienced more than our share of sexual harassment and bad behavior. Hooked was initially a therapy exercise that grew into something I’m very proud to share with the world.
You are a gorgeous guy, there are probably a million shirtless pics of you out there on the internet, and how does your partner handle the numerous guys who are ogling over you constantly?
Lolz. Andres gets his photo stolen for fake dating app profiles more than I do! Andres and I met when all of this was taking off, so he knew what he was signing up for. It’s been fun to watch HIS transition into “public figure” land since it’s happening so much faster for him than it did for me.
What feeds your soul?
Telling stories that connect with strangers (hopefully in a helpful way) is the best part of my job. The discounted travel is a close second.
What is on the horizon for you? Do you plan to write and direct more movies like Hooked?
Film-wise, I simply cannot make another feature for under $1M, so I’m figuring out the best way to raise that kind of money without sacrificing my vision for the next script on my roster. On any lower budget, there are too many sacrifices to the overall quality that would prohibit the project from being something that reaches an audience size worth the effort. Likewise, my next director project must show growth, or else I’ll find myself stuck in “Bad Gay Movie Land.”
Currently, my team is in pre-production for a documentary-style series about former Trump voters called Country Kitchen. Miss Peppermint is slated to cohost. Rather than shaming people or looking for “gotcha moments”, this series is about finding common ground and understanding. The aim is to examine how these “two sides” have been distracted into being pitted against each other rather than uniting for their true common goals of equality.
On top of that, I’m hoping to launch a live show that will ideally travel along with me. It’s been too long since I’ve made something for a live audience. Hopefully, I don’t chicken out on it. The project is in a very early a stage, so, therefore, needs to be kept Top Secret for now.
Max, thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to do this interview so people can get to know you a bit more. I can’t wait to see your new projects come to life especially Country Kitchen!
If you want to keep up on what Max is up to, you can follow him on YouTube, Instagram @maxisms, and Twitter @TheMaxisms. Also, check out his new Patron page https://www.patreon.com/maxisms.
