Filmmaker Biography Max Shores is a thirty-year veteran of documentary production. Through broadcast on Alabama Public Television and PBS stations nationwide, his documentaries have told compelling stories of life in the southeastern U.S. Recent awards include Best Alabama Film and Best Professional Documentary from the 2007 George Lindsey UNA Film Festival, Best of Show and First Place Documentary from the 2007 Macon Film Festival, and Second Place Feature Documentary from the 2006 Tupelo Film Festival. His work has also been screened at the Memphis International Film Festival, Crossroads Film Festival, Rome International Film Festival, Real to Reel Film Festival, Southern Fried Flicks Film Festival, Secret City Film Festival, Oxford Film Festival, Appalachian Film Festival, Indie Grits Film Festival, New York City Food Film Festival, International Film Festival of England, and the Globians Documentary Film and World Culture Festival of Germany. As a producer-director at the University of Alabama Center for Public Television and Radio, Shores has what he calls, “the coolest job in the world.” “I have the freedom of an independent producer without many of the budget headaches,” he says. “I get to choose topics for which I have a passion, and the University provides the budget, equipment, and talented professional personnel. On top of that, I get to work with a group of eager students in support positions.” Shores is a Winfield, Alabama native and a graduate of the University of Alabama. He is a product of the University’s College of Communications and Information Sciences and has been training students in documentary production both in the field and as adjunct faculty in the Telecommunications & Film Department since receiving a Masters degree in 1984. Through his research for The Amazing Story of Kudzu, Shores is considered one of the world’s leading scholars on the kudzu vine. He traced the 1540 route of Spanish conquistador Hernando Desoto across the southeastern U.S. for In Search of Desoto’s Trail and documented the history of what was once called the "wickedest city in America" in Up from the Ashes: the Phenix City Story. In The Chief: Calvin McGhee and the Forgotten Creeks he told the sad, yet triumphant story of a Native American group left behind in Alabama when others were forcibly removed to Oklahoma in the 1830s. Recent projects include Scrambled Films, a documentary about three teams participating in a 48 hour film competition and Songs Inside The Box, featuring cigar box guitar enthusiasts. Shores and his wife Cindy have three daughters - Katie, Mary and Myra. Return to Home Page