About

My name is Alexandra Petrus.

I'm a multimedia artist working across a variety of narrative disciplines, primarily working with film, games, animation, and experimental combinations of the three.

I am currently working toward a PhD in Cinema and Media Studies at USC School of Cinematic Arts.

I've got several projects in development — stay tuned!

Full CV

Education

August 2022 - present

PhD | University of Southern California

Cinema and Media Studies

Sept 2017 - Feb 2021

MA | Cologne Game Lab

Game Development and Research

Aug 2013–May 2017

BA | California State University Long Beach

Film and Electronic Arts (Directing), German Studies

Feb–Aug 2016

Hamburg University of Applied Sciences

Semester abroad studying Media Technology

Additional Courses

American Film Institute

Cinematography Intensive for Women Workshop | Aug 2018

University of California, Los Angeles

35mm Photography | July 2013

Theater Acting | July 2011

University of Southern California

16mm Filmmaking | June–Aug 2012

Professional Experience

May 2020–present

Co-Founder, CEO

Achtung Autobahn Studios

Co-founded this games studio
Art director on first project Maniacs, an action-adventure game about the 1968 student protest movement in West Berlin
Established the art style and crafted the game’s story
Conducted historical research
Maniacs was twice awarded funding from the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW for concept (€20,000) and prototype (€80,000)

Jan – Dec 2021

Graduate Program Manager, Lecturer

Cologne Game Lab

Taught undergraduate Media Studies Close Reading, including:
- G.W. Hegel Lectures on Aesthetics
- Aristotle Poetics
- Sigmund Freud The Uncanny and Creative Writers and Daydreaming
- Walter Benjamin The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction
- Vannevar Bush As We May Think
- J.C.R. Linklider Man-Computer Symbiosis
- Alan Turing Computing Machinery and Intelligence
- Sherry Turkle Video Games and Computer Holding Power.
Taught Academic Writing for first, third, and sixth-semester undergraduate students
Graded undergraduate papers and exams
Additionally was the lead organizer and administrator of the graduate program, advising students on their general studies and theses as well as scheduling and arranging contracts
MA Students Advised
Misra, Nitish, "How does Video Game Level Pacing Affect Player Experience?": 4/25/2022
Thai Binh Minh Do, “Learning Through Gaming: The Efficacy of Visuals and Storytelling and the Game Concept Creation for a Journey through Vietnamese Mythology”: 09/05/2021
Ke Zhang, “Analytics- and Data-driven Development of Mobile Games: A Critical Reflection”: 05/28/2021
BA Students Advised
Menzel Ruben, “Design of a Strategy Game Faction for the Modding Project Sins of the Prophets & an Analysis of How a Visual Identity can be Adapted into a Foreign Genre”: 07/14/2021

Oct 2017–Aug 2022

Motion Graphics Artist

Sneaky Little Sister

Created motion graphics content and animations for documentaries and social media campaigns
Clients included the ACLU, the Brady Campaign, and PBS
Worked on documentary features The Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin, The Unforgettable Augustus Post, Before You Were Born, among others

March–Dec 2019

Undergraduate Program Manager, Lecturer

Cologne Game Lab

Taught undergraduate Game Studies Close Reading, including:
- Roger Caillois Man, Play, and Games
- Sherry Turkle Aspects of the Self
- Jesper Juul Half Real: Videogames Between Real Rules and Fictional Worlds
Graded undergraduate papers and exams
Additionally provided organizational support for the undergraduate program

June–July 2017

Producer

Camp Reel Stories

Acted as mentor to a team of high-school girls in creating a short-form documentary, The Price of Pink, about gendered medical and household products
Taught the basics of production pipelines, from developing their ideas to editing

Aug – Dec 2015

Intern

Revelations Entertainment

● Assisted producers of various Morgan Freeman-backed projects

● Conducted research for the National Geographic documentary The Story of God

Aug 2014 – Dec 2015

Teaching Assistant, Film and Electronic Arts

California State University Long Beach

Provided organizational support and grading to two film courses:
- Media Aesthetics with directing professor Tom Blomquist
- Production Design with designer John Muto

2014–now

Freelance Film Production

●      Primarily worked in camera, grip and electric, and art departments
●      Mainly worked on thesis films at AFI and USC, along with small commercials and independent productions
●      Additionally edited many short films and promotional content

Game Development

2020–present

Maniacs

●      Art director, narrative writer
●      Action-adventure game about the 1968 student protest movement of West Berlin
●      Twice won funding from the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW for the development of a concept and prototype amounting to €100,000
●      First endeavor of the co-founded games studio Achtung Autobahn Studios

2018–2019

On and On: We Ran Away

● Artist, narrative designer
● Adventure game about a pregnant woman returning home to post-war Kosovo from Italy

2018

Bad Girls

● Artist, animator
● Beat-em-up game created as an adaptation of William Gibson’s Johnny Mnemonic

2018

Apollo 18

● Animator, narrative designer
● Click-and-point adventure game commissioned by the Wallraf Richartz Museum in Cologne about lost characters in paintings trying to find their way back to their rightful place

2018

Lost in Transmission

●      Artist, animator
●      Adventure game about the transmission of false information
●      Created within 48 hours at the Global Game Jam

2018

Dark Circus

● A jump-and-run platformer exploring the worlds of Paul Klee’s paintings
● Created independently (animation and programming)

2017

Armored Amish Mania

● Retro-style shooter game about fighting homophobia
● Created independently (art, animation, and programming)

2017

Jump the Trump

● Motion capture artist
● Simple one-click comedy game created as an exercise in motion capture

Directing

2017

Mourning Dove

●      Wrote and directed this senior film highlighting the emotional impact of the civil war in Syria on its child victims in an effort to energize against western apathy toward tragedies occurring in the Middle East
●      Script won first-place selection for funding by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association
●      Indiegogo campaign was featured on Women & Hollywood, as the crew was composed mainly of women from minority backgrounds
●      Selected, nominated, and won many festival awards

2016

Olivia's

● Co-directed this experimental animation about Hamburg’s infamous red-light district

2016

Sogni intorno alla Città Ideale

● Co-directed this experimental documentary about the internal monologues of early-morning train passengers—those going to work and returning from parties—in Hamburg, Germany

2016

Friederike

● Wrote and directed this short film at a 24-hour filmmaking workshop at the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences

2015

Rosemary with Ginger

● Directed this dramatic One-Act written by Edward Allen Baker about the strife of two young mothers with strong ideological differences, performed live for a directing class at CSULB

2014

Victim of Ambition

● Wrote and directed this experimental short about lack of fulfillment and burnout

2013

Comme le Poulet

● Wrote, directed, and acted in this satirical short film parodying French existentialism

2013

Unsaid Things

● Wrote and directed this short dramatic film about the awkwardness of two old friends reuniting

2012

On the Dark

● Wrote and directed this dramatic short film with 16mm film.

Awards, Scholarships & Funding

2021

Ubisoft Newcomer Award

Deutscher Entwicklerpreis (German Developer Award)
Game Maniacs was nominated

2020

Prototype Funding

Film- und Medienstiftung NRW
(Film and Media Fund North Rhein Westphalia)
Game Maniacs awarded €80,000 to develop a prototype over six months

2020

Concept Funding

Film- und Medienstiftung NRW
Game Maniacs awarded €20,000 to develop a game concept over four months

2017

Best Student Film

Hollywood International Moving Pictures Film Festival
For short film Mourning Dove

2017

Best Film

California State University System-Wide Media Arts Festival
Short film Mourning Dove won second place

2013–2017

President's Honor List

California State University, Long Beach
Highest GPA-based honor awarded all eight semesters of my undergraduate career

2017

College of Liberal Arts Distinguished Baccalaureate Award

California State University, Long Beach College of Liberal Arts
Granted by both Film and Electronic Arts and Department of Romance, German and Russian for this award granted to only one undergraduate student

2016

Senior Film Funding Selection

Hollywood Foreign Press Association
Short film script Mourning Dove won first-place selection for funding

2016

Richard and Johanna Baker Endowed Scholarship

California State University, Long Beach College of the Arts
Highest College of the Arts scholarship awarded only to one student per year

2015

Outstanding Achievement Certificate

The German Summer School of New Mexico
Certificate awarded to the top 10% of students at this intensive immersion language program

2015

French Program Award

California State University, Long Beach
French language award presented to one student per class

2015

German Program Award

California State University, Long Beach
German language award presented to one student per class

In Press

2021

Womenize! Games and Tech

Featured in the “Inspiring Stories” blog of this organization for advancing women in the games and tech industries.

2018

The American Society of Cinematographers

Included in an article about the first AFI Cinematography Intensive for Women, “Stephen Lighthill, ASC Helps AFI Launch Cinematography Introductory Intensive for Women.”

2017

Women in Hollywood

Crowdfunding campaign for Mourning Dove was featured in the article “Know no Boundaries: Crowdfunding Picks.”