Born in Bucharest to Maria, an actress, and Eugen, a playwright, Alex Rotaru grew up in the theatre and started out as an award-winning teenage film actor. Inspired by studying cinema at the Sorbonne, after receiving a top-honors degree in Physics from MIT, Alex switched gears and earned a Film Production MFA from USC SCA. He has directed several award-winning documentaries, including the New York Times Critic’s Pick THEY CAME TO PLAY, and SHOWTIME Networks’ SHAKESPEARE HIGH, produced by Kevin Spacey, Dana Brunetti and Dean Devlin.  

A US Department of State cultural ambassador,  Alex has traveled the world far and wide to educate and entertain in numerous cultural exchange programs.  Currently in post-production with the feature documentary MONA/LISA (based on pianist Mona Golabek’s life as told by the NY Drama Desk-nominated play THE PIANIST OF WILLESDEN LANE), the fiction film MISSING TIME (a hermetic mystery thriller), and the feature documentary GONNA FLY NOW (a biography - with a twist - of twice Oscar-nominated singer-songwriter, Carol Connors), Alex is a recipient of a Christopher Award for PBS POV’s THE HOBART SHAKESPEAREANS, a member of director Louis Fantasia’s LA-based staged readings Shakespeare acting troupe, and lives in Beverly Hills with his son Max.