Max r Lincoln, BA (Hons) Film Production

Course: BA (Hons) Film Production

Graduated: 2012

For many creatives, specialising in one single discipline is the traditional route to industry success. For 2012 BA (Hons) Film Production graduate Max r Lincoln, a thriving career means embracing two disciplines or a professional "dual personality."

Over the past 14 years since leaving from Arts University Bournemouth (AUB), Max has carved out a highly successful, multi-faceted path in the film industry, balancing the meticulous logistics of high-end art department roles with his passion for writing and directing independent horror fiction.

Max’s professional life is a masterclass in creative versatility. On one side, he's an established production designer and art director. For the last six years, he's primarily focused on designing high-profile commercials, a fast-paced sector he actively prefers to long-form narrative features, especially since becoming a father.

His commercial portfolio includes monumental undertakings, such as serving as an art director for a major John Lewis summer 2025 campaign titled Tableau. The continuous-take project spanned a century of the brand's history and required managing a massive crew, numerous sets, and an intricate budget across an expansive outdoor field.

Alongside commercials, Max still steps into major narrative features when the opportunity aligns, having previously worked as a standby art director on The Ballad of Wallis Island.

Yet, the art department is only half the story. Max has successfully utilised his design career to fund his creative outlet: directing fiction.

“I’ve basically been funding my directing career through design work. I’ve made about 11 short films since graduating, including Inebriated, which AUB co-financed.”

Lately, Max's directorial eye has been firmly fixed on the horror genre. His viral short film, Rhyme or Die, a high-concept thriller tracking five characters forced to rhyme or face a brutal demise via murder collars, has amassed nearly 1.2 million views online.

One of Max's most inspiring triumphs is how he has navigated his career as a dyslexic filmmaker. Initially believing that writing a feature-length screenplay or managing heavy administration would be completely out of reach, Max has developed highly visual techniques to master both.

When it comes to screenwriting, Max relies on an organic, visual-first methodology rather than staring at a blank text document:

• Visual mapping: He builds complex mind maps, spiral charts, and character webs to connect ideas before touching a script.
• Rigid outlining: Once the visual structure is sound, he translates it into a strict outline to act as the narrative framework.
• The "forward only" rule: During the drafting phase, Max forces himself to push forward to the final page without looking back at spelling or grammatical errors.

“It’s very easy to get caught up on spelling mistakes and grammatical errors,” Max says. “I try not to look back too much, because then you see all the mistakes. If you keep dragging yourself forward to the very end, it means you’ve done it. Then you can go back to the top and repeat the process.”

This determined mindset also carried over into his art department roles, where he found himself unexpectedly handling complex financial logistics. “I never realised how much time I’d spend on Excel. I’m constantly doing spreadsheets, budgets, crew and logistics. It's not something I thought as a dyslexic person I would be able to do, but it’s a skill like anything else. You can train it.”

Max’s time at AUB also laid the foundation for lifelong professional friendships. He graduated alongside director Nick Rowland, who now serves as an Industry Patron for the film school.

Despite demanding schedules, and Nick now being based in Los Angeles, the peer connection remains strong. Max recently had the opportunity to shadow Nick on the set of the hit Netflix series The Gentlemen, gaining invaluable insights into high-end, flashy television production.

Max has also shadowed director Lee Haven Jones on two ITV dramas (A Cruel Love and Passenger), allowing him to contrast the heightened, comedic tone of Netflix with the darker, atmospheric storytelling of ITV.

Max is currently collaborating with the writer of Rhyme or Die to adapt the viral short into a full-length feature film. During art department downtime, Max has spent the past year writing his own solo feature script, Brain Drain, which was accepted into the 2026 European Genre Forum. It has ensured that every quiet period in the industry is met with renewed creative purpose.