Birthdate: Jul 13, 1977
Birthplace: Tampico, Mexico
Alejandro Monteverde (birthname: José Alejandro Gómez Monteverde) is a Mexican-born director/writer/producer who has worked largely in American independent cinema. Monteverde’s debut feature was the anti-abortion-themed Bella (2006), co-written by him and Patrick Million, and co-starring Eduardo Verástegui (who was also a producer, along with Monteverde) and Tammy Blanchard, and grossing $12 million (on a $3.3 million budget) after winning the Toronto film festival’s People’s Choice Award.
Monteverde’s second feature was the critically lambasted WWII drama, Little Boy (2015), co-starring Jakob Salvati, Emily Watson, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Michael Rapaport, Verástegui (again a producer as well), Ben Chaplin, and Tom Wilkinson, and lost money for distributors Open Road Films and Videocine with a $17.7 million global gross.
Monteverde co-wrote (with Rod Barr) and directed the controversial box-office hit, Sound of Freedom (2023), starring Jim Caviezel, Mira Sorvino, and Bill Camp, grossing a knockout $250.6 million (on a $14.5 million budget) for indie distributor Angel Studios but earning a contentious reputation for its dramatization of ideas held in the QAnon conspiracy movement.
Alejandro Monteverde then directed and co-wrote the story (again, with Barr) of his second period-set movie with Cabrini (2024), a biopic on Mother Francesca Cabrini, the first American naturalized citizen saint, starring Cristiana Dell’Anna, David Morse, Giancarlo Giannini, and John Lithgow, and released by Angel Studios. Monteverde served as a producer on the border thriller, The Wingwalker (date to be announced), co-written by Alonso Alvarez and Max Arcineaga (who also co-starred with Hector Jimenez and Will Rothhaar) and directed by Alvarez.
Alejandro Monteverde was born and raised by his parents in Tampico, Mexico. Monteverde moved to Austin, Texas, to study English at Austin Community College until he “talked his way” into the film department of the University of Texas at Austin, where he made his first short film, Bocho (2000), and then, after moving to New York City, the short Waiting for Trains (2002). Monteverde has been married to actor Ali Landry since 2006; the couple has three children, including daughter Estela and sons Marcelo and Valentin. Monteverde’s estimated net worth is $2 million.
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Prized Immigrant: Alejandro Monteverde has received the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ award for Outstanding American by Choice, honoring naturalized citizens’ achievements in the U.S.
White House Honor: After President George W. Bush and Laura Bush watched Monteverde’s movie, Bella, he was invited to sit in the First Lady’s private box during the 2007 State of the Union address.
Shingle: Alejandro Monteverde’s Beverly Hills-based production company, Metanoia Films (Greek for “conversion”), is partnered with his frequent co-producer and actor Eduardo Verástegui, who has been an anti-abortion activist, directs the ultra-right Viva Mexico movement in Mexico and is registered as an independent candidate for the 2024 Mexican presidential campaign.