Directing Reel
S. Maxwell Brown is a director, composer, actor, and DJ from New York. Driven by his love of music and community, he is passionate about carving space for healing through the arts and developing stories that represent the full complexities of the Black experience. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theater & Performance Studies from Yale University.
Maxwell's journey as a director began with a lively black box production of The Wiz during his sophomore year, building a team of over 50 student artists for his debut project. Throughout his college career, he's developed several staged readings of original works (Black Boy Therapy!), and assistant-directed Dreamgirls (dir. Robert Clater) and In the Heights (dir. William Carlos Angulo) at The Muny in St. Louis. For his senior thesis in directing, he mounted the mixed-media hip-hop play PYG, or the Mis-Edumacation of Dorian Belle, for which he additionally composed the entire score.
Maxwell’s love for music is evident in his work as a composer, sound designer, and musical director. He has composed for several plays and films, ranging from satirical mockumentaries (CCC: Conflicted Cuties of Color) to nostalgic dramas (After Life). In 2024, he musically directed Shades of Yale, Yale's mission-based a cappella group dedicated to the Black tradition. Maxwell has acted with MFA candidates of the David Geffen School of Drama and studied under influential professors James Bundy, Gregory Wallace, and Branden Jacobs-Jenkins.
When not in the theater, Maxwell performs as a DJ under the moniker SMACKS. His Instagram and TikTok accounts have garnered over 5 million views across platforms, and he has been featured on the viral event series Club1BD. He treats his curation of music as sacred, mixing an eclectic catalog of hip-hop, house, and other forms of Black dance music.
He currently seeks representation and apprenticeship opportunities.
Check out his work below!