Adam Bhala Lough

Adam Bhala Lough is an award winning American film director, producer and screenwriter. He made his directorial debut at the age of 23 with Bomb the System (2002), nominated for a Spirit Award for Best First Feature it put him on Filmmaker Magazine’s Top 25 Indie Filmmakers to Watch list. 

His follow up Weapons (2007) starred a young Nick Cannon and Paul Dano and was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. Adam switched gears to Documentary soon after and directed The Upsetter: The Life and Music of Lee Scratch Perry, narrated by Academy Award-Winning actor Benicio Del Toro (2008) and the critically acclaimed and highly controversial, Lil Wayne documentary The Carter (2009). Despite being banned from release by its subject, The Carter has been listed among the greatest music documentaries of all time in NME, Rolling Stone, Complex and many other publications. 

Adam’s last film The New Radical (2017 US Documentary Competition, Sundance Film Festival) focused on Bitcoin and 3D Printed Guns and was released in theaters across the US in late 2017, landing on No Film School’s Top 10 Political Docs of the Year list. 

He lives and works in Los Angeles and is a frequent mentor at the Sundance Native and Latino screenwriter’s labs. His work is driven by an obsession with storytelling and music as well as a deep love and curiosity for people. Making movies since the age of 16, he has dedicated his life to telling compelling stories, collaborating with interesting people and creating authentic work.

Artist's Chosen Interview:

No Film School: The New Radical - Inside the Year's Most Controversial Doc

Artist's Work:

The New Radical (2017)

Inspirational Resources/Recommendations:

• In terms of resources, nofilmschool.com is my go-to resource for informative and relevant articles about indie filmmaking strategy, equipment, interviews, culture, community, etc.
• The following books also had a significant influence on my last two projects: Age of Anger by Pankaj Mishra, Hackers by Steven Levy, This Machine Kills Secrets by Andy Greenberg