Max Stossel
Poet, filmmaker, speaker
Max Stossel is an award-winning poet + filmmaker named by Forbes as one of the best storytellers of the year. His performances across five continents, from Lincoln Center in NY to the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney, have been described as mind expanding, profound, emotive, and hilarious all at once. His work has been translated to fourteen languages, won multiple film festivals, and has been viewed over 15 million times online.
Max Stossel is also the Head of Education & Content for the Center for Humane Technology, an organization of former tech insiders and CEOs dedicated to realigning technology with humanity’s best interests. Before joining CHT, Max was a media strategist with an extensive background in social, spending more time learning the ins and outs of the facebook algorithm than any human should. He ran social for multinational brands, and later worked for a social media company where he designed some of the same notification structures to distract students that he now criticizes. He provides a unique and much needed critical perspective on the role of technology in the classroom.
The merging of these fields allows Max to provide a fascinating perspective on modern content and culture. He is currently performing Words That Move in theatres, speaking or performing at schools, corporations & events, and helping select brands tell their stories in his style via video.
His latest project, Words That Move is a first-of-its-kind, Stand-Up Poetry Special from award-winning artist, Max Stossel, who was named by Forbes as one of the best storytellers of the year. Like Derek Delgaudio's "In and of Itself", or Bo Burnham's "Inside", it's a new category of content that is undeniably moving and delightful. A live performance of nine stories told on stage at Kings Theater, each with its own combination of live-action, VFX, and animation, "Words That Move" covers powerful messaging on destigmatizing mental health, making women feel safe, social media's impact on our relationships, and more.
It's a new category of content that is undeniably moving and delightful. Max has been able to find the rare combination of both natural internet virality and artistic acclaim. His work has been translated into fourteen languages, won multiple film festivals, and has been viewed over 20 million times online. He's been featured in BBC, CNN, Buzzfeed, Bustle, Fast Company, and Upworthy, and performed for Sofar Sounds, Google, TEDx, Splash Hasbro, and more. This special was directed by Erin Richards, known for playing Barbara Kean in the television series Gotham on Fox. More recently she's directed an episode of the hit TV series ‘God Friended Me’ on CBS and stars in The Crown's newest season as Kelly Fisher. It will be released officially on January 11th, 2023.