Episode 12: Alex Mentzel combining social impact and the arts

About Alex Mentzel

Alex Mentzel is an actor and entrepreneur finishing his last year at the University of Oregon, majoring in German Literature and Theater Arts. Recent credits as an actor include: Joseph Douiahy in Sons of the Prophet (UO Theatre), Tobias Ragg in Sweeney Todd (Eugene Opera), the Brother in Bertolt Brecht's 7 Deadly Sins (The Shedd), a Dalton Academy Warbler on Fox's Glee, and Quinn Baxter on NBC's Grimm. He has taught musical theatre, improv comedy workshops, and choreography to students at the U of O and in Los Angeles. He recently returned from six months in Frankfurt, Germany on a German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) thesis grant researching Bertolt Brecht and Franz Kafka under Prof. Dr. Nikolaus Müller-Schöll and working as assistant director on Jan Phillip-Stange and Nir Schauloff's All in All at the Künstlerhaus Mousonturm. He is currently working on a collaborative audio/animation piece (formerly a theater play before the Covid-19 pandemic!) based on Kafka's The Trial that addresses themes such as immigration, human rights, and government bureaucracy, which will be released in the spring. When not focused on creative projects, he is also one of three co-founders of the social impact startup Averto (www.averto.ly), a crowd-sourced, community moderated conflict safety app with ~250,000 users in Tripoli, Libya. He is so excited to share the vital impact the arts have had throughout his life on Artistic Beginnings!

Show Notes

Resources

Instagram: @alexmentzel
Twitter: @alexpilottogo1

Favorite Quote / Mantra

“Nobody cares. Don’t be too self-serious. Fuck who sees.” - Frank Ocean

Key Learnings

Alex was always fascinated with the arts from a young age. He started doing plays in school as early as 2nd grade and knew that he wanted to explore that path. He went on to perform professionally and go to school to explore this interest.
While exploring his passion for the arts he found other important factors for his life. He is interested in combining his creative work with social impact work that will help the world become a better place. He is following that path by working with his co-founders to develop Averto.
Skills Alex learned while pursuing the arts have served him well in his future goals and in great part is what can be attributed to his success to this point. He appreciates these learnings and looks to use them as he continues into the future of whatever career he decides to follow.