Alvin (AJ) Taylor II is an award winning filmmaker, creative technologist, and educator based in New York City.
His work blends genre filmmaking, sound-forward storytelling, and experimental design — often exploring perception, memory, and the tension between control and chaos.
His short film Lose It screened at 30+ top festivals across the U.S. and abroad, including the Academy-Qualifying Austin Film Festival and FilmQuest, earning honors for sound design and direction.
AJ directs Columbia Startup Lab, where he supports 50+ early-stage ventures annually through creative programming and prototyping labs, and teaches human-centered design at Columbia University. He holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a BA in Music from Mississippi State.
Lose It
Short Film
Role(s): Writer, Director, Editor, Sound Design
Lose It is a horror short exploring anxiety and perception through sound. I built the story around auditory disorientation and micro-escalations in tension, using rhythm and silence as narrative tools.
Selected at 30+ festivals including Austin Film Festival, FilmQuest, and Brooklyn Horror. Multiple awards for best short film, direction, and sound.
Portfolio
Don Mane | Brain Clicking
Music Video
Role(s): Director, Producer, Art Direction
Brain Clicking is a visual experiment I pitched around a Brooklyn rapper’s track — built to play with contrast, tone, and a little comic book chaos. We started with natural street-level footage, then pushed things into a glow-in-the-dark finale using makeup, movement, and practical effects.
The look was loosely inspired by Schumacher-era Gotham — theatrical, a little ridiculous, and fully committed.
(the) Assistant
Short Film
Role(s): Writer, Director, Editor, Sound Design
(the) Assistant is a quiet workplace drama that explores race, labor, and the ways support roles are often undervalued. Told with minimal dialogue and still compositions, it highlights the power dynamics embedded in silence and routine.
A jazz-heavy original score by Darrian Douglas, Fernando Saci, and Tiffany Ortiz underscores what goes unspoken.
Screened at NY Shorts, Dumbo Fest, and Guines La Nove.
Welcome to the Columbia Startup Lab!
Promo Video
Role(s): Producer, Voiceover, Interviewer, Sound Editor
Columbia Startup Lab promo made for the 2025–26 application cycle, spotlighting the space and some of the founders in this year’s cohort. I produced the piece and handled interviews, voiceover, and sound—part of our broader media work at CSL, which includes CSL Talks, our “TED Talks”–style series featuring founders and emerging tech, and content produced through the in-house CSL Media Lab (est. 2021).