---
name: "Alex Graves"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/alex-graves"
fi1m_id: "alex-graves"
imdb_id: "nm0336241"
tmdb_id: 1177777
wikidata_id: "Q4717090"
roles: ["Director","Producer"]
born: "23 July 1965"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 11
average_fi1m_score: 74
average_as: "director"
average_over: 11
updated: "2026-10-07T12:39:29.013990+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Alex Graves

## Identity

Alex Graves

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/alex-graves
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** alex-graves
- **IMDb ID:** nm0336241
- **TMDB ID:** 1177777
- **Wikidata ID:** Q4717090
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Graves, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4717090, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0336241/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1177777

Director and producer. Born 23 July 1965 in Kansas City, Missouri, USA.

## Details

- **Work:** Director, Producer
- **Born:** 23 July 1965, Kansas City, Missouri, USA
- **Active:** 1997–present
- **Frequently works with:** [David Nutter](https://film.one/person/david-nutter.md), [Andrew Bernstein](https://film.one/person/andrew-bernstein.md), [Bryan Gordon](https://film.one/person/bryan-gordon.md), [Dan Attias](https://film.one/person/dan-attias.md), [Debora Cahn](https://film.one/person/debora-cahn.md), [Thomas Schlamme](https://film.one/person/thomas-schlamme.md), [Aaron Sorkin](https://film.one/person/aaron-sorkin.md), [Alan Taylor](https://film.one/person/alan-taylor.md)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 74, as director, over 11 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1990s 77 (3), 2000s 80 (1), 2010s 74 (5), 2020s 68 (2)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 76 to 69 across 8 titles
- **Score spread:** 4 at 80+, 7 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Genres:** Drama 10, Sci-Fi & Fantasy 4, Comedy 3, Action & Adventure 2, Crime 2, War & Politics 2
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Graves, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4717090, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0336241/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1177777

## Streaming the US now

- **Disney+:** [*Fringe*](https://film.one/tv/fringe.md) (80), [*Homeland*](https://film.one/tv/homeland.md) (78), [*Ally McBeal*](https://film.one/tv/ally-mcbeal.md) (63)
- **HBO Max:** [*The West Wing*](https://film.one/tv/the-west-wing.md) (86), [*Game of Thrones*](https://film.one/tv/game-of-thrones.md) (82)
- **Netflix:** [*The Diplomat*](https://film.one/tv/the-diplomat.md) (76), [*Shameless*](https://film.one/tv/shameless-2011.md) (70)
- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*The Boys*](https://film.one/tv/the-boys.md) (72)
- **Paramount+:** [*Longmire*](https://film.one/tv/longmire.md) (68)
- **Apple TV:** [*Foundation*](https://film.one/tv/foundation.md) (61)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Alex Graves

> We rate Alex Graves as a director who keeps complicated television attentive to the people doing the talking. *The Diplomat* suits that approach, even when its prickly relationships are better examined than its politics.

When Keri Russell and Rufus Sewell make each other’s lives difficult in *The Diplomat* (2023), the programme has us. We enjoyed their prickliness enough to want another episode. It is a useful introduction to Alex Graves, whose attention goes to the actors and to the feelings beneath complicated dialogue. We rate that approach: a conversation needs to hold our attention even when we are not persuaded by everything being discussed.

His early feature, *The Crude Oasis* (1993), was one he wrote, produced and directed, but sustained television work became the main business. *The West Wing* (1999), Aaron Sorkin’s series, gave him 34 episodes to direct as well as producing work. That was a substantial apprenticeship in handling a busy ensemble. His preference for long takes makes sense in dialogue-driven television, allowing performers to maintain momentum rather than repeatedly breaking up their exchanges.

The later credits include six episodes of *Game of Thrones* and seven of *Foundation* (2021), alongside a substantial amount of pilot directing. Large ensembles and complicated settings recur in his work. His attention to the emotional story beneath technical language gives us a reason to follow him between genres. We are more interested in what he can get from performers than in the size of the fictional world around them.

On *The Diplomat*, the important collaboration is with creator Debora Cahn; Graves serves as both director and executive producer. The programme gives him intimate character work within public settings, and his interest in watching actors suits it. Russell and Sewell’s difficult exchanges are where we find the strongest reason to stay. There is a temptation to credit a director only when a sequence is conspicuously elaborate, but making a conversation worth listening to takes care too.

The reservation is that *The Diplomat* gives its politics less scrutiny than they need, and lively relationships cannot settle that problem. We would not hold Graves solely responsible for the weakness, or give him sole credit for the acting. Start with the programme if an evening of prickly company sounds promising, rather than expecting it to settle your questions about government.

## Biography

Alex Graves is an American film and television director, producer and screenwriter. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, he attended the University of Southern California film school and began his career directing the features *The Crude Oasis* (1995) and *Casualties* (1997).

Graves directed numerous episodes of *The West Wing* (1999–2006), for which he won two Primetime Emmy Awards, and later worked on series including *Game of Thrones* (2011–2014), *Shameless* (2011), *House of Cards* (2013), *Homeland* (2014–2019), *The Boys* (2019), *Altered Carbon* (2018), *Foundation* (2021–2023) and *The Diplomat* (2023–), directing ten episodes of the latter and serving as executive producer.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (11)

- *The Diplomat* (2023), Fi1m 76, Executive Producer, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-diplomat.md)
- *Foundation* (2021), Fi1m 61, Director, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/tv/foundation.md)
- *The Boys* (2019), Fi1m 72, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-boys.md)
- *Longmire* (2012), Fi1m 68, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/longmire.md)
- *Game of Thrones* (2011), Fi1m 82, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/game-of-thrones.md)
- *Homeland* (2011), Fi1m 78, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/homeland.md)
- *Shameless* (2011), Fi1m 70, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/shameless-2011.md)
- *Fringe* (2008), Fi1m 80, Director, Producer — [page](https://film.one/tv/fringe.md)
- *The West Wing* (1999), Fi1m 86, Writer, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-west-wing.md)
- *Sports Night* (1998), Fi1m 82, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/sports-night.md)
- *Ally McBeal* (1997), Fi1m 63, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/ally-mcbeal.md)

## Complete filmography (34)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *The Diplomat* (2023), series, Director, Executive Producer — Fi1m 76, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-diplomat.md)
- *Foundation* (2021), series, Director, Executive Producer — Fi1m 61, [page](https://film.one/tv/foundation.md)
- *Treadstone* (2019), series, Director
- *The Boys* (2019), series, Director — Fi1m 72, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-boys.md)
- *Project Blue Book* (2019), series, Director
- *Lost in Space* (2018), series, Executive Producer, Director
- *Altered Carbon* (2018), series, Director
- *S.W.A.T.* (2017), series, Director
- *Snowfall* (2017), series, Director
- *Proof* (2015), series, Executive Producer, Director
- *Bloodline* (2015), series, Director
- *Game of Thrones The IMAX Experience* (2015), Director
- *House of Cards* (2013), series, Director
- *666 Park Avenue* (2012), series, Director
- *The Newsroom* (2012), series, Director
- *Longmire* (2012), series, Director — Fi1m 68, [page](https://film.one/tv/longmire.md)
- *Homeland* (2011), series, Director — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/tv/homeland.md)
- *Terra Nova* (2011), series, Director, Executive Producer
- *Pan Am* (2011), series, Director
- *Game of Thrones* (2011), series, Director — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/tv/game-of-thrones.md)
- *Shameless* (2011), series, Director — Fi1m 70, [page](https://film.one/tv/shameless-2011.md)
- *Poe* (2011), Director
- *Fringe* (2008), series, Director, Producer — Fi1m 80, [page](https://film.one/tv/fringe.md)
- *Journeyman* (2007), series, Producer, Director
- *The Nine* (2006), series, Producer, Director
- *Boston Public* (2000), series, Director
- *The West Wing* (1999), series, Writer, Director, Producer, Supervising Producer, Co-Executive Producer, Executive Producer — Fi1m 86, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-west-wing.md)
- *Sports Night* (1998), series, Director — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/tv/sports-night.md)
- *L.A. Doctors* (1998), series, Director
- *Ally McBeal* (1997), series, Director — Fi1m 63, [page](https://film.one/tv/ally-mcbeal.md)
- *Casualties* (1997), Director, Writer
- *The Practice* (1997), series, Director
- *The Crude Oasis* (1995), Writer, Director, Producer, Editor
- *Day One*, series, Director

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/alex-graves