Alan Melikdjanian is the son of a well-known Soviet-era Russian circus performer Vilen Melikdjanian. At a very young age, he developed impressive drawing skills, designing characters and worlds in countless caricatures and comic strips. He considered pursuing a career in animation, but eventually his interests evolved into filmmaking. Alan started his early attempts at films typically: armed with a friend's wind-up 8mm camera and a series of old books about trick photography. At age 12, Alan immigrated to the United States with his family. He began to study film academically. As a student he created a series of ambitious projects that incorporated good story-telling and creative use of subtle (and not so subtle) visual effects. Directing the short film "The Realm" earned him a Best Thesis Director award at film school. He graduated from college with a BFA Degree in Film Production. Quickly gaining several professional credits as director, he has continued to work in other capacities, such as editor, visual effects supervisor and composer.