Alex Jeffery Interview: Director of The Power of Pickleball
Diana Landau | March 24, 2026
Bonus episode! Carl combined his two passions in this interview with Alex Jeffery -- Pickleball and Documentaries. Alex is an accomplished documentary filmmaker who recently released an in-depth documentary called the The Power of Pickleball. Alex co-owns the production company Bespoke Works with his friend and long-time collaborator, Paul Petersen. His first feature film, “A Chance Encounter,” won the audience choice award at the Heartland Film Festival in 2020 and then was released by Samuel Goldwyn Films.
His film “The Power of Pickleball” captures the essence and spirit of one of the country’s fastest-growing (and evolving) sports and it just was just released on Prime Video and Apple TV. Alex points out that although many people think pickleball just happened overnight, it has a history going back to the 1960’s.
A few years ago he was spending time with his Mom and Aunt, who are pickleball fanatics, and they said, “What if we made a documentary about Pickleball?” Not knowing much about it, Alex says they started reaching out to people to learn more. What struck him was how welcoming everyone was. “People opened their arms to us and started telling us their stories and wanted to share more about the sport.”
The documentary, which took several years to make, starts at the beginning of the sport in Bainbridge Island, WA, weaves very personal stories of how the sport has changed players’ lives, covers the controversies and also the growth of the professional circuit. “The response has been overwhelmingly positive,” Alex adds. “It’s really cool to see people from all walks of life discover pickleball and it gives them purpose again.”
Alex originally wanted to be an actor and moved to LA after college. Realizing LA was not right for him, he created his second act as a low-budget, independent film director. Based in Shreveport, LA, Alex loves mentoring film and acting students of all ages and experience. He also strives to a life-long student of the world and an avid traveler.
Diana Landau is the Content Wrangler for Pickleball Media. After 15 years in corporate marketing, in 2012 she pivoted to write and wrangle content for Niche Media's weekly blog. She now manages the "I Used to be Somebody" blog.
