Biography
Max Avery Lichtenstein is an American/British composer, producer, and actor based in the New York City region. While working as a record producer at the turn of the century, Max was asked to compose and record music for the film adaptation of Denis Johnson's novella Jesus' Son. This critically-acclaimed movie introduced Max's composing work to the independent film community, leading Max to write scores and songs for a number of narrative features, including an original piece for the Academy Award nominated film Far From Heaven. Max's fable-like score for James Marsh's dark parable The King was called “inspired” by The Hollywood Reporter after its premiere at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival.
Max has scored numerous award-winning documentaries, including the Oscar-nominated shorts The ABCs of Book Banning and Mondays at Racine, the Emmy-nominated feature War Don Don, and the Emmy-winning feature Very Semi-Serious: A Partially Thorough Portrait of New Yorker Cartoonists. His original instrumental songs for the groundbreaking documentary Tarnation were widely hailed by critics and continue to remain popular with the listening public. In 2022 Max received a "Best Score" nomination from the Critics Choice Documentary Awards for his work on The Janes. His latest score can be heard in Mariska Hargitay's heartfelt HBO doc My Mom Jayne, which premiered at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival.
In addition to composing music for film, Max records and performs songs under the name Camphor. He's also produced and/or mixed albums for artists such as Mercury Rev and Mook (featuring Paul Dano). Max’s unique style, varied experience, and indie sensibilities infuse a special character into all the projects he contributes to.
Max recently turned his creative energies towards acting. He studied at The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute in the summer of 2024 and began auditioning for parts in the spring of 2025. Since then he's been cast in both lead and supporting roles in over a dozen indie projects. As a consummate collaborator with decades of experience expressing emotion through the performing arts, he’s excited to now be exploring his craft in front of the camera as well as behind the scenes.
Max has scored numerous award-winning documentaries, including the Oscar-nominated shorts The ABCs of Book Banning and Mondays at Racine, the Emmy-nominated feature War Don Don, and the Emmy-winning feature Very Semi-Serious: A Partially Thorough Portrait of New Yorker Cartoonists. His original instrumental songs for the groundbreaking documentary Tarnation were widely hailed by critics and continue to remain popular with the listening public. In 2022 Max received a "Best Score" nomination from the Critics Choice Documentary Awards for his work on The Janes. His latest score can be heard in Mariska Hargitay's heartfelt HBO doc My Mom Jayne, which premiered at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival.
In addition to composing music for film, Max records and performs songs under the name Camphor. He's also produced and/or mixed albums for artists such as Mercury Rev and Mook (featuring Paul Dano). Max’s unique style, varied experience, and indie sensibilities infuse a special character into all the projects he contributes to.
Max recently turned his creative energies towards acting. He studied at The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute in the summer of 2024 and began auditioning for parts in the spring of 2025. Since then he's been cast in both lead and supporting roles in over a dozen indie projects. As a consummate collaborator with decades of experience expressing emotion through the performing arts, he’s excited to now be exploring his craft in front of the camera as well as behind the scenes.
photos by Regan Avery - downloads for press use here