Alex Pissios

About Alex Pissios

Entrepreneur, Community Leader, & Philanthropist

Alex Pissios may be known as the former President / CEO of Cinespace Chicago Film Studios, but his long and storied career had a decidedly different beginning.

As the son of immigrants and a native to the Chicago area, Pissios originally ventured into the world of real estate development. He began to put his indelible touch on properties around the United Center dating all the way back to 2003. While he and his partners were able to achieve a great deal of success, not even they were spared from the impact of "The Great Recession" when it began in 2008.

During that time, Pissios realized how close he had come to losing everything. Yet his entrepreneurial spirit still persevered. It was then that he decided to make a pivot into film and television production. His uncle, the esteemed Nick Mirkopoulos, had already made an impact in the industry in Toronto many years earlier. His production facility was home to many notable projects including Chicago (which would go onto win Best Picture at the Academy Awards) and The Handmaid's Tale, which became one of the most notable original shows on any streaming platform soon after it debuted on Hulu.

For Alex Pissios, this seemed to be an appropriate fit and by 2011, he (along with his uncle) began to develop a 60 acre complex in the North Lawndale neighborhood of Chicago. It's called Cinespace Chicago Film Studios, and it's notable for still being the largest independently operated facility located anywhere outside of California today.

All of this stems from Pissios' passion not just for excelling at the industries that he operates in, but for empowering those around him. Yes, it's important that Cinespace Chicago Film Studios continue to offer world-class production capabilities to those who need it. But it's also about something far more essential: making a positive impact on the community.

Alex Pissios has long believed that if you're not working hard and using your talents to make a positive impact on the lives of those who live and work in the same areas that you do, one must reflect on the value of what they're really doing in the first place. Since it was originally founded, Cinespace Chicago Film Studios has created more than 15,000 film and television-related jobs in the Chicago are alone with absolutely no end in sight.