Story by Music major John Luca Barefoot

He’s come a long way since his days roaming the halls of Dreyfoos School of the Arts and since his first alumni spotlight over a decade ago. Today, Alex Calle is more than what thespians call a “triple threat.” He runs a thriving design firm in Los Angeles, operates a real estate brokerage in West Palm Beach, and chases new opportunities while bouncing between continents for projects that span theme parks, cruise lines, and immersive entertainment centers. 

His firm recently completed work with Princess Cruises and is currently collaborating with Crayola on experience centers. Before that, his team spent two months on projects in Italy. And before that, he was working in over 150 different Chinese cities. This last decade has been "a whirlwind." 

Calle's work is all about visual storytelling, designing environments, experiences, and narratives that move people emotionally, no matter where they live. While traveling the world, Calle was most surprised to see how design is a universal language. "No matter where you are in the globe," he said, "the visual cues that drive behavior are the same." Cultural stories may differ, but the tools used to tell them are remarkably similar.

It’s an insight Calle learned early on. Discovering theater through The Lighthouse, a community theater he attended from the age of six, Calle remembers watching a rehearsal from the audience and overhearing adults discussing the lighting, costumes, and set design. It clicked for him that all these parts worked in sync to produce specific emotions from the audience. From Bak to Dreyfoos and the professional stage, Calle has been evoking emotions through his work. 

His path from theater kid to LA-based design executive wasn't linear, and he's quick to point that out to current Dreyfoos students. "There are times where saying yes doesn’t work out," he noted, "but you learn from it, and it steers you in the direction you're supposed to be anyway." He draws a parallel to the artistic process itself: the vast majority of creating art is discovering what doesn't work, and that's what makes you better.

Managing a large creative team while running a business is an art form. “Hire the right people, define the parameters, and then let them work with their own creativity.” The scale of the projects his firm takes on is impossible to complete with just one person, which is why a trusted team is important.

Looking ahead, Calle is excited about themed entertainment’s moving towards deeply personalized, immersive experiences where the story that plays out for one visitor can be completely different from the story playing out for the person next to them. "The future is customizable," he says, and with it, repeat visitation will become more common.

Calle believes artificial intelligence is not a threat, but a tool that will increase efficiency. He points to AutoCAD and Photoshop as predecessors: that initially caused panic and then became indispensable, opening up new jobs. AI will follow the same arc, especially in visual effects.

Calle credits Dreyfoos as a cornerstone of his success. “It gave me a foundation in storytelling,” he says. Today, that foundation supports a career dedicated to creating unforgettable experiences that connect people across cultures and continents.