Structure Films is a zygote-to-apoptosis cinematic production shop.
We are filmmakers, telling stories about some of the most fascinating and relevant personalities in science, health, nature, and technology. We make science personal and evocative. Our films embody Carl Sagan’s notion that “science is a candle in the dark.”
Based out of New York & San Francisco, Structure Films was founded by David Alvarado and Jason Sussberg who met at Stanford University’s Documentary Filmmaking MFA program.
Structure Films produces short films, documentary podcasts, and feature length award-winning theatrical movies for NOVA, PBS, Netflix, Audible Originals, BBC, and Big Think. We collaborate with broadcasters, studios, branded film clients, and foundation partners. Our films have premiered at a host of prestigious international film festivals including SXSW, Hot Docs, London BFI, CPH:DOX, and SF FILM.
David Alvarado
makes independent documentaries for the big screen, portraits of stubborn idealists in science, technology, and American culture. His most recent film, American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez, won the U.S. Documentary Audience Award and the Festival Favorite Award at Sundance 2026 and the Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film. He is a card-carrying member of both the Brooklyn and New York public libraries.
Jason Sussberg
is a Bay-Area based documentary filmmaker, focusing on cinema for science. Like Phil Ochs, he is a card carrying union member (Writers Guild of America), making art about about our modern times. Unlike Ochs, he can’t carry a tune but instead carries a microphone. He has produced and directed several theatrical documentaries that have broadcast on PBS and streamed on Netflix, Apple TV, & Amazon.
