Max Peple-Abrams, Winemaker & Creative Director
About Max
A native Virginian, Max (aka Margaret) moved to California after graduating from VCU in 1989, with degrees in philosophy, filmmaking and metalsmithing. Her early career was spent in "post house" film editing & special effects, eventually becoming a creative director, writer and director for television and film development and production. Her career shifted to the tech world as Creative Director at Japanese tech powerhouse Fujitsu in the mid 90's, working on the development of Worlds Away/Dreamscape, an early online, multi-user animated social platform. She moved to New York in 1997, joining New York Television/NY Digital Design (NYD2) as Partner and Director of Strategy.
Early Years
Always game for an adventure, Max began her entrepreneurial life at 17 with alternative school Open High friends and their academic mentor Ken Knisely, a Georgetown Philosophy grad and Richmond Taxi driver. The group rented space in the old Richmond Dairy on Marshall street in Jackson Ward, RVA. At that time in the early to mid 1980’s, the pre-renovated building still contained rooms full of Richmond Dairy artifacts like syrup and felt worker hats. The building also housed Russel Clem's screen printing business and artists such as Joe “Ignatius” Creegan, Linda Gardner, Ralph Flemming and Hunter Jackson along with musicians Snake-Handlers, GWAR and others.
Max's group dubbed themselves and their projects “No Dogs or Philosophers Allowed”, a riff on dog-free public park signs and the pervasive societal idea that philosophy and philosophical debate should be restricted to academia and it’s luminaries. “No Dogs” became known for it’s themed multi-media parties thrown in the group's 2k sq/ft milk-bottle loft, where guests, from construction workers to lawyers, gathered to discuss topics ranging from beauty, money and war to reason, reality, knowledge, and value. They later parlayed their concept into an award winning talk show-style television series, hosted by their brilliant and witty leader, Ken Knisely.
A Million Tacos Later
Max moved to California after college, landing a gig at Fleet Street Pictures where her 'foot in the door' included answering a busy telephone switchboard for the company known for special effects and post production for Taco Bell, Mazda and Levi's commercials. "I was living the episode of Lucy and Ethel at the Chocolate factory every day, except no chocolate and there was a tall, menacing Serbian guy screaming at me, loudly and often." After years learning every facet of the fast paced, high stakes business, she found a fit for her creative talents and business savvy in her role as Vice President of Fleet Street Entertainment Group, where she wrote scripts, treatments, and business plans, pitched television shows and executive produced pilots such as American Muscle Cars (FOX).
Outer Space
With a jump to Silicon Valley in 1994, Max credits her love of tech and fascination with human interactions in online environments to her years at Japanese tech giant Fujitsu. As Director, Business Strategy and Creative Services ,she served as the company's first female Director-level executive in a creative & strategic role. She worked on the earliest online virtual world, "Worlds Away". Formerly called Habitat, the product was the first live, multi-user graphical environment on the web, developed with technology created by Randy Farmer and Chip Morningstar at Lucas Arts and later acquired by Fujitsu.
Thinking In Pictures
Determined to move back east, Max joined New York Television & New York Digital Design in 1997, later becoming partner in the firm known for creating documentaries like Thinking In Pictures and Love Letter To New York and building web presence for brands like Fiduciary Trust and Becton Dickinson. She wrangled a long-term lease on a 5,000 square foot loft on the Hudson in west Chelsea in a 2 million square foot landmark building that, at the time, could only be described as Little Odessa meets The Sopranos. "The first time the building guys knocked on my door to take me "shopping" in the abandoned office furniture room a few floors down, I remember thinking 'If they kill me, I'm 100% sure no one will every find the body'" That first trip netted her a massive old Toledo scale, which is used to this day as the winery's grape weigh-in scale. The space eventually housed husband Deon's art gallery as well as a few artists studios.