# Inside Ryan Murphy’s Universe: How Director Max Winkler Found Creative Meaning in ‘Lizzie Borden,’ ‘American Horror Story,’ ‘Love Story’ and More

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/inside-ryan-murphys-universe-how-director-max-winkler-found-creative-meaning-in-lizzie-borden-american-horror-story-love-story-and-mor/
- Published: 2026-09-25T22:54:35+00:00
- Updated: 2026-09-26T02:39:55+00:00
- Original publisher: Variety
- Original article: https://variety.com/2026/tv/features/lizzie-borden-director-max-winkler-ryan-murphy-1236875327/
- Topics: Celebrity, Entertainment, Film, Horror

## Key points

- Financial hardship pushed Winkler towards television craftsmanship.
- Ryan Murphy collaboration became central to his career.
- Winkler values ambitious, emotionally specific mainstream storytelling.

## Summary

Director Max Winkler describes how financial pressure and the disrupted release of *Jungleland* changed his approach to filmmaking, leading him to embrace television work as a craftsman as well as an artist. His collaboration with Ryan Murphy has since given him a prominent role across Murphy’s television universe, while allowing him to bring the specificity and care of independent cinema to mainstream projects.

Winkler first directed episodes of *American Horror Stories* and *American Horror Story* in 2021, then worked across projects including the *Monster* franchise, *Love Story*, *The Shards* and *Feud: Capote vs. The Swans*. He says Murphy’s scripts, unexpected ideas and shared enthusiasm have created a creative partnership built on mutual challenge, with Winkler aiming to surprise and impress Murphy; he was particularly drawn to *Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story* because of its distinctive rhythm, humour, energy and emotional perspective.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.