Max has a background in video and multimedia production, as well as eight years of experience in event coverage. He graduated from Florida State University with a BS in Digital Media Production and worked with world renowned digital artists as Head Video Producer at ARTECHOUSE, where his work was featured by United Nations Foundation, Pantone Color Institute, Forbes, New York Times, and other platforms. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began, he went on to shoot two independent documentaries in Poland focusing on displaced people of Ukraine, where he is originally from. Rykov’s VHS essay film, Hindsight, has been screened for audiences at over a dozen festivals such as Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, Indy Shorts, and DC/DOX. His video installation work with analog televisions explores the nature of control and spectatorship in mass media, inviting audiences to see themselves as a part of these dynamics with a self guided experience.