Austin Stark (born May 31, 1979) is an American film director, writer, and producer best known for films highlighting social issues, from mental illness in Infinitely Polar Bear to his latest medical drama The God Committee. Stark made his writing and

directorial debut This is a list of film directorial debuts in chronological order. The films and dates referred to are a director's first commercial cinematic release. Many film makers have directed works which were not commercially released, for example early work ...

with '' The Runner'' (2015), a

political drama A political drama can describe a play, film or TV program that has a political component, whether reflecting the author's political opinion, or describing a politician or series of political events. Dramatists who have written political dramas in ...

that follows a

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

congressman in the aftermath of the 2010 BP Oil Spill. The movie stars

Nicolas Cage Nicolas Kim Coppola (born January 7, 1964), known professionally as Nicolas Cage, is an American actor and film producer. Born into the Coppola family, he is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Gu ...

Sarah Paulson Sarah Catharine Paulson (born December 17, 1974) is an American actress. She began her acting career in New York City stage productions before starring in the short-lived television series '' American Gothic'' (1995–1996) and '' Jack & Jill' ...

Connie Nielsen Connie Inge-Lise Nielsen (born 3 July 1965) is a Danish actress. She has starred as Lucilla in the film '' Gladiator'' (2000) and as Hippolyta in the DC Extended Universe, and in the films ''Wonder Woman'' (2017), ''Justice League'' (2017), ''Wo ...

, and

Peter Fonda Peter Henry Fonda (February 23, 1940 – August 16, 2019) was an American actor. He was the son of Henry Fonda, younger brother of Jane Fonda, and father of Bridget Fonda. He was a prominent figure in the counterculture of the 1960s. Fond ...

. It was released in theaters nationwide on August 7, 2015 by

Alchemy Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim world, ...

. His film, Infinitely Polar Bear was nominated for the

73rd Golden Globe Awards The 73rd Golden Globe Awards honored the best in 2015 in film, film and 2015 in American television, American television of 2015. It was broadcast live on January 10, 2016, from The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California beginning at 5:00&nbs ...

under the category Best Actor - comedy. Stark's most recent film is The God Committee, a medical thriller touching upon the subject of organ transplant. The film both written and directed by him premiered at the 2021

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by TriBeCa Productions, Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive progra ...

and was released theatrically by

Vertical Entertainment Vertical Entertainment is an American film distribution and production company founded by producers Richard B. "Rich" Goldberg and Mitch Budin in 2012. History In 2012, Rich Goldberg & Mitch Budin founded Vertical Entertainment, a film distribut ...

in July 2021. Austin is one of the founding partners of Paper Street Films, a film production company based in New York City.

Career

He began his career in 2007 working with

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

winning producer

Martin Richards Martin Richards may refer to: * Martin Richards (computer scientist) (born 1940), British computer scientist * Martin Richards (police officer) Martin Richards QPM (born 1959) is a British retired police officer, whose last post was as the Ch ...

(''

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

''). Since then, Austin has produced and directed a number of films, including: * '' The God Committee'' (2021), starring

Kelsey Grammer Allen Kelsey Grammer (born February 21, 1955) is an American actor and producer. He gained notoriety and acclaim for his role as psychiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane on the NBC sitcom '' Cheers'' (1984-1993) and its spin-off ''Frasier'' (1993-2004), ...

Julia Stiles Julia O'Hara Stiles (born March 28, 1981) is an American actress. Born and raised in New York City, Stiles began acting at the age of 11 as part of New York's La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club. Her film debut was a small role in ''I'' ''Love Yo ...

Colman Domingo Colman Jason Domingo (born November 28, 1969) is an American actor, writer, and director widely known for his performance as Mr. Bones in the Broadway musical '' The Scottsboro Boys'' (2011), and for his role as recovering drug addict Ali on HBO ...

Janeane Garofalo Janeane Marie Garofalo ( ; born September 28, 1964) is an American comedian, actress, and former co-host on the now-defunct Air America Radio's ''The Majority Report''. Garofalo began her career as a stand-up comedian and became a cast member on ...

and

Dan Hedaya Daniel G. Hedaya (born July 24, 1940) is an American actor. He established himself as a supporting actor, often playing sleazy villains or wisecracking supporting characters. He has had supporting roles in films such as '' True Confessions'' (198 ...

. * '' The Runner'' (2015), starring

and

. * '' Infinitely Polar Bear'' (2015), starring

Mark Ruffalo Mark Alan Ruffalo (; born November 22, 1967) is an American actor and producer best known for playing Bruce Banner / Hulk since 2012 in the superhero franchise of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and in the television series '' She-Hulk: Attorne ...

and

Zoe Saldana Zoe (also ZOE, Zoë, Zoé, etc.) can refer to: *ζωή (''zōḗ''), the Ancient Greek word for "life" People * Zoe (name), including list of persons and fictional characters with the name Film and television * ''Zoe'' (film) * ZOE Broadcast ...

; * '' Hello I Must Be Going'' (2012), nominated for the

Grand Jury Prize A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors. Films may be of recent date and, depending upo ...

at the

2012 Sundance Film Festival The 2012 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 19 until January 29, 2012 in Park City, Utah. 64 short films were selected for the festival from 7,675 submissions, including 27 international shorts from 3,592 submissions. Non-competition ...

; * Tony Kaye's '' Detachment'' (2011), starring

Adrien Brody Adrien Nicholas Brody (born April 14, 1973) is an American actor. He received widespread recognition and acclaim after starring as Władysław Szpilman in Roman Polanski's '' The Pianist'' (2002), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Acto ...

; * ''

Happythankyoumoreplease ''Happythankyoumoreplease'' is a 2010 comedy-drama film written and directed by Josh Radnor in his directorial debut. The film features Radnor, Malin Åkerman, Kate Mara, Zoe Kazan, Michael Algieri, Pablo Schreiber, and Tony Hale, in the story ...

'' (2010), winner of the Audience Award at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival; *

Werner Herzog Werner Herzog (; born 5 September 1942) is a German film director, screenwriter, author, actor, and opera director, regarded as a pioneer of New German Cinema. His films often feature ambitious protagonists with impossible dreams, people with un ...

's ''

My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done? ''My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done'' is a 2009 crime drama film directed by Werner Herzog, and written by Herzog and Herbert Golder. The film stars Michael Shannon as Brad McCullam, a mentally unstable man who kills his own mother (played by Grac ...

'' (2009); * ''

Peter and Vandy ''Peter and Vandy'' is a 2009 American romantic independent drama film starring Jason Ritter and Jess Weixler. The film was written and directed by Jay DiPietro, adapted from his own play of the same name which opened in 2002 in New York. Plot ' ...

'' (2009), nominated for the

at the

2009 Sundance Film Festival The 2009 Sundance Film Festival was held during January 15, 2009 until January 25 in Park City, Utah. It was the 25th iteration of the Sundance Film Festival. Award winners *Grand Jury Prize: Documentary - ''We Live in Public'' *Grand Jury Prize: ...

Personal life

Stark is a graduate of

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

. where he studied literature.

Filmography

References

External links

*
PaperStreetFilms.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stark, Austin American film producers American film directors Georgetown University College of Arts & Sciences alumni Living people 1979 births