Preston Stutzman is a film producer and actor. He produced the 1999 independent film ''Chillicothe'', which was screened at the Sundance Film Festival and the 2005 independent computer-animated film ''

Hoodwinked! ''Hoodwinked!'' is a 2005 computer-animated musical comedy mystery film. It retells the folktale ''Little Red Riding Hood'' as a police procedural, using backstories to show multiple characters' points of view. It was produced independently by ...

'', which was one of the first computer-animated films to be completely independently funded. He also performed the minor role of Timmy in ''Hoodwinked!''

Early life

Stutzman grew up in Ohio and graduated from Anderson University in 1992 with degrees in

Computer Science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to practical disciplines (includi ...

and

Marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...

. While at Anderson University, he befriended fellow students

Cory Edwards Cory Edwards (born August 21, 1968) is an American film director, screenwriter, and stand-up comedian. He is probably best known for directing, co-writing, and voice acting in ''Hoodwinked'' (2005), and for co-writing and voice acting in the 2 ...

and

Todd Edwards Todd Edward Imperatrice (born December 9, 1972), known professionally as Todd Edwards, is an American garage house record producer, DJ and singer from Bloomfield, New Jersey. He began producing primarily for New York's Nervous Records in the 19 ...

through involvement in the on-campus comedy show "Cheap Thrills".

Career

After graduation, Stutzman got a job at book publishing company Warner Press, but left to be in charge of marketing for Blue Yonder Films, a film

production company A production company, production house, production studio, or a production team is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, and v ...

founded by the Edwards brothers. Though the company started out by producing commercials, it produced the short film ''Swanky Nights'' in 1996, and then the 1999 independent film '' Chillicothe'', on which Stutzman served as a producer. The film was directed by Todd Edwards, and premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. The three then moved to Los Angeles, where Stutzman took on an

editing Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, o ...

job for the Game Show Network, while they looked for funding for new projects Sue Bea Montgomery, who had served as an

associate producer A film producer is a person who oversees film production. Either employed by a production company or working independently, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting the script, coordinating writing, di ...

on ''Chillicothe'', introduced the three to

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values t ...

and inventor Maurice Kanbar, who had invested in their film. Though Kanbar expressed disinterest in the live-action projects that they pitched to him, he grew excited after seeing ''Wobots'', an animated short film that Cory had made, and proposed the idea of making an animated feature that put a twist on a familiar fairy tale. The brothers came up with the idea of telling ''

Little Red Riding Hood "Little Red Riding Hood" is a European fairy tale about a young girl and a sly wolf. Its origins can be traced back to several pre-17th century European folk tales. The two best known versions were written by Charles Perrault and the Brot ...

'' as a police investigation, and Kanbar agreed to fully finance the film, before they had even shown him a finished script. The film, titled ''

'', was directed by Cory Edwards, Todd Edwards, and

Tony Leech Tony Leech (born May 28, 1968) is an American director, screenwriter and editor who currently lives in Los Angeles. Tony attended Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma. While a student there, Leech and fellow ORU student Mark Steele (c ...

, and Stutzman and Montgomery both served as producers on the film. Stutzman also took on a minor role, playing the part of Timmy. It was one of the first computer-animated films to be fully independently funded, and due to its small budget, its animation was produced in

Manila, Philippines Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital city, capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is Cities of the Philippines#Independent cities, highly urbanize ...

. The film was released in 2005, receiving mixed reviews, and earning over $110 million worldwide.

Personal life

Stutzman met his wife Ela in 2003, while working on ''Hoodwinked!'' in Manila, and married her in 2007. They moved to

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

, where their child Jacob Tyler was born. They then moved to Fort Myers, Florida in 2010 to be near Preston's sister Trinda and brother-in-law Mike. While there, Preston worked as a director of production and video producer/editor at Next Level Church and Ela worked as a nurse. In early 2012 they moved with Trinda and Mike to Tennessee to help plant Story Church.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stutzman, Preston Living people Year of birth missing (living people) American animated film producers American male film actors Anderson University (Indiana) alumni