Stephen Cone (born August 10, 1980) is an American filmmaker who has received early career retrospectives on the Criterion Channel, MUBI and at the Museum of the Moving Image, Berlin's Unknown Pleasures Festival and Manchester's Bigger Than Life. .
Early life
Cone was born in
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...
, and raised in South Carolina. He moved to
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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in 2004 and, in his words, taught himself to make movies "by making movies."
Career
In 2006, Cone wrote, produced, and directed his first short film ''Church Story'' with actors Isabel Liss, Bill McGough, and
Arian Moayed
Arian Moayed ( fa, آرین مؤید, born April 15, 1980) is an Iranian-American actor, writer, and director. Moayed received a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his performance in ''Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo'' a ...
. In 2007, Cone followed with the short film ''Young Wives''. His medium-length film, a metaphysical drama called ''The Christians'', was completed in 2008 and featured performances by J. Kingsford Goode, Bill McGough, Arian Moayed, Sadie Rogers, Laurel Schroeder, Krissy Shields, and
Robert Belushi
Robert James Belushi (born October 23, 1980) is an American actor. In films, he is best known for his work on ''Sorority Row'', ''One Small Hitch'', and ''Valentine's Day''. On television, he is best known as Allen ("The Buddy") on the third s ...
, oldest son of actor
Jim Belushi
James Adam Belushi (; born June 15, 1954) is an American actor. He is best known for the role of Jim on the sitcom ''According to Jim'' (2001–2009). His other television roles include ''Saturday Night Live'' (1983–1985), '' Total Security'' ...
.
Cone's next feature film, the full-length ''In Memoriam'', released in 2011, follows a group of college students reenacting the last hours of two dead peers who fell to their deaths attempting to make love. ''In Memoriam'' was praised by film critic
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
as "a touching film."
Cone later reflected on the effect Ebert's review had, writing:
Cone's third theatrical film, the coming-of-age drama ''
The Wise Kids'', also released in 2011, was a critical success. It also garnered praise from Roger Ebert, ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
s Robert Koehler, and
Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden (born July 18, 1941) is an American writer, poet, and music and film critic.
Biography
Holden earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Yale University in 1963. He worked as a photo editor, staff writer, and eventually be ...
of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
''.
The film was a Critics' Pick for ''The New York Times'' and won the Grand Jury Prizes for U.S. Feature and Best Screenplay at
Outfest
Outfest is an LGBTQ-oriented nonprofit that produces two film festivals, operates a movie streaming platform, and runs educational services for filmmakers in Los Angeles. Outfest is one of the key partners, alongside the Frameline Film Festival ...
.
It was subsequently released on cable/
VOD and
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...
by
Wolfe Video
Wolfe Video is the oldest and largest exclusive producer and distributor of LGBT films in North America.
Founded in 1985 in New Almaden by Kathy Wolfe, the company began as a consumer mail order distribution company for lesbian VHS videos but ha ...
.
In 2013, Cone released his fourth theatrical film ''
Black Box
In science, computing, and engineering, a black box is a system which can be viewed in terms of its inputs and outputs (or transfer characteristics), without any knowledge of its internal workings. Its implementation is "opaque" (black). The te ...
''. While not as widely seen as ''The Wise Kids'' due to an initial lack of distribution, the film garnered praise from ''
Newcity
Newcity is a media company based in Chicago, founded in 1986 by Brian and Jan Hieggelke." It started as the ''Newcity'' independent, free weekly newspaper in Chicago. Effective March 2017, the founders changed the newspaper into a glossy monthly ...
s Ray Pride and
Michael Phillips of the ''
Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...
'', who gave the film 3½ out of 4 stars and called it "a worthy follow-up to Cone's previous film." ''Black Box'' was later acquired by Devolver Digital Films for a late 2014 cable/VOD release.
Cone completed two unreleased experimental features in 2014, ''The Mystery of Life'' and ''This Afternoon'', and in 2015 completed the coming-of-age drama ''
Henry Gamble's Birthday Party
''Henry Gamble's Birthday Party'' is a 2015 drama film written and directed by Stephen Cone.
Plot
Henry Gamble is a closeted teenager and active member of a church youth group. He and his friend Gabe masturbate together while discussing a girl ...
''. Henry Gamble was featured in The New York Times "Anatomy of a Scene" series, screened within BAMcinemaFest and BFI Flare, and was the winner of the Silver Q Hugo Award at the 2015 Chicago International Film Festival. It is currently available to screen on Hulu. His latest film ''
Princess Cyd
''Princess Cyd'' is a 2017 drama film written and directed by Stephen Cone and starring Rebecca Spence, Jessie Pinnick, and Malic White.
Plot
Cyd Loughlin, a headstrong 16-year-old, is sent away from her home in Columbia, South Carolina to spen ...
''
appeared on Vanity Fair's Ten Best Films of the 2010s after appearing on multiple Best of 2017 lists including IndieWire, Vulture, Vanity Fair, Vox and NPR and screening at dozens of festivals worldwide including the BFI London Film Festival, BAMcinemaFest, Frameline and Maryland Film Festival. It was acquired for distribution by Wolfe Releasing and is also currently streaming on Hulu.
Filmography
References
External links
*
Criterion Channel interview clipThreeof his filmson The Criterion Channel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cone, Stephen
1980 births
21st-century American male actors
21st-century American screenwriters
American film directors
American male film actors
American male screenwriters
Film directors from Illinois
Film directors from Kentucky
Film directors from South Carolina
LGBT people from Kentucky
Living people
Male actors from Chicago
Male actors from Louisville, Kentucky
Screenwriters from Illinois
Screenwriters from Kentucky
Screenwriters from South Carolina