Stephen Cone Explained

Stephen Cone
Birth Place:Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.
Years Active:2005–present
Occupation:Actor, film director, editor, producer, writer

Stephen Cone is an American filmmaker, best known for Henry Gamble's Birthday Party and Princess Cyd. He 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.[1]

Early life

Cone was born in Louisville, Kentucky, and raised in South Carolina.[2] He moved to Chicago in 2004 and, in his words, taught himself to make movies "by making movies."[3]

Career

In 2006, Cone wrote, produced and directed his first short film Church Story, starring Isabel Liss, Bill McGough and Arian Moayed. In 2007, Cone followed with the short film Young Wives. A 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, oldest son of actor Jim Belushi.

Cone's feature film In Memoriam, was released in 2011, and 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 as "a touching film."[4] 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 Ebert,[5] Varietys Robert Koehler[6] and Stephen Holden of The New York Times.[7] 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.[8] It was subsequently released on cable/VOD and DVD by Wolfe Video.

In 2013, Cone released his fourth theatrical film Black Box. While not as widely seen as The Wise Kids, due to an initial lack of distribution,[9] the film garnered praise from Newcitys Ray Pride[10] and Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune, who gave the film 3½ out of 4 stars, and called it "a worthy follow-up to Cone's previous film."[11] 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.[12] [13] [14] 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. His next feature film, Princess Cyd,[15] appeared on Vanity Fairs 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 the Maryland Film Festival. It was acquired for distribution by Wolfe Releasing.

Filmography

YearFilmwidth=65 Credited Directorwidth=65 Credited Producerwidth=65 Credited Writerwidth=65 Credited ActorCredited RoleNotes
2006Church StoryShort film
2007Young WivesShort film
2008The Christians
2011In MemoriamEric
The Wise KidsAustin
2013Black Box
2014This Afternoon
The Mystery of Life
2015Henry Gamble's Birthday Party
2016Show YourselfDaniel
2017Princess Cyd

External links

Notes and References

  1. https://www.criterionchannel.com/three-by-stephen-cone Three by Stephen Cone - The Criterion Channel
  2. Web site: Cohen . Susan . Director returns to Charleston to film newest feature: Stephen Cone coming back to the Lowcountry . . June 10, 2010 . August 31, 2014.
  3. Web site: The Wise Kids . . August 31, 2014.
  4. Web site: Ebert . Roger . Roger Ebert . In Memoriam . . June 22, 2011 . August 31, 2014.
  5. Web site: Ebert . Roger . Roger Ebert . The Wise Kids . . October 26, 2011 . August 31, 2014.
  6. Web site: Koehler . Robert . Review: 'The Wise Kids' . . July 31, 2011 . August 31, 2014.
  7. Web site: Holden . Stephen . Stephen Holden . Teenagers Perplexed About Faith and Sexuality: 'The Wise Kids,' a Coming-of-Age Story by Stephen Cone . . March 15, 2012 . August 31, 2014.
  8. Web site: Smith . Nigel M. . Wolfe Video Acquires DVD/VOD Rights to Outfest Winner 'The Wise Kids' . . July 31, 2012 . August 31, 2014.
  9. Web site: Tully . Michael . Indiewire 2013 Year-End Critics Poll Ballots: Best Undistributed Film . . 2013 . August 31, 2014.
  10. Web site: Pride . Ray . Review: Black Box . . May 28, 2014 . August 31, 2014.
  11. Web site: Phillips . Michael . Michael Phillips (critic) . Review: 'Black Box' . . May 29, 2014 . August 31, 2014.
  12. Web site: Newman . Nick . Pat Healy, Tyler Ross, and Cole Doman to Lead Stephen Cone-Helmed 'Henry Gamble's Birthday Party' . The Film Stage . 2014 . July 8, 2014.
  13. Web site: Phillips . Michael . Michael Phillips (critic) . Today's Chicago film festival pick: 'This Afternoon' . . October 12, 2014 . May 20, 2015.
  14. Web site: Phillips . Michael . Michael Phillips (critic) . Young filmmaker plays intriguing long game . . September 12, 2014 . April 20, 2016.
  15. Web site: Hipes . Patrick . Wolfe Releasing Acquires Coming-Of-Age Pic Princess Cyd'; CinTel To Open 'The Toybox' . . May 4, 2017 . June 23, 2017.