Sterling Van Wagenen Explained

Sterling Van Wagenen
Birth Name:Sterling Gray Van Wagenen
Birth Date:2 July 1947
Birth Place:Utah, U.S.
Occupation:Producer, writer, director

Sterling Gray Van Wagenen (born July 2, 1947) is an American film and stage producer, writer, director, and convicted sex offender. He is a co-founder of the Sundance Film Festival, and, in association with his former cousin-in-law Robert Redford, he was the founding executive director of the Sundance Institute.[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

In 2019, Van Wagenen was convicted of child sexual abuse and sentenced to six years to life in prison.[6]

Career

He has directed four feature films as well as several documentaries and television episodes, and has produced over fourteen feature films, documentaries, and television series, including the Academy Award winning The Trip to Bountiful, co-produced with Horton Foote and starring Geraldine Page and John Heard. He collaborated again with Foote on Convicts, starring Robert Duvall and James Earl Jones.[7]

In 1986, he and Foote were nominated for an Independent Spirit Award as producers of The Trip to Bountiful, and in 1987 they won a Wise Owl Award for the film. In 1992, he won a Crystal Heart Award as director of Alan and Naomi.[8] Van Wagenen's cousin Lola was married to Redford from 1958 to 1985. After 1993, Sterling Van Wagenen had no official connection with the Sundance Film Festival or Sundance Institute.

From 1999 to 2004, he served as Director of the School of Film and Digital Media at the University of Central Florida. He was later Producer-in-Residence and faculty member at the University of Utah.[9]

Van Wagenen was the director of three films that were used in rotation from 2013 though January 2019 during the Endowment Ceremony in temples of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.[10]

Personal life

He is married to Marilee Jeppson, and they had six children and 20 grandchildren.[11] [12] Their first child, Sarah Ella Van Wagenen, born August 17, 1973, died on March 1, 2014, from cancer.[13]

Sexual abuse conviction and imprisonment

On January 4, 2019, The Truth & Transparency Foundation, a nonprofit group formerly known as "MormonLeaks", posted audio in which Sterling Van Wagenen holds a conversation with a man identified by the alias "David."[14] In the recording, Van Wagenen confesses to molesting the 13-year-old "David" in 1993 during a sleepover.[15] At the time, Van Wagenen confessed the incident to his Stake President and a detective. According to a police report, no charges were filed in the case because the victim's parents declined to pursue them. Van Wagenen was disfellowshipped for 2 years by the LDS Church.[16]

On April 2, 2019, Van Wagenen was charged with the felony aggravated sexual abuse, in Salt Lake City, where he was released on a $75,000 bond.[17] Van Wagenen is alleged to have molested a young girl some time between 2013 and 2015.[18]

The Sundance Institute issued a statement, saying: "Recent reports in the press have made us aware of allegations of sexual abuse by Sterling Van Wagenen, who played a role in founding both the Festival and the Institute.[19] He has no current connection to either entity, and has since he left our Utah Advisory Board in 1993. Sundance Institute categorically denounces his behavior as described in recent reports, and we stand in solidarity with those whose brave truth-telling shines light on abusive behavior."[20]

On April 30, 2019, Van Wagenen pleaded guilty to one charge of aggravated sexual abuse of a child.[21] He was jailed for six years to life on July 2, 2019.[22]

References

  1. News: Benson. Lee. About Utah: Utah Valley resident Sterling Van Wagenen was there before Redford. Deseret News. January 21, 2011. April 21, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20201112015350/https://www.deseret.com/2011/1/21/20168683/about-utah-utah-valley-resident-sterling-van-wagenen-was-there-before-redford#robert-redford-and-sterling-van-wagenen-sterling-van-wagenen-had-the-idea-to-have-a-film-festival-in-the-late-1970s. November 12, 2020. dead.
  2. News: Moore. Roger. The Redford bio, a bit too 'authorized' for my tastes. Orlando Sentinel. June 12, 2011. April 21, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20121110123209/http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment_movies_blog/2011/06/the-redford-bio-a-bit-too-authorized-for-my-tastes.html. November 10, 2012. dead.
  3. Web site: Coates. Kristen. Becoming Sundance: The Development of America's Premiere Film Festival. June 11, 2019. The Film Stage. 22 February 2015. 16 August 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170816010318/https://thefilmstage.com/features/becoming-sundance-the-development-of-america%E2%80%99s-premiere-film-festival/. dead.
  4. Web site: Sterling G Van Wagenen (Faculty Profile). https://web.archive.org/web/20150222181755/https://faculty.utah.edu/u0868495-Sterling_G_Van_Wagenen/biography/index.hml . February 22, 2015 . University of Utah. 22 February 2015.
  5. Web site: Eash. Candy. Sterling Van Wagenen (interview). March 2014 . Mormon Artist. 22 February 2015.
  6. News: Sterling Van Wagenen, a Latter-day Saint filmmaker, gets six years to life for child sex abuse . . Jessica . Miller . July 2, 2019 . July 2, 2019 .
  7. Web site: Sterling Van Wagenen. IMDB. February 22, 2015.
  8. Web site: Sterling Van Wagenen: Awards. IMDB. February 22, 2015.
  9. Web site: Eash. Candy. Sterling Van Wagenen (interview). Mormon Artist. February 22, 2015.
  10. Web site: Director of Mormon Temple Videos and Sundance Festival Co-founder Admits to Child Molestation in Early 90s . Ryan . McKnight . February 4, 2019 . June 15, 2022 . .
  11. Web site: Peace Officer Crew. Peace Officer. 22 February 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20181116123613/http://www.peaceofficerfilm.com/crew/. November 16, 2018.
  12. Web site: Margaret Blair Young: Biography. Kickstarter. February 22, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20160121103541/https://www.kickstarter.com/profiles/868807300/bio . January 21, 2016 .
  13. Web site: Sarah Ella Van Wagenen . . legacy.com . n.d. . May 7, 2019 .
  14. News: Confronting a Childhood Abuser. 2019-05-24. The New York Times. 2019-05-27. en-US. 0362-4331.
  15. News: Miller . Jessica . Noted Latter-day Saint filmmaker admits to molesting boy in 1993; victim wonders why church never offered him help . February 5, 2019 . The Salt Lake Tribune . 5 February 2019.
  16. Web site: Forgie . Adam . LDS temple video director, Sundance co-founder admits to child molestation, claims website . February 4, 2019 . KUTV . 5 February 2019.
  17. News: Sundance Film Festival Co-Founder Sterling Van Wagenen Charged With Sex Abuse . April 11, 2019 . Ryan . Parker . . May 7, 2019 .
  18. News: Utah filmmaker who admitted to molesting a teen boy in 1993 now is charged with sexual abuse of a young girl . . April 11, 2019 . Sean P. . Means . May 7, 2019 .
  19. Web site: Sundance Film Festival Co-Founder Gets Sentenced For Child Abuse. 2019-11-27. Sundance Film Festival 2020. en-US. 2019-11-27.
  20. News: Sundance Institute 'Denounces' Festival Co-Founder Sterling Van Wagenen's Alleged Abuse . Beatrice . Verhoeven . April 11, 2019 . . May 7, 2019 .
  21. News: A Sundance Founder Pleads Guilty to Child Sex Abuse . . Elizabeth A. . Harris . April 30, 2019 . May 7, 2019 .
  22. News: Sterling Van Wagenen, a Latter-day Saint filmmaker, gets six years to life for child sex abuse . . Jessica . Miller . July 2, 2019 . July 2, 2019 .

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