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 ''Infinitely Polar Bear'' is a 2014 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Maya Forbes, and starring Mark Ruffalo, Zoe Saldana, Imogene Wolodarsky, and Ashley Aufderheide. The film premiered in competition at the 30th Sundance Fil ...

to his latest medical drama

The God Committee ''The God Committee'' is a 2021 American drama film, adapted and directed by Austin Stark, based on the play of the same name by Mark St. Germain. It stars Kelsey Grammer, Julia Stiles, Janeane Garofalo, Dan Hedaya, and Colman Domingo. The ...

. Stark made his writing and directorial debut with '' The Runner'' (2015), a political drama that follows a

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a U.S. state, state in the Deep South and South Central United States, South Central regions of the United States. It is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 20th-smal ...

congressman in the aftermath of the

2010 BP Oil Spill The ''Deepwater Horizon'' oil spill (also referred to as the "BP oil spill") was an industrial disaster that began on 20 April 2010 off of the coast of the United States in the Gulf of Mexico on the BP-operated Macondo Prospect, considere ...

. The movie stars Nicolas Cage, Sarah Paulson, Connie Nielsen, and Peter Fonda. 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,

was nominated for the 73rd Golden Globe Awards under the category Best Actor - comedy. Stark's most recent film is

, 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. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. Tribeca was ...

and was released theatrically by Vertical Entertainment 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 in ...

winning producer Martin Richards (''

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

''). Since then, Austin has produced and directed a number of films, including: * ''

'' (2021), starring Kelsey Grammer, Julia Stiles, Colman Domingo, Janeane Garofalo and Dan Hedaya. * '' The Runner'' (2015), starring Nicolas Cage, Connie Nielsen, Peter Fonda and Sarah Paulson. * ''

'' (2015), starring Mark Ruffalo and Zoe Saldana; * '' Hello I Must Be Going'' (2012), nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival; * Tony Kaye's '' Detachment'' (2011), starring Adrien Brody; * '' Happythankyoumoreplease'' (2010), winner of the Audience Award at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival; * Werner Herzog's '' My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done?'' (2009); * '' Peter and Vandy'' (2009), nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.

Personal life

Stark is a graduate of Georgetown University. 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