Michael Stephenson (born 1978), known professionally as Michael Paul Stephenson, is an American filmmaker and actor. He is known for directing the critically acclaimed documentaries '' Best Worst Movie'' and '' The American Scream''. Stephenson made his narrative feature debut with '' Girlfriend’s Day'', starring

Bob Odenkirk Robert John Odenkirk (; born October 22, 1962) is an American actor, screenwriter, comedian, and producer. He started his career as a comedian and comedy writer before expanding his career by acting in dramatic works. His List of awards and no ...

. Stephenson's latest film, ''Attack of the Murder Hornets'', is an original documentary that he directed and produced for

Discovery+ Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discov ...

. He is a member of the

Directors Guild of America The Directors Guild of America (DGA) is an entertainment guild that represents the interests of Film director, film and Television director, television directors in the United States motion picture industry and abroad. Founded as the Screen Dir ...

Career

1983–2005: Early career

Stephenson's career in the entertainment industry started at the age of 8 when he was discovered by a talent agent while acting in his school's rendition of ''

Peter Pan Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythical ...

''. When he was 10 years old, he auditioned for the horror film ''

Troll 2 ''Troll 2'' (or ''Goblins'') is a 1990 independent dark fantasy horror film written and directed by Claudio Fragasso under the pseudonym Drake Floyd. It stars Michael Stephenson, George Hardy, Connie McFarland, and Jason Wright. The plot ...

'', and got the starring role. Throughout his younger years, Stephenson spent most of his time writing stories and making skateboarding films. Early in his career, Stephenson worked as a cinematographer with director

Mel Stuart Mel Stuart (born Stuart Solomon; September 2, 1928 – August 9, 2012) was an American film director and producer who often worked with producer David L. Wolper, at whose production firm he worked for 17 years, before going freelance. E ...

. As a writer, Stephenson was a beneficiary of the American Gem Screenplay Award for his screenplay ''Orange''.

2009–present

Stephenson co-founded a production company with his wife Lindsay Stephenson, Magic Stone Productions, in 2009. In 2009, Stephenson produced and directed '' Best Worst Movie'', a documentary about ''Troll 2'' and its cult status. The film launched on March 14, 2009, at the

Alamo Drafthouse The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema is an American cinema chain founded in 1997 in Austin, Texas, which is famous for serving dinner and drinks during the film, as well as its strict policy of requiring its audiences to maintain proper cinema-going etiq ...

South Lamar in

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

, as part of the

South by Southwest South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

film festival. ABC's

Nightline ''Nightline'' (or ''ABC News Nightline'') is ABC News (United States), ABC News' Late night television in the United States, late-night television news program broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC in the United States with a franchis ...

ran a segment on Troll 2 and ''Best Worst Movie'' in May 2010, including interviews with

Hardy Hardy may refer to: People * Hardy (surname) * Hardy (given name) * Hardy (singer), American singer-songwriter Places Antarctica * Mount Hardy, Enderby Land * Hardy Cove, Greenwich Island * Hardy Rocks, Biscoe Islands Australia * Hardy, ...

and Stephenson. In 2012, Stephenson produced and directed his second feature documentary, '' The American Scream'', for

NBC Universal NBCUniversal Media, LLC (abbreviated as NBCU and doing business as NBCUniversal or Comcast NBCUniversal since 2013) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate that is a subsidiary of Comcast and headquartered at 30 ...

's Chiller network.''The American Scream'' premiered on October 28, 2012. Stephenson is also the Executive Producer of '' Zero Charisma'', a comedy directed by Katie Graham and editor Andrew Matthews. ''Zero Charisma'' won the audience award at the SXSW film festival in 2013. In 2017, Stephenson made his narrative feature debut with the dark comedy '' Girlfriend's Day'', starring Bob Odenkirk. The film premiered worldwide on

February 14 It is observed in most countries as Valentine's Day. Events Pre-1600 * 748 – Abbasid Revolution#Persian phase, Abbasid Revolution: The Kaysanites Shia#History, Hashimi rebels under Abu Muslim Khorasani take Merv, capital of the Umayyad ...

on Netflix. Stephenson's most recent film, ''Attack of the Murder Hornets'', is an original documentary that he produced and directed for

. The film was released worldwide on February 20, 2021.

Personal life

Stephenson lives in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

with his producing-partner and wife.

Select filmography

As actor

As filmmaker

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stephenson, Michael 1978 births Living people American male child actors American documentary film directors American male film actors American film producers American male television actors People from Galveston, Texas