Riley Stearns (born June 29, 1986) is an American filmmaker best known for directing the films '' Faults'' (2014) and '' The Art of Self-Defense'' (2019).

Early life

Stearns was born on June 29, 1986 in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

, and grew up in

Pflugerville, Texas Pflugerville ( ) is a city in Travis County, Texas, United States, with a small portion in Williamson County. The population was 65,191 at the 2020 census. Pflugerville is a suburb of Austin and part of the Austin–Round Rock–San Ma ...

. He attended

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

, but dropped out after being turned down by the film program.

Career

Initially wanting to be a

musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who w ...

, Stearns became involved in filmmaking after visiting various movie sets and after being advised on being a

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

by '' Final Destination 3'' director James Wong. Stearns worked as a writer for Cartoon Network's '' Tower Prep'', and for the television series '' My Own Worst Enemy'' and '' Bionic Woman''. His short film ''The Cub'' became his first film to be premiered at the 2013

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,6 ...

, and also to be featured by

Vice Media Vice Media Group LLC is an American-Canadian digital media and broadcasting company. , the Vice Media Group included five main business areas: VICE.com (digital content); VICE STUDIOS (film and TV production) VICE TV (also known as VICELAND); ...

. He released his feature debut '' Faults'' in 2014. It was later chosen to be part of the Best Unproduced Scripts Black List of 2013. Stearns wrote and directed a second feature, '' The Art of Self-Defense'', which was released in 2019. In 2022, he released his third feature film ''

Dual Dual or Duals may refer to: Paired/two things * Dual (mathematics), a notion of paired concepts that mirror one another ** Dual (category theory), a formalization of mathematical duality *** see more cases in :Duality theories * Dual (grammatical ...

''.

Personal life

In 2010, he married actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead, whom he met during an ocean cruise in 2002. She starred in his first two short films, before starring in his feature film debut, ''Faults'' in 2014. The couple separated in 2017, and divorced that year after Winstead left him for actor

Ewan McGregor Ewan Gordon McGregor ( ; born 31 March 1971) is a Scottish actor. His accolades include a Golden Globe Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and the BAFTA Britannia Humanitarian Award. In 2013, he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British ...

. Stearns is a brown belt in

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ; pt, jiu-jitsu brasileiro ) is a self-defence martial art and combat sport based on grappling, ground fighting ( ne-waza) and submission holds. BJJ focuses on the skill of taking an opponent to the ground, control ...

and won a bronze medal at the 2022 ADCC Open in the 70kg Masters Pro division.https://arena.flograppling.com/event/b754d945-190c-80a6-8ce4-1c10b0c27f92

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stearns, Riley Living people American film directors American male screenwriters People from Austin, Texas People from Pflugerville, Texas English-language film directors 1986 births