Sanzhar Sultan (born December 7, 1988, as ''Sanzhar Sultanov'') is a Canadian

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, ...

, producer and

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. ...

Early life

Sultan was born in the small village of

Korday Korday or Kordoy ( kz, Қордай, translit=Qordai, ; ky, Кордой) is a village in Jambyl Region of Kazakhstan, and the administrative center of that region's Korday District. It has been formerly known under its old Russian name of Geor ...

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental coun ...

. He grew up and studied in at

Downside School Downside School is a co-educational Catholic independent boarding and day school in the English public school tradition for pupils aged 11 to 18. It is located between Bath, Frome, Wells and Bruton, and is attached to Downside Abbey. Original ...

in England and at

Upper Canada College Upper Canada College (UCC) is an elite, Single-sex education, all-boys, private school in Toronto, Ontario, operating under the International Baccalaureate program. The college is widely described as the country's most prestigious University-prep ...

in Canada. In 2007, Sultan moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

to study at the

Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute (originally the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute) is an acting school founded in 1969 by actor, director, and acting teacher Lee Strasberg. The Institute is located in Union Square on East 15th Street, ...

Career

Sultan (back then as Sultanov) founded his own company, Reverson Entertainment, in 2009, with his brother Said. Sultan's first short film was ''Makes The Whole World Kin'', an adaptation of the original short story by

O. Henry William Sydney Porter (September 11, 1862 – June 5, 1910), better known by his pen name O. Henry, was an American writer known primarily for his short stories, though he also wrote poetry and non-fiction. His works include " The Gift of the ...

, starring Paul Calderon. In 2010 he produced and directed his first feature film ''Burning Daylight'' starring

Robert Knepper Robert Lyle Knepper (born July 8, 1959) is an American actor best known for his role as Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell in the Fox drama series '' Prison Break'' (2005–2009, 2017), Samuel Sullivan in the final season of the NBC series '' Heroes' ...

and Calderon in a supporting role. Sultan based the screenplay on three

Jack London John Griffith Chaney (January 12, 1876 – November 22, 1916), better known as Jack London, was an American novelist, journalist and activist. A pioneer of commercial fiction and American magazines, he was one of the first American authors to ...

stories, while the film was set in 1920s

. The film premiered in Sonoma, California (Jack London's hometown) and in New York City's Webster Hall. It also received a wide theatrical release in

and was highly acclaimed by many critics. In February 2013, Sultan partnered with Canadian venture capitalist and fellow Upper Canada College graduate Loudon Owen and opened up Know Rules Media. In September 2013, the company partnered with director/producer Akan Satayev and his studio SataiFilm, and started pre-production on

Hacker A hacker is a person skilled in information technology who uses their technical knowledge to achieve a goal or overcome an obstacle, within a computerized system by non-standard means. Though the term ''hacker'' has become associated in popu ...

. Brillstein Entertainment Partners executive produced. Sultan wrote the screenplay, from a story by Satayev and Timur Zhaksylykov. The film was financed by Timur Meirambekov, Zhanbolat Serikov and Kenges Rakishev on behalf of Mobli. The film had a limited release in the US (under the title "Anonymous"), on December 2, 2016. Following that, Sony Pictures released the film on home entertainment. In 2016, Sultan was set to produce Business Ethics, starring

Larenz Tate Larenz Tate (born September 8, 1975) is an American film and television actor. He is best known for his roles as O-Dog in '' Menace II Society'' and as Councilman Rashad Tate in '' Power''. Tate's other films and television series include the f ...

and directed by Nick Wernham. The film also starred

Lance Reddick Lance Reddick (born December 31, 1962) is an American actor and musician. He is best known for playing Cedric Daniels in ''The Wire'' (2002–2008), Phillip Broyles in '' Fringe'' (2008–2013), and Chief Irvin Irving in '' Bosch'' (2014–202 ...

Kurtwood Smith Kurtwood Larson Smith (born July 3, 1943) is an American television and film actor. He is known for playing Clarence Boddicker in ''RoboCop'' (1987), Robert Griggs in '' Rambo III'' (1988), and Red Forman in ''That '70s Show'' (1998–2006), a ...

and

Angus Macfadyen Angus Macfadyen (born 21 September 1963) is a Scottish actor. His roles include Robert the Bruce, both in '' Braveheart'' and ''Robert the Bruce'', Komodo in '' Warriors of Virtue'', Vice-Counsel Dupont in '' Equilibrium'', Jeff Denlon in the ...

References

External links

*
Reverson Entertainment''Burning Daylight''
at IMDB {{DEFAULTSORT:Sultanov, Sanzhar 1988 births Kazakhstani film directors Kazakhstani film producers Canadian people of Kazakhstani descent Canadian film directors Canadian film producers Living people