Adam Stein
Encyclopedia
Adam Stein is an American
film director
, writer
and editor working in Los Angeles, California
.
Stein graduated from Harvard University
and attended film school at the University of Southern California
, with a focus on directing. Prior to working as a director, he edited several independent features that played at film festivals such as Sundance
, Tribeca
, and SXSW
.
, the Fox Television directing competition produced by Steven Spielberg
and Mark Burnett
.
The films that Adam Stein created for On The Lot consistently received the highest reviews from the show's judges. Actress/writer Carrie Fisher
said of his film Army Guy, "that was one of the most innovative, freaky, fantastic films I have seen." Director Gary Ross
called Stein's filmmaking "charming, unbelievably ambitious, and really really technically proficient."
At least one celebrity judge chose Stein as their favorite filmmaker each time he made a film. New York Magazine called the director a "wunderkind." When Film Threat
reviewed his film "Dough: The Musical," the magazine said that it "covered a lot of visual ground and was extremely accomplished in lyrics, dancing, singing and acting."
"Suburban Symphony," the Yo-Yo Ma music video he directed for the Yo-Yo Ma Plays Ennio Morricone
album. This music video was first screened at an orchestral performance conducted by Andrea Morricone, with Yo-Yo Ma playing live. The music video was then sold as part of the album's bonus DVD.
His USC film "Hot Java" played at many festivals around the country, and won the top prize at the Gen Art Film Festival.
"Lazy Monday," the online parody he made with film school collaborator Sam Friedlander and actor Mark Feuerstein
, was the widely-played and widely-copied "west coast rap battle" response to Saturday Night Live's "Lazy Sunday
." This video was featured on VH1, Bravo, and many other media outlets. After the release of this video, CNN's Paula Zahn interviewed Stein and Feuerstein about making content for the web.
His film script "Tangles" won an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
grant for screenwriting.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
, writer
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
and editor working in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
.
Stein graduated from Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
and attended film school at the University of Southern California
USC School of Cinematic Arts
The USC School of Cinematic Arts, until 2006 named the School of Cinema-Television , is a film school within the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California. It is the oldest and largest such school in the United States, established in 1929 as a joint venture with the Academy of...
, with a focus on directing. Prior to working as a director, he edited several independent features that played at film festivals such as Sundance
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
, Tribeca
Tribeca Film Festival
The Tribeca Film Festival is a film festival founded in 2002 by Jane Rosenthal, Robert De Niro and Craig Hatkoff in a response to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the consequent loss of vitality in the TriBeCa neighborhood in Lower Manhattan.The mission of the festival...
, and SXSW
South by Southwest
South by Southwest is an Austin, Texas based company dedicated to planning conferences, trade shows, festivals and other events. Their current roster of annual events include: SXSW Music, SXSW Film, SXSW Interactive, SXSWedu, and SXSWeco and take place every spring in Austin, Texas, United States...
.
On The Lot
Adam Stein's writing and directing work gained national attention when he appeared weekly on On The LotOn the Lot
On the Lot is a short-lived reality show competition produced by Steven Spielberg and Mark Burnett. The show, which aired on Fox, featured filmmakers competing in weekly elimination competitions, with the ultimate prize of a million dollar development deal at DreamWorks...
, the Fox Television directing competition produced by Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
and Mark Burnett
Mark Burnett
Mark Burnett is a British television producer and executive producer, based in the United States. He currently is the executive producer of five network television series with seven hours of network programming. Works with which Burnett is associated have won multiple awards and recognition...
.
The films that Adam Stein created for On The Lot consistently received the highest reviews from the show's judges. Actress/writer Carrie Fisher
Carrie Fisher
Carrie Frances Fisher is an American actress, novelist, screenwriter, and lecturer. She is most famous for her portrayal of Princess Leia in the original Star Wars trilogy, her bestselling novel Postcards from the Edge, for which she wrote the screenplay to the film of the same name, and her...
said of his film Army Guy, "that was one of the most innovative, freaky, fantastic films I have seen." Director Gary Ross
Gary Ross
Gary Ross is an American writer, director, and actor. He is best known for directing Pleasantville and Seabiscuit, both of which featured Tobey Maguire in the lead role...
called Stein's filmmaking "charming, unbelievably ambitious, and really really technically proficient."
At least one celebrity judge chose Stein as their favorite filmmaker each time he made a film. New York Magazine called the director a "wunderkind." When Film Threat
Film Threat
Film Threat is a former print magazine and, now, webzine which focuses primarily on independent film, although it also reviews DVDs of mainstream films and Hollywood movies in theaters. It first appeared as a photocopied zine in 1985, created by Wayne State University students Chris Gore and André...
reviewed his film "Dough: The Musical," the magazine said that it "covered a lot of visual ground and was extremely accomplished in lyrics, dancing, singing and acting."
Writing and directing
In addition to the films he created for On The Lot, Stein has written and directed dozens of short films and music videos, which have been released around the world. Some examples include:"Suburban Symphony," the Yo-Yo Ma music video he directed for the Yo-Yo Ma Plays Ennio Morricone
Yo-Yo Ma Plays Ennio Morricone
Yo-Yo Ma Plays Ennio Morricone is a 2004 album of recordings from Morricone's various film scores by cellist Ma. The album was recorded with the Roma Sinfonietta Orchestra and Gilda Buttà on piano...
album. This music video was first screened at an orchestral performance conducted by Andrea Morricone, with Yo-Yo Ma playing live. The music video was then sold as part of the album's bonus DVD.
His USC film "Hot Java" played at many festivals around the country, and won the top prize at the Gen Art Film Festival.
"Lazy Monday," the online parody he made with film school collaborator Sam Friedlander and actor Mark Feuerstein
Mark Feuerstein
-Career:Feuerstein got his break-through on television as a recurring character on the daytime soap opera Loving. When director Nancy Meyers was casting What Women Want, her daughter recognized Feuerstein from Practical Magic and insisted that her mother cast him...
, was the widely-played and widely-copied "west coast rap battle" response to Saturday Night Live's "Lazy Sunday
Lazy Sunday
"Lazy Sunday" is a song and short video by American comedy troupe The Lonely Island, released on December 17, 2005, broadcast on Saturday Night Live as the second Digital Short...
." This video was featured on VH1, Bravo, and many other media outlets. After the release of this video, CNN's Paula Zahn interviewed Stein and Feuerstein about making content for the web.
His film script "Tangles" won an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation is a philanthropic non-profit organization in the United States. It was established in 1934 by Alfred P. Sloan, Jr., then-President and Chief Executive Officer of General Motors.-Overview:...
grant for screenwriting.
Editing
Stein has worked as an editor on several feature films, including:- Blue StateBlue State (film)Blue State is an Canadian / American romantic comedy film, released in 2007, starring Breckin Meyer and Anna Paquin. Meyer's character, a dedicated John Kerry campaigner, actually follows through on a drunken campaign promise to move to Canada if George W. Bush gets re-elected...
, starring Anna PaquinAnna PaquinAnna Helene Paquin is a Canadian-born New Zealand actress. Paquin's first critically successful film was The Piano, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1994 at the age of 11 – the second youngest winner in history...
and Breckin MeyerBreckin Meyer-Early life:Meyer was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the son of Dorothy Ann , a travel agent and former microbiologist, and Christopher William Meyer, a management consultant. As a child of divorced parents, he lived in California, Texas, West Virginia and New Jersey. He has an older brother,... - Fifty PillsFifty PillsFifty Pills is the debut feature film of director Theo Avgerinos, which premiered at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival.-Plot:...
starring Kristen BellKristen BellKristen Anne Bell is an American actress. Although her first film role was an uncredited appearance in Polish Wedding, Bell previously acted in stage and musical productions. In 2001, she made her Broadway debut as Becky Thatcher in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer...
and Lou Taylor PucciLou Taylor PucciLou Taylor Pucci is an American actor who first appeared on film in Rebecca Miller's well received Personal Velocity: Three Portraits in 2002.... - FlakesFlakes (film)Flakes is a 2007 American comedy film, directed by Michael Lehmann and starring Aaron Stanford and Zooey Deschanel. This film was written by Chris Poche & Karey Kirkpatrick-Plot:...
, starring Zooey DeschanelZooey DeschanelZooey Claire Deschanel is an American actress, musician, and singer-songwriter. In 1999, Deschanel made her film debut in Mumford, followed by her breakout role as young protagonist William Miller's troubled older sister Anita in Cameron Crowe's 2000 semi-autobiographical film Almost Famous... - The documentary Who Killed the Electric Car?Who Killed the Electric Car?Who Killed the Electric Car? is a 2006 documentary film that explores the creation, limited commercialization, and subsequent destruction of the battery electric vehicle in the United States, specifically the General Motors EV1 of the mid 1990s...
, which premiered at SundanceSundance Film FestivalThe Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
in 2006.
External links
- Adam Stein's Official Site
- Adam Stein at the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
- Official Site for "Lazy Monday"
- Harvard Crimson newspaper biography and profile.
- Interview and profile from The Miami Herald.