John Stockwell Director

John Stockwell
Born: March 25, 1961 in Galveston, Texas, USA
Director and Actor

Director John Stockwell revels in moral complexity. Whether it's the invention of the silicone breast implant (1997's HBO docudrama BREAST MEN, for which Stockwell wrote the screenplay), a teacher instructing his students to lie and cheat (CHEATERS, 2000), or a dedicated "family" of female surfers (BLUE CRUSH, 2002), Stockwell embraces the opportunity to bring challenging stories and unconventional characters to the screen, and to fully immerse viewers in highly credible, visceral realities. He penned the darkly humorous script for HBO's "Breast Men" (1997), about the inventors of silicone implants which became his calling card. He wrote and directed the equally well-received drama "Cheaters" (HBO, 2000), about a teacher who uses an illegally obtained copy of test questions to level the playing field in an academic competition. His taut, nicely nuanced script snagged an Emmy nomination. He also wrote the screenplay for "Rock Star" (also 2001), about an ordinary guy who harbors a desire to play in a heavy metal band.

Stockwell took a raw, bold look at adolescent romance in Touchstone Pictures CRAZY / BEAUTIFUL (2001), for which Kirsten Dunst shed her girl-next-door image to play a troubled, provocative teen who finds a measure of hope and happiness when she falls in love with a poor Latino boy (Jay Hernandez).

Stockwell's intuitive verité style, and facility with both established and rising young talent stem in part from his years as an actor. After earning an undergraduate degree at Harvard, Stockwell entered NYU's filmmaking program, but gave that up in favor of a real-world education. While performing in a string of features and TV movies including TOP GUN, CHRISTINE, and "North and South", Stockwell took notes, asked questions, and generally made a pest of himself on the set, all in an effort to learn everything he could about the filmmaking process.

Other recent credits include the Fox Atomic / 2929 thriller TURISTAS and the adventure-drama INTO THE BLUE, starring Jessica Alba and Paul Walker, "Middle of Nowhere" with Anton Yelchon and Susan Sarandon, and "Cat Run" with Paz Vega.

Stockwell braves the waves and open water challenges in “Dark Tide”, taking on the challenge of directing Halle Berry as a shark naturalist who dives outside the cage with great white sharks.

Stockwell recently finished filming CODE NAME GERONIMO about the manhunt for Osama bin Laden and the group of Navy SEALS that took him down.

Most recently Stockwell just finished directing KID CANNABIS from his own screenplay, based on a Rolling Stone article about a young pizza delivery boy who built a $150 million empire smuggling British Columbia bud across the Canadian border.

Filmography John Stockwell

In the Blood by John Stockwell 2013
Kid Cannabis by John Stockwell 2013
Code Name Geronimo by John Stockwell 2012
Dark tide by John Stockwell - 2012
Middle of Nowhere  by John Stockwell - 2008
Turistas by John Stockwell - 2005
Into the Blue by John Stockwell - 2005
Blue Crush by John Stockwell - 2002
Crazy / Beautiful by John Stockwell - 2001
Under Cover by John Stockwell - 1987

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