Sean Stuart (born June 16, 1978), is an Emmy and Grammy award-winning American documentary producer, writer, and director. He is president of Sutter Road Picture Company], and a partner at Company Name with actor/director Colin Hanks. He is best known for "Sly", ', ', ' and '.
Early life and education.
Sean Stuart was raised in Sacramento, California. He attended Jesuit High School in Carmichael, California, and later enrolled at the University of Southern California, where he received a degree from the USC School of Cinematic Arts. While at USC, he played for the USC Trojans men's water polo team, winning the 1998 National Collegiate Men's Water Polo Championship.
Stuart's first job in the entertainment industry came shortly after graduation, when he worked as a production assistant on the original "Spider-Man" movie, directed by Sam Raimi.
Career.
Early career and DirecTV.
Sean Stuart began his career in television, where he played a key role in launching and running The 101 Network (later known as the Audience Network) at DirecTV. From 2005 to 2011, Stuart handled the day-to-day operations alongside his partners. The 101 Network was DirecTV's first original 24-hour broadcast venture.
During this period, Stuart and his team managed the network's production and broadcast of various high-profile projects, including three seasons of "Friday Night Lights" and the 2009 launch of "The Dan Patrick Show", among other original programming. His contributions helped establish DirecTV as a competitive force in original content production.
Documentary filmmaking.
Company Name with Colin Hanks.
Soon after his departure from DirecTV, Stuart formed a new media venture, Company Name, with actor/director Colin Hanks, and began production on their first documentary film ". The film premiered at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival in 2015, and documented the history and eventual closure of Tower Records.
In 2017, Stuart and Hanks produced ", a documentary that followed the return of the band Eagles of Death Metal to Paris after the 2015 Bataclan Theatre attack. The film focused on band members Josh Homme and Jesse Hughes as they resumed performing in Paris just months after the tragic event. The documentary aired on HBO and received two nominations at the 2017 Critics' Choice Documentary Awards.
Through their production company, Stuart and Hanks have produced numerous projects for ESPN and their 30 for 30 and FiveThirtyEight brands. Notable works include "Say Hey, Willie Mays!" for HBO Sports and "Thriller 40" with Sony Music for Paramount+. The duo is currently producing the upcoming Untitled John Candy documentary with Maximum Effort for Amazon MGM Studios.
Sutter Road Picture Company.
Stuart is the founder and president of Sutter Road Picture Company. Through Sutter Road, he has produced over 20 documentary films and television series. His work has received six Emmy Award nominations, including one win for ' in the Outstanding Sports Documentary category. He has won a Grammy Award for ', which won Best Music Film at the 2023 Grammy Awards.
Stuart and Sutter Road's other recent films include "Chowchilla, , Willie Nelson & Family, The Blue Angels, Diane von Furstenberg: Woman in Charge", and "Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band."
Notable projects.
In 2015, "All Things Must Pass: The Rise and Fall of Tower Records" had its world premiere at SXSW, featured in the festivals 24 Beats Per Second screening section.
In 2019, Sean had two films premiere at SXSW: "The Gift: The Journey of Johnny Cash" (directed by Thom Zimny)"," and "Tread" (directed by Paul Solet).
In 2020, " (directed by Antoine Fuqua) won three prestigious awards: a Sports Emmy Award for Outstanding Long Sports Documentary, a PGA Award for Outstanding Sports Program, and an Eddie Award for Best Edited Documentary: Non-Theatrical.
Also in 2020, " was nominated for two News & Documentary Emmy Awards: Outstanding Historical Documentary, and Outstanding Editing: Documentary. "With Drawn Arms" (directed by Glenn Kaino and Afshin Shahidi) was selected as the opening night film at Hamptons International Film Festival; the film also received a nomination for Outstanding Social Issue Documentary at the News & Documentary Emmy Awards.
In 2023, "Sly" was chosen as the closing night film at the Toronto International Film Festival. won the Grammy Award for Best Music Film.
In 2024, "Diane von Furstenberg: Woman in Charge" had its world premiere at Tribeca Film Festival. Also having its world premiere in 2024 was "", which premiered at Cannes Film Festival.