Stephen M. Hunt

Steve began in the theatre where his directorial debut was "The Merchant of Venice" in 1999 on the main stage of The Harlow Playhouse, Essex, England. He then directed the classic British comedy "No Sex Please, We're British" at the same venue. After a break of several years, Steve embarked on work in the London Fringe with his plays "Mad Tigers & Bears", "Sex, Drugs, Therapy & Mayhem" and "I Am Not An I" which starred Royal Shakespeare Company actors Ben Onwukwe and Hildegard Neil. Steve enjoyed a three year collaboration with Hildegard culminating in an award winning regional tour of Steve's play "Impossible Steps". Hildegard's husband and much loved UK actor Brian Blessed recommended Steve to start writing screenplays. Adapting to the screenwriting craft involved Steve submitting work to many top industry analysts. Once "Recommend" became the standard feedback, Steve began entering screenplay competitions and film festivals where he subsequently achieved 44 1st place wins for both feature and short scripts. He then optioned 2 feature screenplays. A third feature "Previous Vengeance" was subject to a "shopping agreement" and his short screenplays were in demand. The first to be filmed was "Early Release" shot in Portugal by Emmy Award winning director Miguel Guerreiro. This piece achieved "official selection" status at twenty-six film festivals where it picked up 9 awards including Best Screenplay, Best Film, Best Crime Film, Best Actor and Best Actress. Then Sanford Films seized upon "Death's Ladylove" which is presently (2017) being filmed on location in Maine, USA. Steve's film directorial debut was his short screenplay "Believers" (16 mins) with Matt Aucott as DoP. This made an immediate impact at film festivals by winning two Best First Time Director awards, a Best Short Narrative award, two Best Child Actor award, Two Best Actress awards, a Best Actor award, nominations for Best Cinematography, Best Actor, Best 1st Time director and an "official selection". In Summer 2017, Steve and Matt Aucott will be in their same roles in France to make "Jezabel", a short film with a French cast & crew. The duo will then team up with Tim Barr to shoot "Chicago's Iago" the most challenging of Steve's short scripts as its locations cover 3 continents.