Stefan Schaefer was born in Boston, spent his childhood in Sussex, England, and his adolescent years in Detroit and New York. He graduated from Wesleyan University with degrees in political theory and theater. Following a year and a half in Germany - where he studied as a Fulbright Scholar and worked as a journalist - he returned to New York and founded Cicala Filmworks with Diane Crespo.
Over the past ten years he has written, directed and produced feature films, documentaries, music videos and TV commercials. CONFESS, his debut narrative feature, premiered at the 2005 Hamptons Int'l Film Festival, where Stefan won the Best Screenwriter award. The political thriller – starring Eugene Byrd, Ali Larter, Melissa Leo, William Sadler and Glenn Fitzgerald – has a foreign distribution deal with New Films International, and a North American deal with MTI.
In 2006 he directed and produced the one-hour television documentary CONTESTED STREETS, which looks at what New York City can learn from London, Paris and Copenhagen in terms of organizing its streets and public spaces. The film will be broadcast nationally via FreeSpeechTV in 2007.
In April-May 2007 he was on location in Iceland, where THE HIGHER FORCE, a feature he co-wrote, co-produced and acted in, was helmed by Olaf Johannesson. The film stars, among others, Michael Imperioli from the SOPRANOS.
Other narrative films in the works include:
• WINNIE (working title) - a late-in-life empowerment story written for Bumbershoot Productions (CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES), with Shirley MacLaine attached to star.
• FERTILITY (working title) - a family drama/comedy he will co-direct and produce with Diane Crespo. They plan to shoot the film in late 2007/early 2008.
Awards include: Best Screenwriter at the Hamptons Film Festival (2005), Grand Prize in Digital Filmmaking from Panasonic and Apple (2004), the New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship in Screenwriting (2003), and selection to attend the Talent Campus at the Berlin International Film Festival.
Film Movement
