Martha Stephens

{{short description|American film writer and director (born 1984)}}

{{Infobox person

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| name = Martha Stephens

| birthname =

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1984|3|12}}

| birth_place = Huntington, West Virginia, U.S.

| occupation = Writer, director, filmmaker

| yearsactive = 2009–present

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Martha Stephens (born March 12, 1984) is an American film writer and director.[http://blogs.indiewire.com/womenandhollywood/sundance-women-directors-meet-martha-stephens] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140221204649/http://blogs.indiewire.com/womenandhollywood/sundance-women-directors-meet-martha-stephens |date=2014-02-21 }} Silverstein, Melissa. Sundance Women Directors: Meet Martha Stephens at Indiewire.com.Eliot, Natalie. Filmmaker Interview: Martha Stephens. Oxford American Magazine. 6.12.2012.

Stephens was born in West Virginia and raised in eastern Kentucky.[https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1387503/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm#overview] IMDB: Martha Stephens. Retrieved 2.9.2014. She graduated from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, School of Filmmaking, where she concentrated in directing.Lane, Kim. Rock Candy: Q&A with Martha Stephens. Arkansas Times. 5.31.2012.[http://www.indiewire.com/article/meet-the-2012-sxsw-filmmakers-2-martha-stephens-pilgrim-song] Indiewire Staff. Meet the 2012 SXSW Filmmakers #2: Martha Stephens. Indiewire.com, 3.1.2012.[http://carpetbagger.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/01/24/sundance-the-plastic-surgeon-and-the-actor-a-new-comedy-team/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=1] Ryzik, Melena. Sundance: The Plastic Surgeon, The Actor, and a New Comedy Team. New York Times, retrieved 2.9.2014

Stephens' first two feature films, Passenger Pigeons (2010) and Pilgrim Song (2012), premiered at the South by Southwest festival and received several awards.Smirnoff, Marc. REPORT: Little Rock Film Festival. Oxford American Magazine. 6.8.2012.[http://sundance.org/availability/id/13929]Land Ho! Description. Sundance.org. Retrieved 2.9.2014. Her third film, Land Ho! (2014), which she co-directed with Aaron Katz, premiered at the Sundance Film FestivalFilmmaker Staff. Land Ho! | Directors Aaron Katz, Martha Stephens. Filmmaker Magazine. 1.18.2014. and was purchased for worldwide distribution by Sony Pictures Classics.[https://www.buzzfeed.com/jordanzakarin/a-week-at-sundance-2014-land-ho] Zakarin, Jordan. A Week With the Unlikely Breakout Stars of this year's Sundance at Buzzfeed.com. Retrieved 2.9.2014.[https://variety.com/2014/film/reviews/sundance-film-review-land-ho-1201070136/] Chang, Justin. Sundance Film Reviews: Land Ho! Variety, 1.21.2014. At the 30th Independent Spirit Awards, Land Ho! was given the John Cassavetes Award for best feature film with a budget under $500,000.{{Cite news|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/independent-spirit-awards-land-ho-774858|title=Independent Spirit Awards: 'Land Ho!' Wins John Cassavetes Award|work=The Hollywood Reporter|access-date=2018-09-20|language=en}} Her fourth feature film To the Stars, with Kara Hayward, Liana Liberato, Malin Åkerman, and Tony Hale starring, premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival in the U.S. Dramatic Competition.{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2018/film/news/kara-hayward-liana-liberato-malin-akerman-to-the-stars-1202833530/|title='To the Stars' Movie Casts Tony Hale, Malin Akerman|website=Variety|first=Dave|last=McNary|date=June 6, 2018|accessdate=June 25, 2018}} It was released on April 24, 2020, by Samuel Goldwyn Films.