# Stephen Dunn (director)

Stephen Dunn (born January 18, 1989) is a Canadian director, screenwriter, and producer. He made his feature film directorial debut in 2015 with Closet Monster, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.

## Early life

Dunn was born and raised in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. He later studied at the Canadian Film Centre and at Ryerson University.

## Career

Dunn attended film school at Ryerson University in Toronto and produced several short films as a student, many of which screened at festivals. One of his early short films, titled Life Doesn't Frighten Me, starred Canadian actor Gordon Pinsent and won various awards, including the CBC Short Film Face-Off, with a cash prize of $30,000. The film also won awards at the Toronto Student Film Festival and the Tribeca Film Festival in 2013.
His other short films have included Lionel Lonely Heart, Words! Words! Words! and Swallowed.

### Closet Monster

Dunn's feature film directorial debut, Closet Monster, won the award for Best Canadian Feature Film at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival. He was also named the inaugural winner of the Len Blum Residency, a Toronto International Film Festival program for emerging directors.

### Other work

Dunn directed and produced the web series Pop-Up Porno, which streams on YouTube and premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. He also directed "The Son", a 2020 episode of the Apple TV+ series Little America focusing on a gay immigrant from Syria, and has been writing a planned reboot of Queer as Folk.

## Personal life

In 2022, Dunn told the public that the new location for Queer as Folk (2022 TV series) is set in New Orleans because he wanted to give a contribute to his close drag queen superstar friend Chi Chi DeVayne, who is deceased. Dunn is also an openly gay man.

## Filmography
### Film

| Title | Year | Credited as | Credited as | Credited as | Notes |
| Title | Year | Director | Producer | Writer | Notes |
| Lionel Lonely Heart | 2008 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Short film Credited as Stephen Patrick Dunn |
| The Hall | 2009 | Yes | Co-producer | Yes | Short film Credited as Stephen Patrick Dunn |
| Words! Words! Words! | 2009 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Short film Cinematographer Editor Credited as Stephen Patrick Dunn |
| Swallowed | 2010 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Short film Lyrics by |
| Life Doesn't Frighten Me | 2012 | Yes | Co-producer | Yes | Short film Credited as Stephen Patrick Dunn |
| Night Light | 2012 | Yes | No | Story | Short film |
| We Wanted More | 2013 | Yes | No | Yes | Short film Credited as Stephen Patrick Dunn |
| Good Morning | 2014 | Co-director | No | No | Short film |
| The Imagined | 2014 | No | No | Yes | Short film Original author |
| Pop-Up Porno | 2015 | Yes | Co-producer | Yes | Documentary short film |
| Closet Monster | 2015 | Yes | No | Yes | |

### Television

The numbers in directing and writing credits refer to the number of episodes.
Key :
| † | Denotes television series that have not yet aired. |
| Title | Year | Credited as | Credited as | Credited as | Credited as | Network | Notes |
| Title | Year | Creator | Director | Writer | Executive producer | Network | Notes |
| Reel East Coast | 2015 | No | Yes (1) | Yes (1) | No | CBC Television | Segment "Life Doesn't Frighten Me" |
| Heritage Minutes | 2018 | No | Yes (2) | Yes (2) | No | Historica Canada | Web series |
| Little America | 2020 | No | Yes (1) | Yes (1) | No | Apple TV+ | |
| Queer as Folk | 2022 | Developer | Yes (3) | Yes (3) | Yes | Peacock | |