Stephen Marshall is a renowned author and feature film director, best known for creating Channel Zero, the world's first global VHS newsmagazine. This innovative project was widely distributed in Tower, Virgin, and HMV record stores worldwide, becoming an underground hit and a pioneer in the small-format video revolution. The Village Voice praised Marshall's work, stating, "Leave it to a Canadian to revolutionize television." The Toronto Star described Channel Zero as "A mind blowing trip, one neither CNN nor 60 Minutes would ever take."
In 1997, Marshall was approached by CNN Chairman Tom Johnson to create a youth-based global news network, but the concept was ultimately dropped when Time Warner took over CNN. Undeterred, Marshall co-founded the popular underground news site Guerrilla News Network (GNN) in 2000 and went on to direct over 15 News Videos, including the critically acclaimed and Sundance Award-winning film Crack the CIA, as well as music videos for notable artists such as Beastie Boys, Eminem, and 50 Cent.
Marshall has also written two non-fiction books, True Lies (Penguin/Plume, 2004) and Wolves in Sheep's Clothing (Disinformation/Virgin, 2007),and has worked on various documentary and narrative projects. His feature documentary, BattleGround: 21 Days on the Empire's Edge, won the Silver Hugo for Best Documentary at the 2004 Chicago International Film Festival and was acquired by Showtime Network and Home Vision for television and home video distribution, respectively. This Revolution, his first narrative feature film, premiered at Sundance in 2005 and was released in 2006.
Marshall's latest feature documentary, Holy Wars, was shot over a three-year period and edited by Dan Swietlik, known for his work on Inconvenient Truth and SiCKO. The film has been selected for competition at several prestigious festivals, including AFI/Discovery Silverdocs and IDFA. Critics have praised Marshall's "cool, agnostic approach" to storytelling, and Moviefone has named Holy Wars one of the best documentaries of 2010. The film was produced in association with Smuggler.
Throughout his career, Stephen Marshall has traveled and worked in more than 60 countries, earning a reputation as a talented and adventurous filmmaker.
