His 2015 film "Jason and Shirley," which he wrote and directed, was called “one of the year’s finest” by Richard Brody in The New Yorker. His film debut was "Chocolate Babies" (1996), which premiered at the Berlin Film Festival. Stephen has worked with Lee Daniels, Steve Harvey, John Cameron Mitchell, Xan Cassavetes, Zoe Cassavetes, John Krokidas, Gus Van Sant and David France. He produced Jonathan Caouette’s landmark “narci-cinema” documentary "Tarnation" (A.O. Scott, New York Times) which had the triple-crown premiere of Sundance, Cannes and the New York Film Festival. He teaches at Cornell University, Pratt Institute and Williams College.