Stuart Wahlin

Stuart Wahlin is an American auteur filmmaker with backgrounds in journalism and music. In high school, he notably wrote, directed, scored, and starred in a 45-minute film he produced for a creative writing class, going on to earn a degree in film and television production at Northern Illinois University--a campus he would later return to as a journalist covering a mass-shooting. For several years, Wahlin served as a videographer for ABC, NBC, Fox, and CBS affiliates, which he credits for the development of his photographic eye. He later became a print journalist covering politics, government, and investigative beats. Wahlin's first formal film credit came in 2005 for his camera work in the documentary "Hubert Selby Jr.: It/ll Be Better Tomorrow," which featured Darren Aronofsky, Ellen Burstyn, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jared Leto, Robert Downey Jr., John Turturro, Marlon Wayans, James Remar, Susan Anton, Anthony Kiedis, Burt Young, and others. Wahlin's acclaimed first feature, "Hand of Glory" (2012), earned the filmmaker Best Director at the Prairie State Film Festival in Chicago. His upcoming sophomore feature, "Slay Utterly," stars indie horror icons Zach Galligan, Bill Oberst Jr., Lynn Lowry and Melantha Blackthorne. Wahlin's script earned Best Feature in the 2014 Cinemaesque Screenplay Competition. The film is a modern adaptation inspired by the 1912 Villisca ax murders, which were also the subject of Wahlin's 2013 documentary, "The Ax Man Enigma."