Rob Stewart (filmmaker)

Rob Stewart

Born	(1979-12-28) December 28, 1979 Toronto, Ontario
Occupation	Film, photography, director

Rob Stewart (born December 28, 1979) is a Canadian photographer and movie director/filmmaker. He is best known for making and directing the multi-award-winning movie Sharkwater along with 2015's Revolution.

Biography

Stewart was born in 1979, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, where he was raised.^[1] He began doing underwater photography as a teenager, and became a scuba-diving trainer when he was eighteen years old. He attended the prestigious Crescent School in Toronto, Ontario, Canada as a youth.^[1]

For four years, Stewart worked as chief photographer for the Canadian Wildlife Federation's magazines, and also worked as a freelance journalist. He won awards for his journalism.^[1]

Stewart holds a Bachelor's degree in biology from The University of Western Ontario, and studied Zoology and Marine Biology in Kenya and Jamaica.^[1]

Sharkwater

Rob Stewart got the idea to make the movie Sharkwater at age twenty-two, when he found illegal long-lining in the Galapagos Marine Reserve. ^[1] He travelled through fifteen countries for the next four years, studying and filming sharks, and going undercover to confront the shark fin industry.^[1] Sharkwater is credited by many as starting the shark conservation movement, and changing government policy worldwide. Today shark finning is banned everywhere, a great conservation success story, and display of the power of film to make a difference. Sharkwater went on to win more than 40 awards at top film festivals, and be seen by more than 124 million people. Stewart often posts shark conservation notes and information on his Facebook page. His follow-up movie, Revolution, builds on Sharkwater.

Positions held

Sharkwater

Stewart has also appeared on Loose Women in one episode in 2008, Sidewalks Entertainment in the 2007 episode "Sterling and Sharkwater", The Smart Woman Survival Guide in the 2006 episode "Earth Day", and in The Best Years in the 2009 episode "Delirious".

Awards and nominations

Stewart has won more than 40 awards for Sharkwater, and ten for Revolution, and been nominated for dozens more including the Hawaii International Film Festival, the Gen Art Film Festival, the Ft. Lauderdale Film Festival, and the Atlantic Film Festival. In 2006, he won the Special Jury Award for Documentaries, the Spirit of the Independent award, the People's Choice award for Best film, the Jury award for Best Documentary, and the Audience Award for Best film. The following year, he won the Audience and Best Feature awards at the Gen Art Film festival. In 2008, he received a Genie Award nomination for Best Documentary. He also received a Genesis Award for Outstanding Documentary,^[2] and an Environmental Vision award at the 35th annual Vision awards; held in Los Angeles, in 2008.^[3]

References