Ken Stewart Bio
Ken is a multi-award winning writer-producer-director who began his film career as a senior creative marketing executive for Paramount Pictures. After nearly four years at Paramount Pictures, he segued to Columbia Pictures where he assumed the role of Senior Vice-President, Director of Creative Services for the film division.
Aside from being creatively responsible for the marketing of twenty to twenty-two films a years, he was also accountable for an annual creative and administrative budget that averaged over eleven million dollars.
His theatrical marketing career at both major studios spanned ten years and included such movie openings as “Terms of Endearment”, “Star Trek”, “Beverly Hills Cop”, “Raiders of the Lost Ark”, and “Stand By Me”. During this time period he created the first-ever musical film trailers for “Footloose”, “Officer and A Gentleman” and Flashdance” which aired on MTV and won Billboard’s music trailer of the year.
After Ken left the studio system, he formed his own entertainment marketing company Sierra Hotel Productions LLC. While at the helm of the company he continued to market films and also expanded his creative reach into telelvision broadcast marketing. Along with the marketing of major films he created syndicated launch campaigns for the hit series “Everybody Loves Raymond”, as well as “Seinfeld”; both shows licensing at historic highs.
Ken then entered the brand product commercial arena when he was hired by Coca Cola to develop a new advertising concept for Coca Cola Classic. He conceived, wrote, produced and directed, the landmark Coca-Cola Polar Bears advertising campaign that has run worldwide for over ten years now. The original Polar Bear spot was designated as one of Advertising Age's: TOP 50 Commercials in the last One Hundred Years, voted one of USA Today's top 20 commercials, chosen as Video Storyboard's Best Commercial in 1994, designated one of Adweek's Top 10 Commercials in the last Fifty Years, won the Hugo Silver Award, was the first CGI spot to win the coveted ASIFA award, and won the Mobius First Place Award. To top it off , the world famous Polar Bear campaign was installed into the Library of Congress in November of 2000.
He directed a twelve camera shoot for “The Band From TV” (Greg Grunberg, Hugh Laurie, James Denton, Bob Guiney, and Bonnie Summerville) for the 2 Disc 13 music videos collector’s set of “Hoggin All the Covers” .
He was Executive Producer of Season 2 for “America’s Dumbest Criminals” , and co-wrote and produced various tv specials.
In 2012, he Executive Produced “Crowsnest”, an independent low budgeted found-footage horror film that is being distributed by IFC.
And in 2015, he has just completed his first self financed, produced, directed, written, and edited, 60 minute documentary entitled “The Richmond Rosies”. He is nearly finished with his second documentary that will be released late Spring 2020.
Ken has had a rich history of creative marketing and production excellence and has been a successful small business entrepreneur. Along with his strong creative abilities, he has a deep knowledge of how to administer budgets and personnel, and develop goals, set deadliones and execute strategies at a senior corporate level.
He is a voting member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. A member of the Directors Guild, SAG-AFTRA, and the Publicists Guild.