Tom Stern

In 1987, while at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, Tom collaborated with underground rock legends Butthole Surfers on the short film Cherub. Also while at NYU he began a partnership with Alex Winter which lasted eight years - their college film Squeal of Death caught the attention of Sam Raimi who then developed a feature comedy script with them. After graduating, the pair went to Hollywood and directed IMPACT Video Magazine, which featured cutting edge artists and performers such as Bill Hicks, Survival Research Labs, Public Enemy, Robert Williams, Janes Addiction, and another short film with Butthole Surfers. Tom got his first mainstream show business job writing for the Jim Henson Hour on NBC. After that he collaborated with Alex Winter on the MTV Sketch Comedy show The Idiot Box (1991), which he co-wrote, co-directed, and co-starred in. The Idiot Box was listed as one of the 40 best sketch comedy shows of all time by Rolling Stone magazine. Stern and Winter then shared writing and directing duties on their cult favorite feature film Freaked (1993) for 20th Century Fox, starring Randy Quaid, Mr. T, Keanu Reeves, Brooke Shields, Bobcat Goldthwait, and Larry "Bud" Melman. Tom went on to co-write the feature An American Werewolf in Paris (1997) with Tim Burns. Tom and Tim then co-created The Chimp Channel (1999), a comedy series for TBS. Tom went on to co-create Wanderlust with Josh Gardner (2003), a comedy travel show for Comedy Central, which he also co-wrote, directed, and executive produced. He was a showrunner for Comedy Central's Crank Yankers (2002), and for MTV's The Andy Milonakis Show (2005-2006), both of which he also directed. Along the way Tom directed for The Man Show on Comedy Central, Jimmy Kimmel Live on ABC, and was a staff writer for Trey Parker and Matt Stone's Comedy Central show That's My Bush (2001). Tom was the director and executive producer for Adult Swim's series Saul of the Molemen (2007). He co-wrote, co-created and directed an innovative photo animated pilot for MTV called Hardin High and has directed music videos for such artists as Red Hot Chili Peppers, Ice Cube, Butthole Surfers and Marilyn Manson. Tom was the showrunner and director for an MTV pilot starring artist Marc Horowitz called Marc Saves America (2013), directed season three of Joe Schmo (2013) for creators Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick (Zombieland, Deadpool) , and was co-EP/director for two seasons of the VH1 sketch comedy show Stevie TV (2012-2013), starring the young Youtube comedy star Stevie Ryan. Tom also directed episodes of 2 Broke Girls (CBS). In 2017 Tom and Josh Gardner created a serialized comedy series for Conoco and Warner Brothers Blue Ribbon Content called Golden Revenge. It's a cross between Homeward Bound and Kill Bill - and tells the story of three pets on a cross-country trek for bloody revenge. In 2018, Tom was showrunner/director on Kevin Hart's Guide to Black History and The Toys That Made Us, an 8 part documentary series on Netflix. in 2019 Tom was Showrunner/Director on season one of The Toys That Made Us on Netflix, and adapted, directed and produced the George Sanders story Adams as a short film starring Patton Oswalt and Fred Armisen. It's showing on The New Yorker website. in 2020 Tom co-wrote (with Kaz) a SpongeBob movie for Netflix called The Sandy Cheeks movie. In 2022 Tom co-wrote The Paloni Family Halloween Special w Justin Roiland for Hulu. in 2023 Tom was Showrunner/co-writer on a a Nacelle Company cartoon series called Robo Force. Tom is in production on The Butthole Surfers Movie, directed by him and produced through his company Stern Entertainment. Tom lives in Altadena CA with his two children.