Stephen Maing is an Emmy-winning New York-based filmmaker, cinematographer, and editor known for observational, longitudinal documentaries about power and resistance. He co-directed UNION (2024), which won a Special Jury Award at Sundance, and directed, filmed, and edited Crime + Punishment (2018), which won a Sundance Special Jury Award, an Emmy for Outstanding Social Issue Documentary, and was Oscar-shortlisted. Other credits include High Tech, Low Life, The Surrender, Dirty Gold, and The Great Experiment. He is a 2026 Guggenheim Fellow, a United States Artists Fellow, and a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Read moreShow less
Biography from TMDB.
- Director, editor, cinematographer and producer
- 12 on MovieCove · 21 credits in all
What are Stephen Maing's films like?
Across their 11 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Survival and Society.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 0 · Earnest 11
Light 0 · Serious 5 · Dark 6
Grounded 10 · Stylized 1 · Heightened 0
A split, not a type: Gentle 3 · Charged 3 · Intense 5
Steady 7 · Shifting 4 · Whiplash 0
Straight-faced 11 · Some laughs 0 · Funny 0
Slow burn 10 · Even-paced 1 · Relentless 0
Casual 2 · Engaged 9 · Full focus 0
A split, not a type: Easy watch 3 · Affecting 2 · Heavy 6
A split, not a type: Resolved 7 · Open-ended 3 · Ambiguous 1
Moods and endings
- Bittersweet5
- Ambiguous6
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Stephen Maing's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 9 of their 12 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service.
Subscription and free streaming for Stephen Maing's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
21 credits, 12 with a MovieCove page.
The Great Experiment(2026)
Midcredits score: 86th percentile of all films (provisional, few ratings)
All the Empty Rooms(2025)
Midcredits score: 93rd percentile of all films
Local One (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2025)
Union(2024)
Midcredits score: 84th percentile of all films
Look Into My Eyes(2024)
Midcredits score: 40th percentile of all films
Emergent City(2024)
Midcredits score: 87th percentile of all films
The Strike(2024)
Midcredits score: 91st percentile of all films
After the Bite(2023)
Midcredits score: 47th percentile of all films
For Our Children(2022)
Midcredits score: 41st percentile of all films (provisional, few ratings)
Midcredits score: 72nd percentile of all films
Dirty Money(2018)
Midcredits score: 87th percentile of all shows
Crime + Punishment(2018)
Midcredits score: 87th percentile of all films
The Release (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2016)
The Surrender (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2015)
Hers To Lose (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2013)
ANNIE: It's the Hard-Knock Life, from Script to Stage (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2013)
High Tech, Low Life (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2012)
Lioness(2008)
Midcredits score: 81st percentile of all films
Tie a Yellow Ribbon (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2007)
POV (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1988)
Basic Emotions (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Career shape
A full career of 19 titles, 18 of them dated from 1988 to 2026.
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it.
Awards
2 major awards from 4 major nominations, 2018–2024.
- Sundance award, won · Art of Change
- Sundance award, nominated · Documentary
- Sundance award, won · Documentary
- Sundance award, nominated · Documentary
Major bodies only: the Oscars, Primetime Emmys, Golden Globes, BAFTAs and Screen Actors Guild Awards are named; Cannes, Venice, the Berlinale, Sundance, the directors', writers' and producers' guilds, the Grammys, Critics Choice and the Independent Spirit Awards count as other major bodies. Festival and regional prizes are not counted. Source: IMDb.
How do Stephen Maing's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 84th percentile, the median of all 11; across their 11 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 85th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up8
- 50th to 74th1
- 25th to 49th3
Shape of the crowd
5 of their 12 titles are Mixed.
- Universally Loved1
- Divisive2
- Crowd Pleaser4
- Mixed5
Reviewers score the atmosphere 73/100 and the pacing 44/100 in their films, across 6 reviewed titles. The element that speaks to their work as a director.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Who does Stephen Maing work with?
People who share at least 2 of Stephen Maing's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Eric Daniel Metzgar shares the most, 2.
Composers and editors
- Eric Daniel MetzgarShared titles: The Great Experiment (2026), Crime + Punishment (2018)See all 2 shared titles with Eric Daniel Metzgar
- Brendon AndereggShared titles: Crime + Punishment (2018), Lioness (2008)See all 2 shared titles with Brendon Anderegg
Producers
- Jane TeelingShared titles: The Great Experiment (2026), Crime + Punishment (2018)See all 2 shared titles with Jane Teeling
- Jon LevinShared titles: The Great Experiment (2026), All the Empty Rooms (2025)See all 2 shared titles with Jon Levin
- Adam McKayShared titles: All the Empty Rooms (2025), Union (2024)See all 2 shared titles with Adam McKay
- Geralyn White DreyfousShared titles: All the Empty Rooms (2025), Union (2024)See all 2 shared titles with Geralyn White Dreyfous
Mixed roles
- Kirsten JohnsonShared titles: The Great Experiment (2026), Lioness (2008)See all 2 shared titles with Kirsten Johnson
