Meet
STEPHEN WILLIAMS
Stephen Williams
Writer, Director, Producer
Stephen Williams divides his time between screenwriting, directing and teaching. He teaches film studies and screenwriting at Westminster College and Salt Lake Community College. Early in his career he received an MBA from Northwestern University. He worked in advertising for several years before turning to his first love, Film. He attended the USC Graduate School of Film and then completed his MFA in Film Production from the University of Utah. His short films-- BLESSING, THE CUFFLINK, VOICINGS and SWEEPSTAKES --have been featured in more than fifty film festivals throughout the world, garnering a number of awards including The Gold Hugo at the Chicago International Film Festival. He has written, directed and produced several documentary films as well, including GOOD VIBRATIONS, INTEGRATED AWARENESS and HEARTLAND. Stephen also works as a script doctor/consultant, helping filmmakers shape and focus their stories.
Statement from Stephen
“My stepmother passed away in Dec 2022. She was 96 and had suffered from dementia for many years. Mostly undiagnosed. During the last fifteen years of her life, she sent thousands and thousands of dollars to scams and fake “sweepstakes”. The family didn’t know what was going on—some were convinced that she had a gambling addiction, her behavior totally uncharacteristic of the bright person she was.
The truth was that she was suffering from mental disease which made her a prime target for fraudsters—she couldn’t distinguish truth from fiction. These unscrupulous individuals posed as her “friends”, promising her big money and expensive cars, and she fell for it.
My stepmother’s story is all too common in today’s world. It’s everywhere, yet it still flies under the radar. I made this film to highlight this very poignant situation, with the hope of reducing/stopping this fraud and bringing fraudsters to justice.”