InterPositive Media is an award-winning socially conscious production company founded by Stefan Forbes, known for stunning aesthetics, hard-hitting interviews , and eye-catching editing. Often collaborating with producer Tia Wou, Mr. Forbes researches, shoots, and edits his own work, which often address issues of race, class, masculinity, violence, and restorative justice.
Mr. Forbes’ documentary film Hold Your Fire, about a legendary Brooklyn hostage siege and the birth of modern hostage negotiation, was produced with Fab Five Freddy, Tia Wou, Amir Soltani, and Sam Pollard. It premiered at the Toronto Film Festival and was released theatrically by IFC. A critical rave at 95% on Rotten Tomatoes, The New York Times called the film “audacious…a jaw-dropper” and the Hollywood Reporter deemed it “searing…urgently needed.” It won the Library of Congress Better Angels Award and a Doc NYC Grand Jury Prize, and was nominated for an Emmy and the Humanitas Prize.

Mr. Forbes also directed the documentary film Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story, about how controversial political operative Lee Atwater shaped the modern American culture war. Produced with Noland Walker, Boogie Man played at both the Democratic and Republican National Conventions, and played 40 U.S. cities theatrically. It was a Critic’s Pick in The Washington Post, New York Times, and London Sunday Times. The Washington Post calls it “One of the greatest political movies ever”. Boogie Man won the National Edward R. Murrow Award for Best Documentary, the George S. Polk Award for Excellence in Journalism, the IDA Emerging Filmmaker Award, and was nominated for the WGA Award for Best Theatrical Documentary.

In collaboration with Grammy-nominated composer John Beasley, Forbes wrote and directed Monk Recut, featuring recut performance footage of American composer Thelonious Monk in rhythmic, visual, and harmonic interplay with the big band MONK’estra. It premiered at the LA Philharmonic at Disney Hall in February 2018 and noted Monk biographer Robin D.G. Kelley termed the work “fabulous…breathtaking.”

Forbes also directed the award-winning one-hour documentary One More Dead Fish, about environmentally friendly handline fishermen in Canada who seized a federal building and barricaded themselves inside for 26 days to protest corporate environmental destruction. Historian Howard Zinn called it “powerful”. CBC commentator Avi Lewis says it “unfolds like a thriller…a compelling film, filled with dignity, heartbreak, and hope.” The Detroit News calls One More Dead Fish “inspiring”, filmmaker Ken Loach says it is “an excellent film”, and the Sierra Club says “Occasionally jaw-dropping and often heartwrenching.”

Forbes is repped by Gersh and Management 360. He is a winner of the International Documentary Association’s Jacqueline Donnet Emerging Filmmaker Award. He has shot seven features as a DP, directed many music videos, and written screenplays for Hollywood companies. He has spoken on film at many American universities and industry panels such as Digital Hollywood, and served on juries at Silverdocs and on the Nominating Committee for the Independent Spirit Awards. He has written and produced Emmy-nominated national PSA campaigns featuring Stanley Tucci, U2’s The Edge, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kevin Bacon, Charlize Theron, Mike Myers, Susan Sarandon, Matthew Broderick, and others, for nonprofits such as The Posse Foundation, College Track, The International Rescue Committee, Huli Hawai’i, City Year, and Artists for Humanity. He is a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellow and serves on their Artists Advisory Board. He has been awarded grants from the Cummings and Jerome Foundations. Mr. Forbes has written and directed public awareness campaigns about hunger in America, immigration rights, and voting in indigenous communities.