HISTORY

Hungry Bull has financed and produced some of the most critically and commercially successful films of the past few years, including Michael Sarnoski’s directorial debut PIG (NEON), starring Nicolas Cage and Alex Wolff as well as PASSING (NETFLIX) directed by Rebecca Hall starring Tessa Thompson, Ruth Negga, Alexander Skarsgard, and André Holland.  Both films were named to President Barack Obama’s list of best films of 2021.  Additionally, Hungry Bull has worked with LIONSGATE on several titles: Justin Long’s directorial debut, the romantic-comedy LADY OF THE MANOR which starred Melanie Lynskey, Judy Greer, Justin Long, and Ryan Phillippe and was theatrically released in September 2021, and Castille Landon’s thriller FEAR OF RAIN, starring Katherine Heigl, Harry Connick, Jr., Madison Iseman, and Israel Broussard and the 2024 release AMBER ALERT, directed by Kerry Bellessa and starring Hayden Panettiere and Tyler James Williams.  

Upcoming films include, LAST DAY’S the biopic based on John Allen Chau’s story epic story directed by Justin Lin (Fast & Furious) , SPIDER & JESSIE starring Mckenna Grace, Dacre Montgomery and Jesse Williams and WHAT FREEDOM starring Ashley Park (Emily in Paris) and Bashir Salahuddin (Maverick: Top Gun) as well as Kelsey Taylor’s TO KILL A WOLF which premiered at Edinburgh in 2024 to glowing reviews.

Currently, HB in conjunction with WME have several upcoming television and film projects approved and in development upcoming.  Also, HB will continue their genre slate through their working partnership with Lionsgate.   HB is excited to launch new and acclaimed filmmakers’ original stories and push boundaries on films that are typically difficult to produce.

Principals

Hungry Bull Productions Founder and Producer, Joe Restaino, has produced and financed films over the past decade which have gone on to earn multiple awards and nominations including the Gotham Awards, the National Board of Review, and Critics Choice Awards. In 2021, Joe produced Michael Sarnoski’s directorial debut PIG (Neon) starring Nicolas Cage and Alex Wolff, which has received worldwide critical acclaim as one of the highest-rated films of the year. Alongside Forest Whitaker’s Significant Productions, he Executive Produced Rebecca Hall’s directorial debut PASSING (Netflix) starring Tessa Thompson, Ruth Negga, Alexander Skarsgaard, and Andre Holland. The film premiered in the Narrative Competition at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival to outstanding reviews and a huge Netflix purchase.

2021 also saw Lionsgate release two of Joe’s films. In February, the thriller FEAR OF RAIN starring Katherine Heigl, Harry Connick, Jr., Madison Iseman, and Israel Broussard. In September, Lionsgate followed with the release of Justin Long’s directorial debut; the romantic-comedy LADY OF THE MANOR starring Melanie Lynskey, Judy Greer, and Ryan Phillipe. That track record also led to a future deal with Lionsgate for distribution of a third film currently being packaged by Hungry Bull. Some of Joe’s additional titles include Kevin Smith’s horror-anthology series KILLROY WAS HERE; James Franco’s romantic-drama THE PRETENDERS written by Josh Boone (THE FAULT IN OUR STARS) starring Franco, Juno Temple, and Dennis Quaid; Dan Myrick’s (THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT) sci-fi docu-drama SKYMAN; and the family film APPLE OF MY EYE which was purchased by Sony and stars the late Burt Reynolds and Amy Smart. He is currently Executive Producing Katie Aselton’s MACK & RITA starring Diane Keaton with an anticipated release of Spring 2022. In Theater, Joe currently is a co-producer of the Bob Marley musical GET UP, STAND UP which had its premiere in October of 2021 and is still playing at the Lyric Theatre in London’s West End. Joe has founded and continues to serve on the boards and juries of several U.S. and International film festivals. 

He is proud to be a member of the Producers Guild Association (PGA), an SIO member of Sundance Film Institute, an IFP Film Week alum, and a supporter of the Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago. He is represented by William Morris Agency/Endeavor Content.

 Tony Stopperan is an Emmy® Award-Winning producer, writer and director and part of the Hungry Bull Productions team. In the past few years, Stopperan with his partner, Joseph Restaino, has been part of financing and producing Michael Sarnoski’s directorial debut PIG (NEON), starring Nicolas Cage and Alex Wolff which was recently released to critical acclaim and a 97% Rotten Tomatoes rating and numerous awards and nominations. Hungry Bull helped finance and executive produce Rebecca Hall’s directorial debut, PASSING (Netflix) which premiered at Sundance 2021, alongside Forest Whitaker and Nina Yang’s Significant Productions. The film stars Tessa Thompson, Ruth Negga, Alexander Skarsgaard and Andre Holland. It was sold to Netflix at Sundance 2021, where it premiered in competition and was one of the biggest sales of the festival. Stopperan’s producing and executive producing credits also include: FEAR OF RAIN (Lionsgate), starring Katherine Heigl, Harry Connick, Jr., Madison Iseman and Israel Broussard as well as Justin Long’s directorial debut, the romantic-comedy LADY OF THE MANOR (Lionsgate) released theatrically in September 2021, Katie Aselton’s MACK & RITA, starring Diane Keaton which was released wide summer of 2022. Most recently, Stopperan produced the thriller AMBER ALERT(Lionsgate) starring Hayden Panettiere and Tyler James Williams as well as the recently completed SPIDER & JESSIE starring Mckenna Grace, Jesse Williams and Dacre Montgomery.

Involved in the industry for almost 20 years, Shaun has worked hundreds of days on such television shows as E.R., THE WEST WING, SIX FEET UNDER, NIP TUCK, MAD MEN, BIG LOVE, and movies LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE and WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE. 

Shaun produced the highly awarded short THE JOB and the Snoop Dogg music video CANDY.

Currently living in Florida, Shaun has been producing and directing films for the Sarasota Film Festival, interviewing Holocaust survivors for the Shoah Foundation and the Florida Holocaust museum, teaching Documentary filmmaking to military veterans in a collaboration with the Sarasota Film Festival, SRQ Vets, and Project Rebirth, and teaming up with Fred Berner (POLLOCK, LAW & ORDER, MAESTRO) and Alan Zweibel (SNL, DRAGNET, THE STORY OF US) to co-executive produce the short film STILL HAPPY.

Most recently, Shaun has been raising financing for feature films like SKIN (A24) directed by Oscar-winning director Guy Nativ, featuring Jamie Bell, Vera Farmiga, Bill Camp, Mike Colter, and the movie DRIVEWAYS (FilmRise), featuring Brian Dennehy and Hong Chau, which screened at the Toronto, Berlinale, and Tribeca Film Festivals. 

With over 50 years of business and finance experience, Michael Stein knows what it takes to get projects off the ground. Mike focuses on film financing, where he bridges the gap between prospective investors unfamiliar with the industry and the high-quality production of Hungry Bull. Previous projects include: LADY OF THE MANOR (Lionsgate), MACK & RITA (Gravitas Ventures), AMBER ALERT(Lionsgate), and SPIDER & JESSIE.

Advisory Partners