Matt Stone

Matt Stone, born Matthew Richard Stone on May 26, 1971, in Houston, Texas, is an American writer, animator, producer, songwriter, filmmaker, and actor. He was raised in Littleton, Colorado, a suburb of Denver, alongside his younger sister Rachel, and attended Heritage High School. His father, Gerald Whitney Stone Jr., encouraged him toward practical studies, leading Stone to pursue a double major in mathematics and film at the University of Colorado Boulder, where he graduated in 1993. His mother, Sheila Lois Stone, née Belasco, is of Jewish heritage, while his father's side is Irish-American. The South Park characters Gerald and Sheila Broflovski were named after his parents.

It was at the University of Colorado that Stone met his longtime creative partner Trey Parker. The two collaborated on short films during their time there and co-founded a production company called the Avenging Conscience in 1992 alongside Jason McHugh and Ian Hardin. The group developed a trailer for a fictional film called Alfred Packer: The Musical, which generated enough interest among fellow students that the university's film department chairman, Virgil Grillo, encouraged them to expand it into a feature. Raising $125,000 from family and friends, the group shot the film on Loveland Pass. It premiered in Boulder in October 1993 and was later sold to Troma Entertainment in 1996, retitled Cannibal! The Musical. Following Parker and Stone's later success, it became their best-selling title and has since been recognized as a cult classic.

After the film's completion, Stone, Parker, and McHugh relocated to Los Angeles, where they connected with producer Scott Rudin through a William Morris Agency lawyer. Despite early optimism, the duo struggled financially for several years. During this period, Parker wrote the script for Orgazmo, a film that received an NC-17 rating from the Motion Picture Association of America after its rights were purchased by October Films for one million dollars following a screening at the Toronto International Film Festival. The rating significantly limited the film's box office performance.

A separate short film, produced as a video greeting card for Fox executive Brian Graden, became one of the earliest viral videos after being digitized and circulated online. Its popularity led Parker and Stone to develop the concept into a television series. South Park premiered on Comedy Central in August 1997 and was immediately met with widespread praise. The series has continued since that year and has earned Stone five Primetime Emmy Awards. Building on the show's success, Parker and Stone directed South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, a feature film based on the series that was released in 1999 to positive critical reception. Stone also wrote, produced, and appeared in the satirical action film Team America: World Police in 2004.

Outside of his television and film work, Stone co-wrote the Broadway musical The Book of Mormon with Parker, a project that underwent an extended development period before opening in 2011. The show received positive reviews and brought Stone three Tony Awards: Best Book of a Musical, Best Musical, and Best Original Score Written for the Theatre, all in 2011. He also received a Grammy Award for the production. Stone's Broadway credit for The Book of Mormon stands as his primary contribution to the stage, representing a significant extension of the satirical sensibility he developed across his career in animation and film.