Steve Bannatyne (born 1970) is an American film producer, best known for his work on the films If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front and Z for Zachariah.
Early life Steve Bannatyne was born to Jim and Sue Bannatyne in Muskegon, Michigan in 1970 and graduated from Port Huron High School. He attended film school at Grand Valley State University and then moved to Toronto in 1995 to pursue a career in film. He later moved to San Francisco and got his first significant job as a production assistant on the 1999 film, Bicentennial Man.
Career After working in film in San Francisco, Bannatyne co-formed a production company, Lucky Hat Entertainment, in 2007. In 2008, he co-executive produced The Order of Myths, which earned Bannatyne a Peabody Award in 2009. That year, Lucky Hat and IndiePix Films also entered an agreement to produce six films over three years. The first two, P-Star Rising and Entre Nos, premiered that year at the Tribeca Film Festival.
Through Lucky Hat, Bannatyne produced the 2011 film, If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front. The film premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, winning " Best Documentary Editing" and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Documentary.
In 2015, Z for Zachariah premiered at Sundance, although Bannatyne had been developing the film since 2009. It was the largest budget film he had worked on at that point. Bannatyne was also a producer on the 2015 film Manson Family Vacation. In 2016, he produced the documentary Night School, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival.
Bannatyne has produced multiple documentaries about his home state of Michigan. The Russian Five (2019) told the story of the first five Russians to play hockey together in the NHL for the Detroit Red Wings. Boblo Boats (2022) covers the history of the Boblo Island Amusement Park. Bannatyne's grandfather was the captain of the SS Columbia, the ship that carried passengers to the island.
Bannatye has also worked in film distribution. In addition to distribution for The Russian Five, Lucky Hat Entertainment was one of two companies that handled distribution for the 2020 documentary Runner. In 2022, they distributed Boblo Boats with a regional release to 20 theaters in the Midwest, followed by a release on streaming platforms.
Filmography YearTitleRoleDirectorNotes1999Bicentennial ManProduction AssistantChris Columbus2001Sweet NovemberProduction AssistantPat O'Connor2008The Order of MythsCo-Executive ProducerMargaret Brown2009Everything Strange and NewExecutive ProducerFrazer BradshawP-Star RisingExecutive ProducerEntre Nos Executive Producer 2011If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation FrontExecutive ProducerMarshall Curry2012InformantProducerJamie Meltzer2014Ping-Pong SummerProducerMichael Tuly2015Z for ZachariahExecutive ProducerCraig ZobelManson Family VacationProducerJ. Davis2019The Russian Five Producer/Distributor Joshua Riehl2020Runner Distributor Bill Gallagher2022Boblo Boats Producer/Distributor Aaron Shillinger
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