He is a former member of the graduate faculty at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, where he taught in the Writing for Stage and Screen Program.
[3] Stuart's first screenplay was for the 1988 action film Die Hard,[4][5] which was later revised by veteran screenwriter Steven E. de Souza.
Stuart was heavily involved in the writing of The Fugitive (1993),[10] reworking David Twohy's original draft while on set and working with director Andrew Davis and stars Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones.
The film's negative critical reception led to Stuart semi-retiring from filmmaking for over a decade, before returning by writing, producing, and directing Blood Done Sign My Name (2010), adapted from the autobiography of author and historian Timothy Tyson.
He has received recognition for his writing from the American Film Institute and is a recipient of a Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting, administered by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, of which he has been a member for over 25 years.