's lead singer Michael Stipe through Stern's friend Samantha Mathis' boyfriend, River Phoenix.
They formed a production company, Single Cell, and their next project was Charlie Kaufman and Spike Jonze's 1999 film Being John Malkovich.
[3] Stern and Stipe, teamed with producers Michael Ohoven and William Vince, produced the 2004 independent teen-comedy film Saved!, having spent years trying to persuade major financiers to fund the film, which, according to Stern, was a controversial film "that dealt with religion, that dealt with comedy and religion, that dealt with a gay storyline, and that was basically, it was all a kind of ensemble cast that did not have a Julia Roberts starring in the movie.
"[4] After its US$9 million-grossing theatrical release through United Artists, Stern approached Elephant Eye Theatrical's CEO Stuart Oken about adapting the film into a musical,[5] which premiered Off Broadway at Playwrights Horizons, New York City in May 2008.
[2] He attended New York University, completing a Ph.D. in clinical psychology, but left to pursue filmmaking instead at Vassar College, where he came out as gay.