Maing grew up in a large extended family, whose experiences with loss and war significantly influenced his perspective.
[2] A key moment in his early twenties was when he saw a student's raw video diary of a police shootout, which deeply affected him and pushed him towards documentary filmmaking.
[2] Maing's relationship with the Sundance Institute began in 2010 with the support for his first feature documentary, High Tech, Low Life.
[3] Stephen Maing has directed four documentaries with support from the Sundance Institute, with Union being his latest work.
[3] filmed in Peru’s Amazon rainforest[2] Stephen Maing received the Courage Under Fire Award for his work on Crime + Punishment.