Steve Stodghill is a native Texan, who graduated from both The University of Texas School of Law and The University of Texas School of Liberal Arts (with high honors), where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Mr. Stodghill has been a commercial litigator for over 30 years at the following national firms: Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, Fish & Richardson and Winston & Strawn. Mr. Stodghill has been named a Top 500 lawyer in the United States and a top trial lawyer in Texas numerous times in his career. Mr. Stodghill has represented many of Mark Cuban’s entertainment entities, including HDNet, 2929 Productions, Magnolia Distribution and the Landmark Theater chains. Mr. Stodghill is also a former Eagle Scout who has obtained the highest rank in scouting, The Silver Palm.
Mr. Stodghill is the former chairman of the National Advisory Council of the American Film Institute, the inaugural chair of the Dallas International Film Festival, the former chair and honorary chair of the John Wayne Film Festival and the Opening Night Host of the USA Film Festival. Mr. Stodghill sits on the Advisory Board of the Harry Ransom Center at The University of Texas at Austin, which contains numerous film related archives, including the collection of Robert De Niro, Peter O’Toole, David O. Selznick, Gloria Swanson and Matthew Weiner, the creator of Mad Men. Mr. Stodghill also serves on the board of the SMU Meadows School of the Arts, where he is an advisor to their film department. Mr. Stodghill serves as chair of the Senior Board of Advisors to the Dallas Film Society, which created the Stodghill Award, an award given annually to someone in the Dallas community who has made significant contributions towards the advancement of film in North Texas. Mr. Stodghill is known for his film and documentary projects, as well as his acting performances, most notably as Luke Wilson’s attorney in The Wendell Baker Story.
In 2021, Mr. Stodghill, was awarded the prestigious Silver Telly Award for his co-production of BIG NIGHT (At the Museum), a film which highlighted the legacy of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee. The American Alliance of Museums awarded BIG NIGHT a 2021 Bronze MUSE Award, acknowledging “outstanding achievement” in the engagement of audiences with useful and innovative programs and services and went on to receive over four million views while raising over one million dollars for The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. BIG NIGHT (At the Museum) earned three additional Telly Awards in the Concert, Non-For Profit and Fundraising, and Museums and Galleries categories.
Mr. Stodghill is a founding partner of the film production company Last Rodeo Studios. The first two films produced by Last Rodeo Studios, Scare Me and Save Yourselves, premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. Last Rodeo Studios’ third film, Somewhere Quiet, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City and has a 90% positive approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.