Matt Stone

Matt Stone Bio

Matthew Richard Stone (born May 26, 1971) is an American animator, writer, producer, songwriter, filmmaker, and actor best known for co-creating the long-running animated series South Park with Trey Parker and for co-writing the Broadway hit The Book of Mormon. Stone first developed his voice at the University of Colorado Boulder, where he studied film and mathematics and met Parker, beginning a creative partnership that has shaped American satire for more than three decades. Beyond television, he has produced films such as Cannibal! The Musical (1993), Orgazmo (1997), South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999), and Team America: World Police (2004). His work has earned five Primetime Emmy Awards, multiple Tony Awards, and a Grammy Award.

Early Life and Background

Matthew Richard Stone was born on May 26, 1971, in Houston, Texas, the son of Sheila Lois Belasco and Gerald Whitney Stone Jr. Through his father, he has Irish-American heritage, and through his mother, he has Jewish heritage. The parents of the South Park characters Gerald and Sheila Broflovski were named after his own parents. Stone and his younger sister Rachel were raised in Littleton, Colorado, a suburb of Denver, where the family settled during his early years.

Stone attended Heritage High School in Littleton, where he began exploring his interest in storytelling, music, and film. Encouraged by an early fascination with entertainment, he applied to the University of Colorado Boulder. His father, concerned about his son’s future, urged him to study something practical alongside his creative interests. This balance between art and structure would later influence both his working style and the business side of his career.

At the University of Colorado Boulder, Stone pursued a double major in mathematics and film, graduating in 1993. It was during his college years that he met Trey Parker, and the two began collaborating on short films. Their early university work laid the groundwork for the boundary-pushing, often absurd style that would later define their joint projects. He has also described himself as an atheist and as ethnically Jewish through his mother’s side.

Path to Producer

Stone’s path into producing began in 1992 when he, Parker, Jason McHugh, and Ian Hardin formed a student production company called the Avenging Conscience. The group’s first project, the animated short Jesus vs. Frosty, used simple cutout paper techniques that would become a signature of their early style. Encouraged by the response to a three-minute trailer about real-life prospector Alfred Packer, the team expanded it into a feature-length musical.

That feature became Cannibal! The Musical, which premiered in Boulder in October 1993 after the group raised $125,000 from friends and family. The film earned a devoted following, was picked up by Troma Entertainment in 1996, and later gained status as a cult classic. Following the film’s release, Stone and Parker moved to Los Angeles, where they struggled for several years pitching projects and learning the realities of the entertainment industry. During this period, Stone famously slept on piles of dirty laundry because he could not afford a mattress.

Matt Stone Career

Early Career (1992–1997)

Stone’s early career included writing and producing Cannibal! The Musical (1993) and helping to write and star in the satirical comedy Orgazmo (1997), which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival before being acquired by October Films for $1 million. He also co-wrote and produced Your Studio and You, a 1995 promotional short made for Seagram that featured Hollywood celebrities including Steven Spielberg, Sylvester Stallone, and Demi Moore.

Alongside Parker, Stone co-created the animated television series South Park, which premiered on Comedy Central in August 1997. Built on the cutout animation style of their earlier shorts, the show became one of the most-watched programs on cable television almost immediately and transformed the network’s profile.

Breakthrough (1997–2004)

The breakthrough for Matt Stone came with South Park’s success, which quickly generated strong merchandise sales and a devoted audience for the duo. Stone and Parker co-wrote and co-directed South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999), an animated musical that earned an R rating after tense negotiations with the MPAA and grossed $83 million at the box office while winning critical acclaim.

Notable Works and Milestones

Stone’s signature work includes co-creating South Park, co-writing The Book of Mormon, and co-producing Team America: World Police (2004), a satire of big-budget action films performed entirely with marionettes. His career milestones include five Primetime Emmy Awards for South Park, multiple Tony Awards for The Book of Mormon, a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album, a Peabody Award, and a 2021 $900 million deal with Paramount Global that helped make Stone and Parker billionaires.

Broadway and Beyond (2004–Present)

Stone co-wrote the book, music, and lyrics for The Book of Mormon with Trey Parker and Robert Lopez. After years of workshops, the musical premiered on Broadway at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre on March 24, 2011, and went on to win nine Tony Awards, including Best Musical. Its original cast recording became the highest-charting Broadway cast album in more than four decades, and the production has since expanded into multiple national tours and international productions.

Stone and Parker continued expanding their production footprint by founding Important Studios in 2013 and later renaming it Park County. In 2020, the pair created the deepfake-driven web series Sassy Justice, and in 2022, they partnered with Kendrick Lamar and Dave Free’s PGLang company on an upcoming theatrical film distributed by Paramount Pictures, with production beginning in fall 2024. Through Deep Voodoo, an artificial intelligence studio, Stone and Parker also developed the deepfake technology used in Lamar’s 2022 music video The Heart Part 5.

Matt Stone Award Nominations

Matt Stone has received numerous nominations across his career in television, film, and theater. His work on South Park has earned multiple Primetime Emmy nominations, while The Book of Mormon brought additional Tony Award nominations and recognition from the Recording Academy for its cast recording. He has also been recognized by organizations such as the National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers for performance in a comedy game title.

Matt Stone Awards Won

Matt Stone has earned five Primetime Emmy Awards for South Park, a Peabody Award for the series, and a Tony Award for Best Musical as co-creator of The Book of Mormon. He also won a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album for The Book of Mormon, cementing his reputation across television, film, and stage.

Matt Stone Family

Matt Stone was born to Gerald Whitney Stone Jr. and Sheila Lois Belasco, who inspired the names of two central characters in South Park. He has a younger sister named Rachel, with whom he grew up in Littleton, Colorado. The family background, including his Irish-American and Jewish heritage, has been a recurring influence on his personal and creative identity.

Personal Life

Matt Stone met Comedy Central executive Angela Howard in 2001, and the two began a relationship shortly afterward. They married in 2008 and have two children together. Stone and his family live in Venice, Los Angeles. He has described himself as an atheist and has openly discussed his political views, including describing himself as libertarian in 2006.