Stefon Bristol

"Coney Island made me who I am," says film director and screenwriter Stefon Bristol, who grew up in the 1990s on West 27th Street. His family moved from East Flatbush to Coney after buying one of the new townhouses built by Astella Development. He recalls going to PS 188, IS 228 David A Boody, and Lafayette High School.  Bristol's parents had emigrated from Guyana and raised him in a very strict Christian household with rules like no television on weekdays and an emphasis on getting an education. He describes how seeing Spike Lee's Do The Right Thing  inspired him to be a filmmaker and being mentored by Lee as a student at NYU Film School up to the present day.  Bristol's feature film debut, See You Yesterday (2019), was produced by Lee's 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks and won Best First Feature and Best First Screenplay (with Fredrica Bailey) at the 2020 Independent Spirit Awards.  The story of high school students who build a time traveling machine is informed by his experiences growing up with a group of friends on his Coney Island block and the Caribbean vibes of East Flatbush.