Bio
Cody Stickels is a filmmaker and artist focused on emotionally driven stories that unite audiences, frequently centering on topics and individuals who have historically been “othered.” He is a 2025-2026 Chicken & Egg (Egg)celerator Lab fellow with the project A Texas Son and was selected for the 2024 Film Independent Documentary Story Lab. Most recently, Cody was selected for a Voices With Impact Mental Health Short Film grant and mentorship for their upcoming 2026 program with the short documentary 5 Years in 8mm.
His film, A Night at Switch n’ Play, won the audience award for Best Documentary at New York City’s NewFest Film Festival and screened internationally at festivals such as BFI Flare, Inside Out, and Woodstock. This film also received a grant from the Richard Vague Production Fund and was featured on IndieWire, NewNowNext, and Deadline.
Cody holds a BFA in Film & TV from New York University and an MA in Interdisciplinary Arts from NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study, earning a Dean’s Award for Outstanding Interdisciplinary work. He currently serves as a Teaching Assistant while pursuing his MFA in Documentary Expression at the University of Mississippi’s Center for Southern Culture.
Artist Statement
Cody is an American filmmaker and photographer best known for his documentary and short films. His work often explores how people navigate their emotions, mental and spiritual experiences, connections with others, and the journey toward becoming their full selves. He thinks of his films as gifts or love letters to the people and communities he collaborates with. Acts of radical kindness and radical acceptance.
Like making magic, brewing a potion, or conjuring a spell, he values spontaneity and discovery in the filmmaking process, unfolding in unexpected ways, guided as much by intuition and wonder as by intention. It becomes a personal, introspective, participant-driven process that relishes the colorful vibrancy and curiosity of life. Cody is driven by a commitment to being present with people, bearing witness, honoring complexity, and finding pleasure and grace within it.