Sean Covel

Sean Covel is a Film and Television Producer who grew up in the Black Hills of South Dakota. He has produced several films, including the iconic independent film, Napoleon Dynamite. Covel's films have won multiple awards, generated over one-quarter-billion dollars in revenue, and gotten nerds prom dates around the globe. He very much wishes that was the case when he was in high school.

Covel travels the world on various film shoots but maintains close ties to his small-town midwestern roots.

In 2015 he founded The 12 Days of Pizza charitable program, which supplies underprivileged families of elementary school-age children consistent meals across the Christmas break. In its first year, the program provided 144 meals to Black Hills area families. Just 3 years later, the program expanded across the nation and provides tens of thousands of meals each year.

Covel is also a best-selling children’s book author. His latest book series,

Porter the Hoarder, has become a centerpiece of a family engagement project

created by the United Way. As part of the project, every first grader in his home state receives a free copy of the book each year, along with the tools to inspire reading at home. The program began in South Dakota and is expanding nationally.

Sean enjoys keynote speaking, guest lecturing at the University of Southern California, and attending film festivals internationally, but he hangs his nunchucks in Deadwood, SD.