Kevin Tostado is an American award-winning documentary filmmaker and a graduate of the first class of Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering. He founded the independent film company Tostie Productions in 2004. Born in San Diego, CA, Tostado received a B.S. in electrical and computer engineering from Olin College in 2006. In addition to his work producing films, Tostado has written articles for New Jersey Lifestyle Magazine and has been interviewed by NPR's "More Than a Game", The Independent, and several other television and radio stations regarding his film career and projects.
His debut film, Yellow Lights, won awards for Best Feature & Best Cinematography at the Indie Fest USA film festival in Anaheim, CA. Tostado co-directed, co-produced, and co-wrote Yellow Lights with fellow Olin College alumnus, Tom Kochem, while the two of them were in their senior year of college. The film stars actors Bennett Chabot, Aja Munsell, Andrew Tsang, and Amanda Hurley, and the entire 88-minute film was shot for just $500. As a companion to the film, the soundtrack for Yellow Lights features an original score for the film by Brian Shih & Sean McBride, as well as tracks from notable New England indie music groups The Whatnot, Lansdowne, and the Jon Frederik Band.
Tostado followed up with Under the Boardwalk: The MONOPOLY Story in 2011 a documentary that examines how the game of MONOPOLY became the world's most popular proprietary board over its 75-year history, as well as following the players that are competing in the United States & World MONOPOLY Championships that are held every 4–6 years. This film won the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the Anaheim International Film Festival in 2010 where it premiered, and also played at the Austin Film Festival (2010) & River Run Film Festival (2011). The film launched theatrically in March 2011 in San Diego, CA, and was well received in the local press. Rotten Tomatoes reports the film as 85% fresh by 13 critic reviews.
On April 29, 2014, the 51" version of the film received five Regional Emmy nominations from the Pacific Southwest Chapter of NATAS. The film went on to win Emmy awards in four of the five categories for which it was nominated, including Outstanding Achievement in Documentary, Directing (Post-Production), Editor (No Time Limit, Program), and Musical Arrangement/Composition.
Tostado was an associate producer on Suds County, USA, a documentary about the rise of microbreweries in San Diego County, California. This film is narrated by Kevin Murphy, who is best known for his work on Mystery Science Theater 3000.