John Stainton (born 1953) is an Australian film and television producer and director. He was close friends with the late naturalist Steve Irwin. Stainton also created Irwin's popular nature documentary television series, The Crocodile Hunter, in which he also directed and executive produced every episode (save for a few specials), as well as the spin-offs, Croc Files and The Crocodile Hunter Diaries, and the feature-film, The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course.
Stainton was adamant in preventing the footage of Irwin's last moments, which depicts the moments after his fatal stingray attack, from being publicly released, stating that "it should be destroyed". There were rumours that the footage had been leaked onto the internet, but all were revealed to be faked.
In the memorial service held on 20 September 2006 for Irwin, Stainton made an appearance to pay tribute to his friend.
Partial filmography
Confessions of the Crocodile Hunter
Tigers of Shark Bay
Crocs in the City
Search for a Super Croc
Ice Breaker
Island of Snakes
Ocean's Deadliest
Bindi the Jungle Girl
The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course
The Crocodile Hunter Diaries
The Crocodile Hunter's Croc Files
The Crocodile Hunter
Ghosts of War
New Breed Vets
"Your Worst Animal Nightmares"
Crikey! What an Adventure
In Steve's Footsteps
My Daddy, the Crocodile Hunter