Born and raised in Tyler, Texas, Susan earned a double degree in Economics and Political Science from Mary Baldwin College where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa, and a JD from The Washington & Lee School of Law in Lexington, VA. She was the recipient of the 1998 Mark Silverman Fellowship, a grant sponsored by the Sundance Film Institute awarded annually to one producer, and in 1999 was awarded the Ralph Lauren Independent Spirit Producer Award from Film Independent.

Stover has worked with a number of outstanding independent directors. She was the co-associate producer of Todd Solondz’s Welcome to the Dollhouse, winner of the 1996 Grand Jury Prize at Sundance; the associate producer of Larry Fessenden’s Habit, winner of a 1997 Someone to Watch Award at the Independent Spirit Awards; and associate producer of Kelly Reichardt’s River of Grass, which premiered at the Sundance and Berlin Film Festivals. For Good Machine, Inc., she was the line producer of Frank Grow’s Love God and the producer of Hilary Brougher’s The Sticky Fingers of Time. Stover produced Lisa Cholodenko’s High Art, which screened at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival and was an official selection at the 1998 Director’s Fortnight at Cannes. Stover also produced Ode, a Super 8 movie by Kelly Reichardt, which premiered at the 1999 Venice Film Festival, and Brad Anderson’s Happy Accidents, which premiered at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival. Thereafter she produced Patrick Stettner’s The Business of Strangers, starring Stockard Channing and Julia Stiles; and Lisa Cholodenko’s second feature Laurel Canyon, starring Frances McDormand and Christian Bale, which premiered at the 2002 Director’s Fortnight at Cannes. Stover’s most recent project was with director Alex Steyermark on One Last Thing, which premiered in 2005 at the Toronto International Film Festival.