Robert Greenwald Explained

Robert Greenwald
Birth Date:28 August 1945
Birth Place:New York City, U.S.
Spouse:
  • Heidi Frey
  • Nancy Greenwald (divorced)
Children:Rachel Greenwald
Leah Greenwald
Noah Greenwald
Maya Greenwald
Occupation:Film director

Robert Greenwald (born August 28, 1945) is an American filmmaker, and the founder of Brave New Films, a nonprofit film and advocacy organization whose work is distributed for free in concert with nonprofit partners and movements in order to educate and mobilize for progressive causes. With Brave New Films, Greenwald has made investigative documentaries such as (2004), (2004), (2005), (2006), Rethink Afghanistan (2009), Koch Brothers Exposed (2012), and War on Whistleblowers (2013), Suppressed 2020: The Fight to Vote (2020), Suppressed and Sabotaged: The Fight to Vote (2022), Beyond Bars: A Son's Fight for Justice (2022) as well as many short investigative films and internet videos.

Before launching Brave Films in 2000, Greenwald produced and/or directed more than 65 TV movies, miniseries and films as well as major theatrical releases.[1] His early body of work includes Steal This Movie! (2000),[2] starring Vincent D'Onofrio as 60s radical Abbie Hoffman; Breaking Up (1997), starring Russell Crowe and Salma Hayek; A Woman of Independent Means (1995) with Sally Field; The Burning Bed (1984) with Farrah Fawcett; and Xanadu (1980), for which he won the inaugural Golden Raspberry award for Worst Director.

Greenwald has earned 25 Emmy Award nominations, two Golden Globe nominations, the Peabody Award and the Robert Wood Johnson Award. He was awarded the 2002 Producer of the Year Award by the American Film Institute.

Early life

Greenwald was born and raised in New York City. He is son of the prominent psychotherapist Harold Greenwald,[3] [4] and the nephew of choreographer Michael Kidd. He attended the city's High School of Performing Arts. Greenwald started his directing career in the theater, with The People Vs. Ranchman (1968),[5] A Long Time Coming and A Long Time Gone (1971),[6] Me and Bessie (1975) and I Have a Dream (1976), a play based on the life of Martin Luther King Jr., with Billy Dee Williams playing King.[4]

Television and feature film career

Greenwald moved to Los Angeles in 1972, where he continued working as a theater director at the Mark Taper Forum.[7] He later launched a career as a director for television, establishing first Moonlight Productions[7] and then Robert Greenwald Productions (RGP), and began creating theatrical films, television movies, miniseries and documentaries with a distinct social and political sensibility. Moonlight Productions was responsible for 34 films, and RGP has brought more than 45 films to audiences worldwide. In 1977, Greenwald received his first of three Emmy Award nominations for producing the television movie 21 Hours at Munich[8] about the massacre at the 1972 Olympics. His next Emmy nomination came in 1984 for directing The Burning Bed,[9] one of the most-watched television movies of all time.[10] Based on a true story, The Burning Bed has been credited as "a turning point in the fight against domestic violence."[11] Greenwald also directed theatrical films such as Xanadu (1980), Sweet Hearts Dance (1988), Breaking Up (1997), and Steal This Movie! (2000).[12]

Xanadu received mostly negative reviews. The film underperformed at the box office, grossing only $23 million against a reported $20 million budget, a total that was insufficient to offset all related costs and return a profit. A double feature of Xanadu and another musical released at about the same time, Can't Stop the Music directed by Nancy Walker, inspired John J. B. Wilson to create the Golden Raspberry Awards (or "Razzies"), an annual event "dishonoring" what is considered the worst in cinema for a given year.[13] Xanadu won the first Razzie for Worst Director and was nominated for six other awards.

Documentary work

See main article: Brave New Films. Greenwald turned to documentary filmmaking in 2002,[14] executive-producing three political documentaries known as "The Un Trilogy": (2002);[15] (2003),[16] which Greenwald also directed; and .

At Brave New Films, Greenwald has produced and directed numerous feature-length documentaries, along with many short films and videos.[17] In 2013, Greenwald released and a documentary about the U.S. government's drone program, .[18] His full-length feature documentary, Making a Killing: Guns, Greed, and the NRA (2015), illustrates the connection between gun industry profits and gun deaths in America.[19]

Following the release of 16 Women and Donald Trump, which featured women who publicly accused President Trump of sexual misconduct, Greenwald hosted three of the accusers at a December, 2017 press conference in New York.[20] In 2018, Greenwald created a short film to thank three Black women targeted by Donald Trump entitled, Thanks.[21]

In 2019, Greenwald released Suppressed: The Fight to Vote about voter suppression in the 2018 Georgia election, in which Democrat Stacey Abrams narrowly lost to Republican Brian Kemp in the race for governor.[22] Variety described the film as "scary and galvanizing" and said it demonstrated that "what happened in Georgia has implications that extend far beyond that race."[23] The film was updated and released in April 2022 to expose voter suppression laws passed in 19 states across the United States. The 2022 film, entitled Suppressed and Sabotaged: The Fight to Vote features additional stories from voters in Florida, Arizona, and Texas.

As coronavirus raged throughout the US in the summer of 2020, Greenwald's short film, Maddie’s Grandparents: A Preventable COVID Tragedy, about a Florida teenager who turned her grief at losing both her grandparents to COVID-19 into activism,[24] [25] made national headlines, as did her response to President Trump telling Americans not to let COVID “dominate” their lives.[26] Greenwald also joined forces with American rock musician Tom Morello for No Justice No Peace, a short video about police violence that “spotlights the contrast between the racial injustice in the U.S. and the Trump administration's position on it”[27] in honor of George Floyd.[28]

In the fall of 2022, Greenwald's Brave New Films will release Beyond Bars: A Son's Fight for Justice, an intimate look into the life of former San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin.

Distribution and impact

Greenwald has applied the principles of guerrilla filmmaking at Brave New Films, using small budgets and short shooting schedules to produce political documentaries and then distributing them on DVDs and the Internet in affiliation with advocacy groups such as MoveOn.org.[29] Brave New Film's methods are "rewriting the book on how movies are made and distributed."[30] Greenwald's innovative model is said to be "working magnificently":[31] "Millions of viewers have seen BNF films via grassroots 'house parties' and independent online DVD sales",[32] as well as in more traditional theater screenings and online.

As a pioneer in alternative methods for effective progressive political campaigns,[33] [34] [35] [36] [37] Greenwald has eschewed traditional distribution models of studio and network releases.[34] [35] He was among the first to post political online shorts and viral videos on YouTube and elsewhere on the internet, as well as releasing full-length documentaries online in a series of “real time” chapters.[35] [36] [38] Greenwald's group takes full advantage of a variety of media outlets, such as Facebook and Twitter, and harnesses new distribution channels as soon as they emerge.[37] [39] A 2019 profile described the approach as a "marketing alchemy of feeds, hashtags, likes, favorites, hearts, @s, memes, soundbites and video clips, all edited, spliced and calibrated to grab attention in a hyperspeed world."[40]

This approach has "inspired hundreds of thousands of people to take action and forced pressing issues into the mainstream media."[41] He has been called "one of the most prominent and influential voices in new media."[42] According to a Brave New Films website, its documentaries "have been streamed across all 7 continents and have been viewed over 70 million times."[43]

Politics

Various sources have described Greenwald's political activism as left-wing.[44] [45] [46] [47] [48]

Greenwald has lectured at Harvard University for the Nieman Foundation for Journalism and speaks frequently across the country about his work.[49] He addressed the United States House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense regarding war profiteering on May 10, 2007.[50] In 2013, Greenwald went to Capitol Hill once again, to discuss weaponized unmanned aerial vehicles with lawmakers. At a Congressional briefing, Greenwald testified with the Rafiq Rehman family, the first Pakistani drone strike survivors to appear before Congress.[51] Since May 2005, Greenwald has been a contributing blogger to The Huffington Post.[52]

Selected filmography

Feature-length documentaries

Features and television movies

Documentary shorts

Awards and honors

Greenwald's work has earned 25 Emmy Award nominations,[53] two Golden Globe nominations, the Peabody Award and the Robert Wood Johnson Award. He was awarded the 2002 Producer of the Year Award by the American Film Institute. He has been honored for his investigative film work by the ACLU Foundation of Southern California;[54] the Liberty Hill Foundation;[55] the Los Angeles chapter of the National Lawyers Guild;[56] Physicians for Social Responsibility; Consumer Attorney's Association of Los Angeles; Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy and the Office of the Americas.

Greenwald's films have garnered the following nominations and awards:

Robert Greenwald has been the recipient of the following awards for his activism:

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Roberts, Jerry. 5 June 2009. The Encyclopedia of Television Film Directors . Scarecrow Press . 978-0810861381 .
  2. Web site: Robert Greenwald Receives Chuck Fries Producer of the Year Award. de Vila. Liza. 12 November 2002. American Film Institute.
  3. News: Harold Greenwald, 88, Expert On Psychology of Prostitutes . The New York Times . 2 April 1999 . 16 February 2014 . Ravo, Nick.
  4. Web site: Robert Greenwald Biography (1943-) . Filmreference.com . 2007-11-26.
  5. [Broadway World]
  6. [The Village Voice]
  7. Book: Bruguiere, Ron. 2011. Collision: When Reality and Illusion Collide . AuthorHouse . 978-1456725259 .
  8. Web site: 21 Hours at Munich The ABC Sunday Night Movie . Emmy.com . 26 November 2013 .
  9. Web site: The Burning Bed . Emmy.com . 26 November 2013 .
  10. Book: The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946-Present. 2003. Ballantine Books. 0-345-45542-8. 805.
  11. News: Ahern . Louise Knott . October 21, 2009 . 'The Burning Bed': A turning point in fight against domestic violence . Lansing State Journal.
  12. Web site: Xanadu . 2007-07-23 . Rottentomatoes.com . 8 August 1980 .
  13. News: Germain . David (Associated Press) . 25 Years of Razzing Hollywood's Stinkers . . 7D . Sun-Sentinel Company . February 26, 2005 .
  14. http://www.indiepixfilms.com/creator/336 "Robert Greenwald Biography"
  15. NED MARTEL. "Attempts to Sort Out and Make Sense of History." New York Times. Published October 1, 2004. Retrieved August 22, 2013.
  16. John Anderson. Damning Portrait On War In Iraq. Newsday. Published, September 24, 2004. Retrieved August 22, 2013.
  17. Web site: Robert Greenwald.
  18. http://www.warcosts.com/sign_up Sign up to stream Unmanned: America's Drone War
  19. Web site: 'Making a Killing: Guns, Greed and the NRA': Film Review. The Hollywood Reporter. 12 August 2016. en. 2019-10-08.
  20. Web site: Female accusers of Trump call for Congressional investigation into misconduct. www.cbsnews.com. 11 December 2017 . en-US. 2019-10-08.
  21. Web site: Stevens. Heidi. Thank a black female journalist for standing strong in the face of Trump's scorn. 2020-11-25. chicagotribune.com. 16 November 2018 .
  22. Web site: 2019-11-19. St. Louis Community Organizers Begin Push To Encourage Black Voter Turnout In 2020. 2020-11-25. St. Louis Public Radio. en.
  23. Web site: Gleiberman. Owen. 2020-01-19. 'Suppressed: The Fight to Vote': Film Review. 2021-03-08. Variety. en-US.
  24. Web site: 2020-10-17. Tallahassee family featured in newest documentary on losing loved ones to COVID-19. 2020-11-25. WTXL. en.
  25. Web site: Florida teenager speaks out after the preventable death of her grandparents. 2020-11-25. MSNBC.com. en.
  26. Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: Web site: The Kaji Family Speak Out on Donald Trump's COVID-19 Policy on CNN • BRAVE NEW FILMS (BNF) . YouTube.
  27. Web site: Robert Greenwald - wikipedia. 2020-11-23. Google Docs. en.
  28. Web site: Tom Morello Soundtracked Short Film In Honor Of George Floyd's Birthday. 2020-11-25. iHeartRadio. en.
  29. News: How to Make a Guerrilla Documentary . Robert S. Boynton . . 2004-07-11 . 2007-11-26.
  30. Web site: Barkin . Joel . Filmmaker Robert Greenwald . Progressive States Network.
  31. Web site: Robert Greenwald Tackles Wal-Mart: Just How Have Americans Paid for Those Low Prices? . Buzzflash . October 27, 2005.
  32. Web site: Arena Profile: Robert Greenwald . Politico.
  33. Web site: Yerman . Marcia G. . The Koch Brothers Exposed' -- A Conversation With Robert Greenwald. Huffington Post. 27 June 2012 . 21 November 2013.
  34. Web site: Thompson . Rustin . Robert Greenwald . Moviemaker. 23 September 2004 . 21 November 2013.
  35. Web site: Hazen . Don . 50 Million Videos Viewed: A Huge Marker for Brave New Films and Robert Greenwald . Alternet. 12 September 2010 . 21 November 2013.
  36. Web site: Tryon . Chuck . Digital distribution, participatory culture, and the transmedia documentary . Jump Cut: A Review of Contemporary Media . 21 November 2013.
  37. Web site: The ACLU and Robert Greenwald to Tell the Stories Behind the Headlines in New 10-Part Series: The ACLU Freedom Files . 16 August 2005 . 21 November 2013 .
  38. Web site: Owens. Simon. How Greenwald's Brave New Films Spreads Its Political Message Online. PBS. 16 September 2008 . 21 November 2013.
  39. Web site: Doc U Seminar: An Evening With Robert Greenwald (at his place!). Documentary.org. 14 May 2009 . 21 November 2013.
  40. Web site: 2019-09-21. New voting rights documentary targets #hashtag, Facebook audiences ahead of 2020 election. 2021-03-08. Los Angeles Times. en-US.
  41. Web site: Filmmaker, Activist Robert Greenwald '66 to Receive Horace Mann Award . 9 October 2020 . Antioch College.
  42. News: Robert Greenwald to GMDers: Hold Welch to Pledge on War Funding . Green Mountain Daily . June 15, 2009.
  43. Web site: Robert Greenwald . Brave New Foundation . 31 Aug 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130906081000/http://www.waronwhistleblowers.com/robert_greenwald . 6 September 2013 .
  44. News: Robert Greenwald. Charlie Rose.
  45. News: Harris. Paul. Koch brothers under attack by leftwing film-maker. The Guardian. London. 2011-05-15.
  46. Web site: Robert Greenwald. Yahoo movies.
  47. Web site: Waxman. Sharon. Robert Greenwald Challenges JFK Actors Kinnear, Holmes to Vet Script. Brave New Films.
  48. Web site: GRITtv with Laura Flanders is proud to feature Brave New Films content. . Flanders. Laura. GRITtv.
  49. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-greenwald "Robert Greenwald Bio"
  50. Web site: Robert Greenwald and Jeremy Scahill Testifying to Congress Now . Daily Kos . 10 May 2007 .
  51. Web site: McCauley . Lauren . Congressional No-Show at 'Heart-Breaking' Drone Survivor Hearing . Common Dreams . 29 October 2013 .
  52. Web site: Robert Greenwald . . 2007-11-26.
  53. Web site: 58th Annual Installation & Awards Dinner. Consumer Attorney Association of Los Angeles. 25 November 2013.
  54. Web site: Wine and Dine with Whistleblowers. 29 September 2013. ACLU of Southern California.
  55. Web site: Robert Greenwald To Be Honored by Liberty Hill. 27 April 2005 .
  56. Web site: Arena Profile: Robert Greenwald. Politico. 26 November 2013.
  57. Web site: Peabody/Robert Wood Johnson Award Winner Now Available; 'Behind Sharing the Secret' Distributed Throughout the United States .
  58. Web site: Sharing the Secret . 2011-01-07 . University of Georgia's Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication . GEORGE FOSTER PEABODY AWARDS.
  59. Web site: Awards . https://web.archive.org/web/20120310133922/http://www.rgpinc.com/awards.php . March 10, 2012.
  60. Web site: Telly Awards. www.tellyawards.com.
  61. Web site: The Winners of the 20th Annual Media for a Just Society Awards - National Council on Crime & Delinquency. nccdglobal.org.
  62. Web site: Meet Our Board.
  63. Web site: Speakers: Robert Greenwald . The Common Good . 26 November 2013 .
  64. Web site: Rage for Justics Awards . Consumer Watchdog . 26 November 2013 .
  65. Web site: Past Death Penalty Focus Honorees. Death Penalty Focus . 26 November 2013 .
  66. News: Block . Wendy . Courage Awards: What You Missed . LA Progressive . 29 July 2010 .