Marshall Schreiber Herskovitz (born February 23, 1952)
is an American film director, writer, and producer, and currently the President Emeritus of the
Producers Guild of America
The Producers Guild of America (PGA) is a 501(c)(6) trade association representing the interests Television producer, television producers, Film producer, film producers and emerging media producers in the United States. The PGA's membership inclu ...
. Among his productions are ''
Traffic
Traffic is the movement of vehicles and pedestrians along land routes.
Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffic laws and informal rules that may have developed over time to facilitate the orderly an ...
'', ''
The Last Samurai'', ''
Blood Diamond'', and ''
I Am Sam''. Herskovitz has directed two feature films, ''
Jack the Bear'' and ''
Dangerous Beauty''. Herskovitz was a creator and executive producer of the television shows ''
thirtysomething'', ''
My So-Called Life'', and ''
Once and Again'', and also wrote and directed several episodes of all three series.
Life and career
Herskovitz was born in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
, the son of Frieda (née Schreiber) and Alexander Herskovitz.
His family is
Jewish
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
.
He was married to screenwriter Susan Shilliday from 1981 to 1993. They have two daughters.
Herskovitz married Landry Major in 2015.
Herskovitz has long been "one of the film industry's most active and passionate environmentalists." He serves on the advisory board of
The Climate Mobilization, a grassroots advocacy group calling for a national economic mobilization against climate change on the scale of the
home front during World War II, with the goal of 100% clean energy and
net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2025.
Awards
''Thirtysomething'' won numerous
Primetime Emmy Award
The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...
s, including Outstanding Drama series in 1988. That year it also won Outstanding Writing in a Drama series for an episode that Herskovitz co-wrote with
Paul Haggis. The show also received the Best Drama Series award at the
Golden Globes that year. Herskovitz himself was honored by both the
Writers Guild and
Directors Guild for his work on the series.
''Traffic'' was nominated for Best Picture at the
73rd Academy Awards in 2001.
''Once and Again'' was nominated for Best Drama Series of 1999 at the
Golden Globes.
Filmography
Executive producer
* ''Lone Star State of Mind'' (2002)
* ''
Defiance'' (2008)
* ''
About Alex'' (2014)
* ''
Boys of Abu Ghraib'' (2014)
Other credits
References
External links
*
Art Film Talk #23 Marshall Herskovitz– Interview about
Quarterlife, November 30, 2007 (audio)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Herskovitz, Marshall
1952 births
Living people
Film directors from Pennsylvania
Film producers from Pennsylvania
American male screenwriters
American television directors
Television producers from Pennsylvania
American television writers
Brandeis University alumni
Writers from Philadelphia
Writers Guild of America Award winners
Directors Guild of America Award winners
Primetime Emmy Award winners
AFI Conservatory alumni
Jewish American screenwriters
Jewish American television writers
American male television writers