Robert Greenwald
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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 '' Uncovered: The War on Iraq'' (2004), '' Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism'' (2004), '' Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price'' (2005), '' Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers'' (2006), '' Rethink Afghanistan'' (2009), ''
Koch Brothers Exposed ''Koch Brothers Exposed'' is a 2012 U.S. documentary, compiled by filmmaker Robert Greenwald from a viral video campaign produced by Brave New Films, about the political activities of the Koch brothers.Brookes, Julian (April 20, 2012)The Koch Br ...
'' (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. His early body of work includes '' Steal This Movie!'' (2000), starring
Vincent D'Onofrio Vincent Philip D'Onofrio (; born June 30, 1959) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his supporting and leading roles in both film and television. He has been nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award. His roles include Private Leonar ...
as 60s radical Abbie Hoffman; '' Breaking Up'' (1997), starring Russell Crowe and
Salma Hayek Salma Hayek Pinault ( , ; born Salma Valgarma Hayek Jiménez; September 2, 1966) is a Mexican and American actress and film producer. She began her career in Mexico with starring roles in the telenovela ''Teresa'' (1989–1991) as well as the ...
; '' A Woman of Independent Means'' (1995) with Sally Field; ''
The Burning Bed ''The Burning Bed'' is both a 1980 non-fiction book by Faith McNulty about battered housewife Francine Hughes, and a 1984 TV-movie adaptation written by Rose Leiman Goldemberg. The plot follows Hughes' trial for the murder of her husband, James B ...
'' (1984) with Farrah Fawcett; and '' Xanadu'' (1980), for which he won the inaugural
Golden Raspberry award for Worst Director The Razzie Award for Worst Director is an award presented at the annual Golden Raspberry Awards to the worst director of the previous year. The following is a list of nominees and recipients of that award, along with the film(s) for which they wer ...
. 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 New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
. He is son of the prominent psychotherapist Harold Greenwald, and the nephew of choreographer
Michael Kidd Michael Kidd (August 12, 1915 – December 23, 2007) was an American film and stage choreographer, dancer and actor, whose career spanned five decades, and staged some of the leading Broadway and film musicals of the 1940s and 1950s. Kidd, stron ...
. He attended the city's High School of Performing Arts. Greenwald started his directing career in the theater, with ''The People Vs. Ranchman'' (1968), ''A Long Time Coming and A Long Time Gone'' (1971), ''
Me and Bessie ''Me and Bessie'' is a musical revue about the life and career of blues singer Bessie Smith. The basically one-woman show, conceived and written by Will Holt and Linda Hopkins and performed by Hopkins, features songs by Lil Green, Clarence Willi ...
'' (1975) and ''I Have a Dream'' (1976), a play based on the life of
Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...
, with
Billy Dee Williams William December Williams Jr. (born April 6, 1937) is an American actor. He appeared as Lando Calrissian in the '' Star Wars'' franchise, first in the early 1980s for ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (1980) and ''Return of the Jedi'' (1983), and thir ...
playing King.


Television and feature film career

Greenwald moved to
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
in 1972, where he continued working as a theater director at the Mark Taper Forum. He later launched a career as a director for television, establishing first Moonlight Productions 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 ''21 Hours at Munich'' is a 1976 American historical drama television film directed by William A. Graham and starring William Holden, Shirley Knight and Franco Nero. It is based on the 1975 non-fiction book ''The Blood of Israel'' by Serge Grou ...
'' about the massacre at the 1972 Olympics. His next Emmy nomination came in 1984 for directing ''The Burning Bed'', one of the most-watched television movies of all time. Based on a true story, ''The Burning Bed'' has been credited as "a turning point in the fight against domestic violence." Greenwald also directed theatrical films such as ''Xanadu'' (1980), ''Sweet Hearts Dance'' (1988), ''Breaking Up'' (1997), and ''Steal This Movie!'' (2000). ''Xanadu'' received mostly negative reviews. The film barely broke even at the box office in its initial release. A double feature of ''Xanadu'' and another musical released at about the same time, ''
Can't Stop the Music ''Can't Stop the Music'' is a 1980 American musical comedy film directed by Nancy Walker. Written by Allan Carr and Bronté Woodard, the film is a pseudo-biography of the 1970s disco group the Village People loosely based on the actual story ...
'' directed by Nancy Walker, inspired John J. B. Wilson to create the
Golden Raspberry Awards The Golden Raspberry Awards (also known as the Razzies and Razzie Awards) is a parody award show honoring the worst of cinematic under-achievements. Co-founded by UCLA film graduates and film industry veterans John J. B. Wilson and Mo Murphy, ...
(or "Razzies"), an annual event "dishonoring" what is considered the worst in cinema for a given year. ''Xanadu'' won the first Razzie for Worst Director and was nominated for six other ''awards''.


Documentary work

Greenwald turned to documentary filmmaking in 2002, executive-producing three political documentaries known as "The Un Trilogy": '' Unprecedented: The 2000 Presidential Election'' (2002); '' Uncovered: The Whole Truth About The Iraq War'' (2003), which Greenwald also directed; and '' Unconstitutional: The War on Our Civil Liberties''. At Brave New Films, Greenwald has produced and directed numerous feature-length documentaries, along with many short films and videos. In 2013, Greenwald released '' War on Whistleblowers: Free Press and the National Security State'' and a documentary about the U.S. government's drone program, '' Unmanned: America's Drone Wars''. 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. 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. In 2018, Greenwald created a short film to thank three Black women targeted by
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
entitled
''Thanks''
In 2019, Greenwald released
Suppressed: The Fight to Vote
' about voter suppression in the 2018 Georgia election, in which Democrat
Stacey Abrams Stacey Yvonne Abrams (; born December 9, 1973) is an American politician, lawyer, voting rights activist, and author who served in the Georgia House of Representatives from 2007 to 2017, serving as minority leader from 2011 to 2017. A member ...
narrowly lost to Republican
Brian Kemp Brian Porter Kemp (born November 2, 1963) is an American businessman and politician serving as the 83rd governor of Georgia since January 2019. A member of the Republican Party, Kemp served as the 27th secretary of state of Georgia from 2010 to ...
in the race for governor. ''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." 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, made national headlines, as did her response to President Trump telling Americans not to let COVID “dominate” their lives. 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” in honor of George Floyd. 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 Guerrilla filmmaking refers to a form of independent filmmaking characterized by ultra-low micro budgets, skeleton crews, and limited props using whatever resources, locations and equipment is available. Often scenes are shot quickly in real loc ...
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 MoveOn (formerly known as MoveOn.org) is a progressive public policy advocacy group and political action committee. Formed in 1998 around one of the first massively viral email petitions, MoveOn has since grown into one of the largest grassroot ...
. Brave New Film's methods are "rewriting the book on how movies are made and distributed." Greenwald's innovative model is said to be "working magnificently": "Millions of viewers have seen BNF films via grassroots 'house parties' and independent online DVD sales", as well as in more traditional theater screenings and online. As a pioneer in alternative methods for effective progressive political campaigns, Greenwald has eschewed traditional distribution models of studio and network releases. 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. 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. 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." This approach has "inspired hundreds of thousands of people to take action and forced pressing issues into the mainstream media." He has been called "one of the most prominent and influential voices in new media." According to a Brave New Films website, its documentaries "have been streamed across all 7 continents and have been viewed over 70 million times."


Politics

Various sources have described Greenwald's political activism as
left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...
. Greenwald has lectured at
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
for the Nieman Foundation for Journalism and speaks frequently across the country about his work. He addressed the
United States House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense The House Subcommittee on Defense is a standing subcommittee within the United States House Committee on Appropriations. The United States House Committee on Appropriations has joint jurisdiction with the United States Senate Committee on Appropr ...
regarding
war profiteering A war profiteer is any person or organization that derives profit from warfare or by selling weapons and other goods to parties at war. The term typically carries strong negative connotations. General profiteering, making a profit criticized a ...
on May 10, 2007. In 2013, Greenwald went to Capitol Hill once again, to discuss weaponized
unmanned aerial vehicles An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew, or passengers on board. UAVs are a component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), which includes adding a ground-based controlle ...
with lawmakers. At a Congressional briefing, Greenwald testified with the Rafiq Rehman family, the first Pakistani drone strike survivors to appear before Congress. Since May 2005, Greenwald has been a contributing blogger to ''
The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
''.


Selected filmography


Feature-length documentaries

*'' The Crooked E: The Unshredded Truth About Enron'' (2003) (producer) * '' Uncovered: The War on Iraq'' (2004) (director/producer) * '' Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism'' (2004) (director/producer) * '' Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price'' (2005) (director/producer) * '' Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers'' (2006) (director/producer) * '' Rethink Afghanistan'' (2009) (director) * ''
Koch Brothers Exposed ''Koch Brothers Exposed'' is a 2012 U.S. documentary, compiled by filmmaker Robert Greenwald from a viral video campaign produced by Brave New Films, about the political activities of the Koch brothers.Brookes, Julian (April 20, 2012)The Koch Br ...
'' (2012) (director/producer) *''War on Whistleblowers'' (2013) (director/producer) * '' Unmanned: America's Drone Wars'' (2013) (director/producer) * ''Koch brothers exposed: 2014 edition'' (2014) (director/producer) *
Making a Killing: Guns, Greed, and the NRA
' (2015) (director/producer) *
Suppressed: The Fight to Vote
' (2019) (director/producer) *
Suppressed: 2020 The Fight to Vote
' (2019) (director/producer)


Features and television movies

* ''
21 Hours at Munich ''21 Hours at Munich'' is a 1976 American historical drama television film directed by William A. Graham and starring William Holden, Shirley Knight and Franco Nero. It is based on the 1975 non-fiction book ''The Blood of Israel'' by Serge Grou ...
'' (1976) (producer) * ''Flatbed Annie & Sweetiepie: Lady Truckers'' (1979) (director) * '' Xanadu'' (1980) (director) * ''
The Burning Bed ''The Burning Bed'' is both a 1980 non-fiction book by Faith McNulty about battered housewife Francine Hughes, and a 1984 TV-movie adaptation written by Rose Leiman Goldemberg. The plot follows Hughes' trial for the murder of her husband, James B ...
'' (1984) (director) * '' Shattered Spirits'' (1986) (director) * '' Sweet Hearts Dance'' (1988) (director) * ''She Says She's Innocent'', aka ''Violation of Trust'' (executive producer) * '' Hear No Evil'' (1993) (director/producer) * '' Breaking Up'' (1997) (director/producer) * '' Steal This Movie!'' (2000) (director/producer)


Documentary shorts

* '' Unprecedented: The 2000 Presidential Election'' (2002) (executive producer) * '' Unconstitutional: The War on Our Civil Liberties'' (2004) (executive producer) * '' The Big Buy: Tom DeLay's Stolen Congress'' (2006) (producer) * '' The REAL Rudy'' (2007) (director) *''Fox Attacks: Black America'' (2007) (director/producer) * ''Fox Attacks: Obama'' (2007) (director/producer) * ''Fox Attacks: Iran'' (2007) (director/producer) *'' Fox Attacks: Decency'' (2007) (director) * ''Fox Attacks: The Environment'' (2007) (director) * ''The Real McCain'' (2007) (director/producer) * ''Sick for Profit'' (2009) (director) *
16 Women and Donald Trump
' (2017) (director/producer) *
Healing Trauma: Beyond Gangs and Prisons
' (2018) (director/producer)


Awards and honors

Greenwald's work 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. He has been honored for his investigative film work by the ACLU Foundation of Southern California; the
Liberty Hill Foundation The Liberty Hill Foundation is a non-profit organization founded by Sarah Pillsbury, heir to the Minnesota Pillsbury baking fortune, along with Anne Mendel, Larry Janss and Win McCormack, in 1976. Its motto is "Change. Not Charity." The name of th ...
; the Los Angeles chapter of the
National Lawyers Guild The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) is a progressive public interest association of lawyers, law students, paralegals, jailhouse lawyers, law collective members, and other activist legal workers, in the United States. The group was founded in 19 ...
;
Physicians for Social Responsibility Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) is a physician-led organization in the US working to protect the public from the threats of nuclear proliferation, climate change, and environmental toxins. It produces and disseminates publications, p ...
; 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: *25 Emmy Award nominations * 4 Cable ACE Award nominations * 2 Golden Globe nominations * 2 DGA Nominations (1978 and 1985) * 8 Awards of Excellence from the Film Advisory Board. * Directors Guild of America Award, for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Specials for ''
The Burning Bed ''The Burning Bed'' is both a 1980 non-fiction book by Faith McNulty about battered housewife Francine Hughes, and a 1984 TV-movie adaptation written by Rose Leiman Goldemberg. The plot follows Hughes' trial for the murder of her husband, James B ...
'', 1984. * The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for Excellence in Health and Medical Programming, for ''Sharing the Secret'', 2000. * The Peabody Award, for ''Sharing the Secret'', 2000. * The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Prism Commendation for ''Blonde'', 2002. * Producer of the Year Award by the American Film Institute, 2002. * Literacy in Media Award, for ''The Book of Ruth,'' 2004. * Laurel Award, for ''Outfoxed'', 2008. * Telly Award, (Bronze), for ''This Brave Nation'', 2009. * Media for a Just Society, Finalist for ''Law and Disorder'', 2013. Robert Greenwald has been the recipient of the following awards for his activism: *
California Nurses Association The California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (CNA/NNOC), an affiliate of National Nurses United, is a trade union labor union and professional association of registered nurses in the United States. Since 2018, CNA/NNOC ha ...
, "Public Voice for Political Activism." * Maggie Award from Planned Parenthood Federation. * Office of the Americas, * The Christopher Award, 1981 (for media that “affirm the highest values of the human spirit") * ACLU of Southern California, Garden Party Award, 2003 and 2013. *
Physicians for Social Responsibility Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) is a physician-led organization in the US working to protect the public from the threats of nuclear proliferation, climate change, and environmental toxins. It produces and disseminates publications, p ...
Los Angeles, Peacemaker Award, 2003 * The Los Angeles Chapter of the
National Lawyers Guild The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) is a progressive public interest association of lawyers, law students, paralegals, jailhouse lawyers, law collective members, and other activist legal workers, in the United States. The group was founded in 19 ...
Honors Robert Greenwald as "A Producer and Director who uses his talent and artistry to promote better understanding between people and advance the cause of peace, justice and freedom." - June 8, 2003; * Rage for Justice, Citizen Activist of the Year, 2004. * Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE)’s City of Justice Award 2005. *
Liberty Hill Foundation The Liberty Hill Foundation is a non-profit organization founded by Sarah Pillsbury, heir to the Minnesota Pillsbury baking fortune, along with Anne Mendel, Larry Janss and Win McCormack, in 1976. Its motto is "Change. Not Charity." The name of th ...
's Upton Sinclair Award, 2006. *
Norman Felton Norman Francis Felton (April 29, 1913 – June 25, 2012) was a British-born American television producer, known for his involvement in shows such as ''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' and '' Dr. Kildare''. Background Felton was born in London, the son ...
and Denise Aubuchon Humanitarian Award, 2007 * Courage in Media (California) Award, 2008 and 2010


References


External links


Robert Greenwald official website
*
Robert Greenwald's site on Rudy Giuliani

Brave New Film's Young Turks page

Rethink Afghanistan official websiteSick for Profit
- video report by ''
Democracy Now! ''Democracy Now!'' is an hour-long American TV, radio, and Internet news program hosted by journalists Amy Goodman (who also acts as the show's executive producer), Juan González, and Nermeen Shaikh. The show, which airs live each weekday at ...
'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Greenwald, Robert 1945 births Living people Journalists from New York City Film directors from New York City Film producers from New York (state) American anti–Iraq War activists American documentary filmmakers American media critics American people of Russian-Jewish descent Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School alumni Viral videos