Gary Glassman is a

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

filmmaker based in

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

. His company, Providence Pictures, produces films for ''

NOVA A nova ( novae or novas) is a transient astronomical event that causes the sudden appearance of a bright, apparently "new" star (hence the name "nova", Latin for "new") that slowly fades over weeks or months. All observed novae involve white ...

'',

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel, known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery, is an American cable channel that is best known for its ongoing reality television shows and promotion of pseudoscience. It init ...

History Channel History (formerly and commonly known as the History Channel) is an American pay television television broadcaster, network and the flagship channel of A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney General Entertainme ...

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, and other television networks and programs.

Early life and education

Glassman became interested in film and entertainment at a young age. After spending three years with a European circus, he completed an MFA program in directing at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

. He was attracted to documentary filmmaking because "People have amazing stories, and the world's accumulated knowledge is so rich."

Career

His first documentary, ''Prisoners'', is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Glassman started Providence Pictures in 1996, moving to

from Paris when his wife took a job at

Providence College Providence College is a Private university, private Roman Catholic university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1917 by the Dominican Order and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, it offers 47 undergraduate Academic ...

. Since then, he has become active in the promotion of the city as a center for digital media and other creative industries, including starting the Digital City project in 2013, with

Renee Hobbs Renee Hobbs is an American scholar and educator who works in the field of media literacy education. She is Professor of Communication Studies at the Harrington School of Communication and Media, University of Rhode Island and founder of thMedia Ed ...

, founder of the

University of Rhode Island The University of Rhode Island (URI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is the flagship public research as well as the land-grant university of Rhode Island. The univer ...

Harrington School of Communication and Media. Glassman's ''The Bible's Buried Secrets'', a 2008 feature on the science series NOVA on PBS, attracted some controversy for its provocative ideas, including the idea of God having a wife. According to the ''Christian Post'', Biblical scholar William G. Dever said some bible literalists may call the film "shocking" but he said the film was the best documentary ever made on the origins of the Israelites and the writing of the first five books of the Bible, and contrasted it positively with several other similar films he was involved with, which he considered to be dishonest. The

American Family Association The American Family Association (AFA) is a conservative and Christian fundamentalist 501(c)(3) organization based in the United States.Writers Guild of America Award The Writers Guild of America Awards is an award for film, television, and radio writing including both fiction and non-fiction categories given by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America West since 1949. Eligibility Th ...

for best documentary on a subject other than current events for ''Secrets of the Parthenon'', produced for

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

's ''Nova''. Glassman and Providence Pictures went to the

Colosseum The Colosseum ( ; , ultimately from Ancient Greek word "kolossos" meaning a large statue or giant) is an Ellipse, elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, just east of the Roman Forum. It is the largest ancient amphi ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

to install a replica of the wooden elevator used by the Romans to move animals into the center of the arena, and produced the documentary ''Colosseum: Roman Death Trap'' about the project. It was one of a series of documentaries the company did for ''NOVA'' called "Building Wonders". One of his favorite of his films is ''Secret of Photo 51'', about

Rosalind Franklin Rosalind Elsie Franklin (25 July 192016 April 1958) was a British chemist and X-ray crystallographer. Her work was central to the understanding of the molecular structures of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), RNA (ribonucleic acid), viruses, coal ...

's importance in the discovery of the

DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ...

double helix In molecular biology, the term double helix refers to the structure formed by base pair, double-stranded molecules of nucleic acids such as DNA. The double Helix, helical structure of a nucleic acid complex arises as a consequence of its Nuclei ...

that

Watson & Crick "Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid" was the first article published to describe the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA, using X-ray diffraction and the mathematics of a helix transform. It ...

took credit for.

References

External links

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Providence Pictures
{{DEFAULTSORT:Glassman, Gary Year of birth missing (living people) American documentary filmmakers Living people Artists from Providence, Rhode Island Place of birth missing (living people) UCLA Film School alumni