Ironbound Films is an American independent documentary film production company. Their films focus on stories of how people succeed and fail to connect. Their 2008 film ''
The Linguists
''The Linguists'' is an independent 2008 American documentary film produced by Ironbound Films about language extinction and language documentation. It follows two linguists, Greg Anderson of the Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languag ...
'' and 2010 film ''The New Recruits'', were about characters whose missteps undermined their stated intentions but also exposed their humanity. Another feature documentary, ''
Évocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie'', is about controversial 1980s talk-show icon
Morton Downey Jr.
Sean Morton Downey Jr. (December 9, 1932 – March 12, 2001) was an American television talk show host and actor who pioneered the "trash TV" format in the late-1980s on his program ''The Morton Downey Jr. Show''.
Early life
Downey's parents we ...
and premiered at the 2012
Tribeca Film Festival
The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. Tribeca was ...
. ''Heading Home: The Tale of Team Israel'' is a 2018 documentary film that ''
The Jerusalem Post
''The Jerusalem Post'' is a broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, founded in 1932 during the British Mandate of Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''The Palestine Post''. In 1950, it changed its name to ''The Jerusalem Post''. In 2004, the paper ...
'' described as "the
David-and-Goliath story of
Israel’s national baseball team as it competed for the first time in the
World Baseball Classic
The World Baseball Classic (WBC) is an international baseball tournament sanctioned from 2006 to 2013 by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) and after 2013 by World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) in partnership with Major Leagu ...
." The 87-minute film won the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the 2018
Gold Coast International Film Festival, the Audience Award for Documentary at the 2018
Washington Jewish Film Festival
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...
, the Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 2018
Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival
The Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival (also known as the Gershman Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival (GPJFF)) is an annual film festival in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States that presents movies and film-related programs about the J ...
, the Best Documentary Film Award at the 2018 Boca Raton Jewish Film Festival, and the Best Documentary Award at the 2018 Jewish Arts and Film Festival of Fairfield County.
History
Ironbound Films, Inc., was founded in 2003 by Seth Kramer and Daniel A. Miller, with Jeremy Newberger joining as CEO in 2004.
Based in
Garrison, NY
Garrison is a hamlet in Putnam County, New York, United States. It is part of the town of Philipstown, on the east side of the Hudson River, across from the United States Military Academy at West Point. The Garrison Metro-North Railroad st ...
, Ironbound has, in its feature documentaries and commercial production, taken on issues surrounding globalization: intercultural and mass communication, technology, terrorism, poverty and capitalism.
Feature films
Their first feature documentary ''
The Linguists
''The Linguists'' is an independent 2008 American documentary film produced by Ironbound Films about language extinction and language documentation. It follows two linguists, Greg Anderson of the Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languag ...
'' follows two linguists, Gregory Anderson and David Harrison, as they circle the globe attempting to record dying languages. The film received a positive review from ''
Boston Globe
''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
'' reviewer Sam Allis.
''
The Linguists
''The Linguists'' is an independent 2008 American documentary film produced by Ironbound Films about language extinction and language documentation. It follows two linguists, Greg Anderson of the Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languag ...
'' premiered at the 2008
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,6 ...
before airing nationwide on
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 ed ...
in February 2009. It was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Science and Technology Programming in 2010.
Their second feature documentary, ''The New Recruits'', is about three business students attempting to bring capitalism to developing nations through
social enterprise
A social enterprise is an organization that applies commercial strategies to maximize improvements in financial, social and environmental well-being. This may include maximizing social impact alongside profits for co-owners.
Social enterprises ca ...
. ''The New Recruits'' was funded by the
Skoll Foundation
The Skoll Foundation is a private foundation based in Palo Alto, California. The foundation makes grants and investments intended to reduce global poverty. Jeffrey Skoll created the foundation in 1999.
The total assets of the foundation (includ ...
and aired on
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 ed ...
in June 2010. ''
USA Today
''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virg ...
'' reviewer Michele Archer gave the film a positive review, stating "Though the situation is ripe for glorification, the filmmakers unflinchingly show the challenging fish-out-of-water situations the recruits earnestly face."
Ironbound's project, ''
Évocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie'', explores the life of controversial talk-show icon
Morton Downey Jr.
Sean Morton Downey Jr. (December 9, 1932 – March 12, 2001) was an American television talk show host and actor who pioneered the "trash TV" format in the late-1980s on his program ''The Morton Downey Jr. Show''.
Early life
Downey's parents we ...
, infamous in the 1980s as the "King of Trash TV."
It premiered at the 2012
Tribeca Film Festival
The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. Tribeca was ...
and is set for theatrical release in 2013 by
Magnolia Pictures
Magnolia Pictures is an American film distributor. It is a subsidiary of Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner's 2929 Entertainment
2929 Entertainment, LLC. is an American integrated media and entertainment company co-founded by billionaire entrepreneur ...
.
''
Heading Home: The Tale of Team Israel'' is a 2018 documentary film that ''
The Jerusalem Post
''The Jerusalem Post'' is a broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, founded in 1932 during the British Mandate of Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''The Palestine Post''. In 1950, it changed its name to ''The Jerusalem Post''. In 2004, the paper ...
'' described as "the
David-and-Goliath story of
Israel’s national baseball team as it competed for the first time in the
World Baseball Classic
The World Baseball Classic (WBC) is an international baseball tournament sanctioned from 2006 to 2013 by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) and after 2013 by World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) in partnership with Major Leagu ...
." The 87-minute film won the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the 2018
Gold Coast International Film Festival, the Audience Award for Documentary at the 2018
Washington Jewish Film Festival
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...
, the Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 2018
Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival
The Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival (also known as the Gershman Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival (GPJFF)) is an annual film festival in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States that presents movies and film-related programs about the J ...
, the Best Documentary Film Award at the 2018 Boca Raton Jewish Film Festival, and the Best Documentary Award at the 2018 Jewish Arts and Film Festival of Fairfield County.
Other work
Ironbound's other work includes ''America Rebuilds II: Return to Ground Zero'', a
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 ed ...
documentary that aired in 2006 and chronicles the rebuilding of the
World Trade Center site
The World Trade Center site, often referred to as "Ground zero#World Trade Center, Ground Zero" or "the Pile" immediately after the September 11 attacks, is a 14.6-acre (5.9 ha) area in Lower Manhattan in New York City. The site is bounde ...
and the lives of those involved. It follows ''America Rebuilds: A Year at Ground Zero'', a
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 ed ...
documentary that aired in 2002 and was produced and directed by Kramer and Miller.
Ironbound also produced ''Moment in Time'', a documentary short that premiered as the centerpiece to
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
's Beijing Olympics coverage; and ''The Fantastic Two'', a 17-part comedy web series about fantasy football starring
William "The Refrigerator" Perry with cameos by
Donald Gibb
Donald Richard Gibb (born August 4, 1954) is an American actor, best known for his roles as the hulking, dimwitted fraternity brother Ogre in several installments of the ''Revenge of the Nerds'' film series, as Kumite fighter Ray Jackson in ''Blo ...
,
Kato Kaelin
Brian Gerard Kaelin (born March 9, 1959), known as Kato Kaelin, is an American actor and radio and television personality, who was a witness in the O. J. Simpson murder case.
Early life and education
Kaelin was born on March 9, 1959, in Milwau ...
and
Richard Moll
Charles Richard Moll (born January 13, 1943) is an American actor. He played the role of Aristotle Nostradamus "Bull" Shannon, a bailiff on the NBC sitcom '' Night Court'' from 1984 to 1992. He has also done extensive work as a voice actor, typ ...
.
It was sponsored by
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food
Fast food is a type of mass-produced food designed for commercial resale, with a strong priority placed on speed of service. It is a commercial term, limited to food sold ...
and
Honda
is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan.
Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a producti ...
.
Ironbound also creates videos for various clients, including corporations
Cisco Systems
Cisco Systems, Inc., commonly known as Cisco, is an American-based multinational corporation, multinational digital communications technology conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation headquartered in San Jose, California. Cisco develo ...
,
Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Sun for short) was an American technology company that sold computers, computer components, software, and information technology services and created the Java programming language, the Solaris operating system, ZFS, ...
, and
Xerox
Xerox Holdings Corporation (; also known simply as Xerox) is an American corporation that sells print and digital document products and services in more than 160 countries. Xerox is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut (having moved from St ...
; charities
LCU Foundation and
Episcopal Charities; and museums
Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum
The ''Intrepid'' Sea, Air & Space Museum is an American military and maritime history museum in New York City with a collection of museum ships. It is located at Pier 86 at 46th Street, along the Hudson River, in the Hell's Kitchen neighborh ...
and the
Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum
The Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum holds the records of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd president of the United States (1933–1945). Located on the grounds of Springwood, the Roosevelt family estate in Hyde Park, New ...
.
Filmography
*''
Évocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie''
*''The New Recruits''
*''
The Linguists
''The Linguists'' is an independent 2008 American documentary film produced by Ironbound Films about language extinction and language documentation. It follows two linguists, Greg Anderson of the Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languag ...
''
*''America Rebuilds II: Return to Ground Zero''
*''The Fantastic Two''
*''Heading Home: The Tale of Team Israel''
References
External links
Official site
{{Authority control
Film production companies of the United States
Documentary film production companies
Mass media companies established in 2003