Ivy Meeropol
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Ivy Meeropol (born October 13, 1968) is a director and producer of documentaries for film and television, known for ''Indian Point'' and ''Heir to an Execution''. She is the daughter of Michael Meeropol and Ann Karus Meeropol and granddaughter of
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg Julius Rosenberg (May 12, 1918 – June 19, 1953) and Ethel Rosenberg (born Greenglass; September 28, 1915 – June 19, 1953) were an American married couple who were convicted of First Chief Directorate, spying for the Soviet Union, including ...
, and adoptive granddaughter of Abel Meeropol (pen name: Lewis Allan), author of "
Strange Fruit "Strange Fruit" is a song written and composed by Abel Meeropol (under his pseudonym Lewis Allan) and recorded by Billie Holiday in 1939. The lyrics were drawn from a poem by Meeropol published in 1937. The song Protest song, protests the Lynch ...
" and " The House I Live In". A graduate of
Sarah Lawrence College Sarah Lawrence College (SLC) is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Yonkers, New York, United States. Founded as a Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in 1926, Sarah Lawrence College has been coeducational ...
, she served as a legislative aide to
Congressman A member of congress (MOC), also known as a congressman or congresswoman, is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The t ...
Harry Johnston Sir Harry Hamilton Johnston (12 June 1858 – 31 July 1927) was a British explorer, botanist, artist, colonial administrator, and linguist who travelled widely across Africa to speak some of the languages spoken by people on that continent. ...
.


Career

Meeropol worked as a speechwriter and legislative aide to Congressman Harry Johnston of Florida, and then began a career as a journalist, publishing articles in ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', ''
O, The Oprah Magazine ''O, The Oprah Magazine'', also known simply as ''O'', is an American monthly magazine founded by talk show host Oprah Winfrey and Hearst Communications. In 2021, Winfrey and Hearst rebranded it as ''Oprah Daily''. Overview It was first pu ...
'', ''
Premiere A premiere, also spelled première, (from , ) is the debut (first public presentation) of a work, i.e. play, film, dance, musical composition, or even a performer in that work. History Raymond F. Betts attributes the introduction of the ...
'', ''
Nest A nest is a structure built for certain animals to hold Egg (biology), eggs or young. Although nests are most closely associated with birds, members of all classes of vertebrates and some invertebrates construct nests. They may be composed of ...
'', ''
Paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, Textile, rags, poaceae, grasses, Feces#Other uses, herbivore dung, or other vegetable sources in water. Once the water is dra ...
'', '' Black Book Magazine'', and ''Provincetown Arts Magazine'', where she was also the fiction editor. Meeropol produced her film, ''Heir to an Execution'', to explore her family's conflicted views of the Rosenbergs' trial and subsequent execution. The film was featured at the
Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...
and was shortlisted for an Academy Award. In a 2004 interview with FF2 Media's Jan Huttner, Meeropol commented on the connection between the events in the film and the then-current Bush administration:
The McCarthy era was all about quashing dissent in the name of national security, and that's what we're doing today. There were massive, peaceful marches in the period leading up to the start of the
Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...
, but the protesters were told that they were "unpatriotic." You don't support the troops if you have any questions for the government? This country is supposed to be about encouraging dissent; that's the beauty of democracy.
Ivy Meeropol also directed a six-part documentary series for the Sundance Channel entitled '' The Hill''. It focused on the work of four young staff members at the office of congressman Robert Wexler as they responded to his electoral defeat in the 2004 presidential election. The documentary aired on the Sundance Channel in August and September 2006. In 2013, Meeropol was a Sundance Institute Fellow, and was awarded grants from the Sundance Documentary Fund, The NY State Council for the Arts, and The
MacArthur Foundation The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is a private foundation that makes grants and impact investments to support non-profit organizations in approximately 117 countries around the world. It has an endowment of $7.6 billion and ...
. In 2016, Meeropol directed and produced the documentary film ''Indian Point'', which explores the issues surrounding the use of nuclear energy by looking at the
Indian Point Energy Center Indian Point Energy Center (I.P.E.C.) is a now defunct three-unit nuclear power station located in Buchanan, just south of Peekskill, in Westchester County, New York. It sits on the east bank of the Hudson River, about north of Midtown Manh ...
, located just 35 miles from the heart of
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
. In 2019, Meeropol revisited the story of her grandparents to inquire into the man who prosecuted them, Roy Cohn. She directed and produced ''Bully. Coward. Victim. The Story of Roy Cohn''. In an interview with ''Women and Hollywood'', Meeropol pointed out the urgency of the Roy Cohn story in light of the Trump administration:
I want people to understand why Donald Trump’s relationship with Cohn is critically important, and help audiences to gain a deeper insight into how Cohn helped set Trump on a path that reverberates today. This film is my way of impressing upon audiences that the past is very much present, and we would be wise not to forget how we got here.
In 2023, Meeropol directed '' After the Bite'' for
HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...
, a documentary revolving around the local community in
Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer months. The ...
, grappling with the sightings of
sharks Sharks are a group of elasmobranch cartilaginous fish characterized by a ribless endoskeleton, dermal denticles, five to seven gill slits on each side, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the ...
and the science behind their appearance.


Personal life

Meeropol lives in the Hudson Valley with her husband, production designer Thomas Ambrose, and their two children.


Filmography


Notes


External links


CBS story on ''Heir to an Execution''
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Meeropol, Ivy 1968 births Living people American documentary filmmakers Julius and Ethel Rosenberg Place of birth missing (living people) Sarah Lawrence College alumni