Amy Ziering | |
---|---|
Born | September 1962 (age 61) [1] |
Occupation(s) | Producer, director |
Years active | 1998–present |
Children | 3 |
Parents |
|
Amy Ziering (born 1962 in Massachusetts) is an American film producer and director. Mostly known for her work in documentary films, she is a regular collaborator of director Kirby Dick; they co-directed 2002's Derrida and 2020's On the Record , with Ziering also producing several of Dick's films.
In 2013, she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary Feature for producing the Dick-directed film The Invisible War . [2]
Ziering was born in 1962. She is the daughter of Sigi Ziering, a Holocaust survivor, and Marilyn Ziering. [3] [4] She grew up in Beverly Hills, California. [3] [4] She graduated from Amherst College before pursuing graduate work at Yale University, where she studied with Jacques Derrida. [5] [6]
Ziering's first film, Taylor's Campaign (1998), directed by Richard Cohen, followed Ron Taylor, a homeless resident of Santa Monica, as he campaigned for the Santa Monica city council. Martin Sheen narrated.
Ziering then began work on Derrida (2002), a documentary about her former mentor, the French philosopher Jacques Derrida. She co-directed the film with Kirby Dick. [7] It explores Derrida's life and work while questioning the limitations of biography. It won the Golden Gate Award at the 2002 San Francisco International Film Festival.
She next produced a feature narrative, The Memory Thief (2007), directed by Gil Kofman. The film chronicles the experiences of a young man who becomes involved in documenting the experiences of survivors of the Holocaust as his commitment turns into obsession and madness. Ziering collaborated with Dick again on Outrage (2009), a documentary about the lives of closeted gay politicians who legislate against gay rights, as well as the mainstream media's reluctance to report on this subject. It received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Investigative Journalism.
In 2012, she premiered The Invisible War at the Sundance Film Festival, where it received the Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature. The film examines the epidemic of rape in the United States Armed Forces, and has been heralded for exposing a culture of sexual abuse at Marine Barracks Washington. [8] Several government officials have commented on the film's influence on policy, including Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, who has said that the film convinced him to implement a wave of reforms designed to reduce the prevalence of military sexual assault. [9]
The film's revelations have also been discussed in congressional hearings and spurred lawmakers to seek better safeguards for assault survivors. [10] Senator Kirsten Gillibrand credits the film with inspiring her to introduce the Military Justice Improvement Act, which would establish an independent judiciary to oversee accusations of sexual assault in the armed forces. [11]
Among other honors, The Invisible War received a nomination for Best Documentary Feature at the 85th Academy Awards and won Emmy Awards for Best Documentary Feature and Outstanding Investigative Journalism. [12] [13]
In 2015, The Hunting Ground premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. Produced by Ziering and written and directed by Dick, the documentary is about the incidence of sexual assault on U.S. college campuses and the failed response of college administrators. It was released on February 27, 2015, [14] an edited version aired on CNN on November 22, 2015, [15] [16] and the DVD was released the week of December 1, 2015. [17] It was released on Netflix in March 2016. [18] Lady Gaga recorded an original song, "Til It Happens to You", for the film. [19]
One day before the film's theatrical release, a bipartisan group of 12 U.S. senators, accompanied by the film's lead subjects, Annie Clark and Andrea Pino, reintroduced the Campus Accountability and Safety Act requiring universities to adopt standard practices for weighing sexual charges, and to survey students on the prevalence of assault.
The Hunting Ground was nominated for a 2016 Emmy Award for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking and for the Producers Guild of America's Outstanding Producer of Documentary Theatrical Motion Picture award. [20] It won the 2016 Stanley Kramer Award given to "a production, producer or other individual whose achievement or contribution illuminates and raises public awareness of important social issues. [21] The Hunting Ground was also one of the five movies nominated in the Documentary category of the 2016 MTV Movie Awards. [22]
The Bleeding Edge premiered at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival to rave reviews and received further critical acclaim after its worldwide release on Netflix on July 27, 2018.[ citation needed ] Currently at 100% on Rotten Tomatoes [23] and a New York Times Critic's Pick of the Week, [24] the documentary, written and directed by Dick and produced by Ziering and Amy Herdy, is a deep dive into the $400 billion medical device industry, [25] where the filmmakers find shockingly lax regulations, corporate coverups and profit-driven incentives that put patients at risk daily. [26]
The film's impact was felt immediately as a week before its release, The Bleeding Edge became a part of a national news story when Bayer removed the birth control device Essure from the U.S. market, one of the many devices heavily criticized and warned about in the film. [27] Entertainment Weekly added it to its list of documentaries that have changed the world. [28] The documentary received the George Polk Award for Medical Reporting [29] —one of only a few documentaries to receive the journalistic award—and was nominated for a Peabody Award [30] and the Grierson Award for Best Science Documentary. [31]
On October 23, 2017, Dick and Ziering announced an upcoming film on equity, parity, abuse, and representation in Hollywood. [32] They had begun working on this project while screening The Invisible War . [33] [34] In a statement to media, Ziering said, "Every time we screened that film in Hollywood, actors and executives would come up to us and say that they had had similar experiences right here. So we began working on this project and immediately found ourselves grappling with the same forces that had kept this story silenced for so long. Everyone was frightened about what would happen to their careers, and worried about whether they would be sued. Distributors were unwilling to fund or release the film, and few people were willing to talk on the record." [35]
Once the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse allegations went public, funding appeared through Impact Partners, which also financed The Hunting Ground and The Invisible War. [33] Ziering said, "People at long last are speaking out in large numbers, and we feel this industry, and the country, is finally ready for an unflinching film about the reality of sexual assault and harassment in Hollywood." [35]
On the Record , Dick and Ziering's film about sexual abuse allegations against Def Jam co-founder Russell Simmons, premiered to a standing ovation at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. [36] The film, which includes the voices of nine alleged survivors such as Drew Dixon, Sheri Sher, Sil Lai Abrams, Jenny Lumet, and Kelly Cutrone, has received critical acclaim. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 99% based on 71 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads: "On the Record uses harrowing first-person accounts to powerfully and persuasively confront the entrenched sexism of an industry and its culture." [37] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 84 out of 100, based on 22 critic reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". [38]
Dick and Ziering's first documentary series, Allen v. Farrow is a four-part series that examines the sexual assault allegation made against Woody Allen by his adopted daughter Dylan Farrow, who was seven when the abuse allegedly occurred. It follows the custody battle between Allen and his former partner Mia Farrow, his marriage to her adopted daughter Soon-Yi Previn, who is 35 years younger than Allen, and the events of subsequent years. [39] The series premiered on HBO on February 21, 2021, with the last episode airing on March 14, 2021. On Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds an approval rating of 82% based on 56 reviews. [40] On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 76 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [41]
RAINN announced that the series resulted in a nearly 20% increase in calls. [42]
Ziering and Dick directed Not So Pretty , a four-part series about the beauty industry and harmful chemicals in products, narrated by Keke Palmer. [43] It premiered on April 14, 2022, on HBO Max. [44]
Year | Film | Role |
---|---|---|
1998 | Taylor's Campaign | Producer |
2002 | Derrida | Director, producer |
2007 | The Memory Thief | Producer |
2009 | Outrage | Producer |
2012 | The Invisible War | Producer |
2014 | The Hunting Ground | Producer |
2018 | The Bleeding Edge | Producer |
2020 | On the Record | Director, writer, producer |
2021 | Allen v. Farrow | Director, producer |
2022 | Not So Pretty | Director, writer, producer |
Year | Award | Organization | Work | Category | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2002 | Golden Gate Award | San Francisco Film Festival | Derrida | Documentary Feature | Won [46] |
Grand Jury Prize | Sundance Film Festival | Documentary | Nominated [47] | ||
2009 | Jury Award | Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival | Outrage | Best Documentary | Won [48] |
2010 | Emmy Award | National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences | Outstanding Investigative Journalism: Long Form | Nominated [49] | |
2012 | Audience Award | Sundance Film Festival | The Invisible War | Best Documentary | Won [50] [51] |
Nestor Almendros Award | Human Rights Watch Film Festival | Courage in Filmmaking | Won [52] | ||
Silver Heart Award | Dallas International Film Festival | Humanitarian Award | Won [53] | ||
Audience Award | Seattle International Film Festival | Best Documentary | Won [54] | ||
Audience Award | Provincetown International Film Festival | Best Documentary Feature | Won [55] | ||
Best of Festival | DocuWest International Documentary Film Festival | Humanitarian Award | Won [56] | ||
Advocacy Award | Peace Over Violence | Humanitarian Award | Won [57] | ||
IDA Award | International Documentary Association | Best Feature | Nominated [58] | ||
Audience Award | Gotham Awards | Audience Award | Nominated | ||
2013 | Spirit Award | Film Independent | Best Documentary | Won [59] | |
Academy Award | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences | Best Documentary Feature | Nominated [12] | ||
Ridenhour Prize | The Nation Institute | Documentary Film | Won [60] | ||
Gracie Award | Alliance for Women in Media | Outstanding Producer – News/Non-Fiction | Won [61] | ||
Peabody Award | The Peabody Awards | Won [62] | |||
Impact Award | BRITDOC Foundation | Jury Special Commendation | Won [63] | ||
2014 | Emmy Award | National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences | Best Documentary Feature | Won [13] | |
Outstanding Investigative Journalism – Long Form | Won [13] | ||||
2016 | Emmy Award | National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences | The Hunting Ground | Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking | Nominated [64] |
PGA Award | PGA Awards | Outstanding Producer of Documentary Theatrical Motion Picture | Nominated [65] | ||
Stanley Kramer Award | Stanley Kramer Award | Won [66] | |||
2018 | George Polk Award | George Polk Awards | The Bleeding Edge | Medical Reporting | Won [29] |
2019 | Peabody Award | The Peabody Awards | Documentary Film | Nominated [30] | |
Grierson Award | Grierson Awards | Best Science Documentary | Nominated [67] | ||
2021 | Image Award | NAACP Image Awards | On the Record | Outstanding Documentary | Nominated [68] |
Derrida is a 2002 American documentary film directed by Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering Kofman about the French philosopher Jacques Derrida. It premiered at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival before being released theatrically on October 23, 2002.
Kirby Bryan Dick is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and editor best known for directing documentary films. He received Academy Award nominations for Best Documentary Feature for directing Twist of Faith (2005) and The Invisible War (2012). He has also received numerous awards from film festivals, including the Sundance Film Festival and Los Angeles Film Festival.
ITVS is a service in the United States which funds and presents documentaries on public television through distribution by PBS and American Public Television, new media projects on the Internet, and the weekly series Independent Lens on PBS. Aside from Independent Lens, ITVS funded and produced films for more than 40 television hours per year on the PBS series POV, Frontline, American Masters and American Experience. Some ITVS programs are produced along with organizations like Latino Public Broadcasting and KQED.
Elizabeth Freya Garbus is an American documentary film director and producer. Notable documentaries Garbus has made are The Farm: Angola, USA,Ghosts of Abu Ghraib,Bobby Fischer Against the World,Love, Marilyn,What Happened, Miss Simone?, and Becoming Cousteau. She is co-founder and co-director of the New York City-based documentary film production company Story Syndicate.
Amy J. Berg is an American filmmaker. Her 2006 documentary Deliver Us from Evil (2006), about sex abuse cases in the Roman Catholic Church, was nominated for an Academy Award and won Berg the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Documentary Screenplay.
The Invisible War is a 2012 American documentary film written and directed by Kirby Dick and produced by Amy Ziering and Tanner King Barklow about sexual assault in the United States military. It premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, where it received the U.S. Documentary Audience Award. The film has been lauded by advocates, lawmakers, and journalists for its influence on government policies to reduce the prevalence of rape in the armed forces.
Andrea Lynn Pino (born February 15, 1992) is an American women's rights and civil rights activist, author, and a public scholar on issues of global gender based violence, media framing of violence, gender and sexuality, and narratives of survivorhood. She is the queer daughter of Cuban refugees and has stated that she is a survivor of sexual assault.
The Hunting Ground is a 2015 American documentary film about the incidence of sexual assault on college campuses in the United States and the reported failure of college administrations to deal with it adequately. Written and directed by Kirby Dick and produced by Amy Ziering, it premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. The film was released on February 27, 2015, an edited version aired on CNN on November 22, 2015, and was released on DVD the week of December 1, 2015. It was released on Netflix in March 2016. Lady Gaga recorded an original song, "Til It Happens to You," for the film, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
"Til It Happens to You" is a song produced and performed by American singer Lady Gaga. She co-wrote the song with Diane Warren for the 2015 documentary film The Hunting Ground, which deals with campus rape in the United States. The song had leaked onto the Internet through an unofficial recording made at the film's premiere at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. It was later released by Interscope Records to digital retailers on September 18, 2015. The director and producer of the film had looked for someone influential to write a song for it, and music supervisor Bonnie Greenberg contacted Warren, who was interested. She wrote the song with Gaga and producer Nile Rodgers accompanied them during the recording, providing his suggestions.
Sil Lai Abrams is a domestic violence awareness activist and National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) award-winning writer. Abrams is a sought after speaker on sexual assault, domestic violence, race, and depictions of women of color in the media and has spoken at over 300 organizations and universities around the United States. She regularly provides television commentary on gender violence and has been profiled in numerous magazines, including The Hollywood Reporter, EBONY, Redbook, Modern Woman, and ESSENCE. The Root praised Abrams for her use of “social media to protest the narrative that Black women’s realities can be defined by dysfunctional entertainment”, and she has served on the Board of Directors for two of the nation’s largest victim services nonprofit organizations, Safe Horizon and the National Domestic Violence Hotline.
Leslee Dart is an American publicist and entrepreneur. She is the founder and co-CEO of the Dart Group, now known as 42West, which prior to its 2017 acquisition was the largest independently-owned public relations firm in the entertainment industry.
The Bleeding Edge is a 2018 Netflix original documentary film that investigates the $400 billion medical device industry.
Amy Herdy is a film producer. She won a 2018 George Polk Award, for her Netflix documentary, The Bleeding Edge.
Geralyn White Dreyfous is an American film producer. She has produced multiple documentary and narrative films focusing on social justice issues including The Invisible War (2012), The Square (2013), The Hunting Ground (2015), Won't You Be My Neighbor? (2018), The Great Hack (2019), and On the Record (2020). Dreyfous has been nominated for Primetime Emmy awards.
The 2020 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 23 to February 2, 2020. The first lineup of competition films was announced on December 4, 2019. The opening night film was Miss Americana directed by Lana Wilson and produced by Morgan Neville, Caitrin Rogers, and Christine O'Malley.
On the Record is a 2020 American documentary film directed by Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering. It centers on allegations of sexual abuse and harassment against hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons. Executive producer Oprah Winfrey publicly withdrew from the film shortly before it was released, citing "creative differences", severing a production deal with Apple TV+. The film premiered at Sundance on January 25, 2020, and was acquired by HBO Max, which released it digitally on May 27, 2020.
Not So Pretty is an American documentary television miniseries directed by Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering that explores the beauty industry and hidden chemicals in products. It consists of 4-episodes and premiered on April 14, 2022, on HBO Max.
Allen v. Farrow is an American documentary television miniseries directed by Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering that explores an allegation of sexual abuse made against Woody Allen in 1992. It consists of four episodes and premiered on February 21, 2021, on HBO.
Impact Partners is an American film production and television production company founded in 2007, by Dan Cogan and Geralyn Dreyfous. The company primarily produces documentary films focusing on social issues.
Artemis Rising Foundation is a nonprofit organization and film production and television production company, founded by Regina K. Scully.