Davis Guggenheim

Last updated

Davis Guggenheim
DavisGuggenheimJI1 (cropped).jpg
Guggenheim in 2009
Born
Philip Davis Guggenheim

(1963-11-03) November 3, 1963 (age 60)
Education Brown University
Occupations
  • Director
  • writer
  • producer
Years active1991–present
Spouse
(m. 1994)
Children3
Parent Charles Guggenheim (father)

Philip Davis Guggenheim is an American screenwriter, director, and producer.

Contents

Active in television and film's directions and productions since the 90s, from 2006 Guggenheim has specialized in making documentaries, [1] ranking the top 100 highest-grossing documentaries of all time with three works: An Inconvenient Truth , It Might Get Loud , and Waiting for "Superman". [2] [3]

Guggenheim's cinematographic projects received severals awards and nominations, including the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film for An Inconvenient Truth, the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Documentary Feature for He Named Me Malala and two nominations at the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Documentary/Nonfiction Program.

His credits include NYPD Blue , ER , 24 , Alias , The Shield , Deadwood , and the documentaries, It Might Get Loud, The Road We've Traveled , Waiting for "Superman", Inside Bill's Brain: Decoding Bill Gates . [4]

Early life

Philip Davis Guggenheim was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of Marion Davis (née Streett) and filmmaker Charles Guggenheim. [5] His father was Jewish, whereas his mother was Episcopalian. [6] [7] [8] He graduated from the Potomac School, Sidwell Friends School and Brown University.

Career

Guggenheim joined the HBO Western drama Deadwood as a producer and director for the first season in 2004. The series was created by David Milch and focused on a growing town in the American West. Guggenheim directed the episodes "Deep Water", [9] "Reconnoitering the Rim", [10] "Plague" [11] and "Sold Under Sin". [12] He left the crew at the end of Season 1.

The documentary, An Inconvenient Truth , was produced and directed by Davis Guggenheim. An Inconvenient Truth won the Academy Award in 2007 for Best Documentary Feature. The film, released in 2006, featured Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore and his international slideshow on global warming.

Then-candidate Barack Obama's biographical film, which aired during the Democratic National Convention in August 2008, was directed by Guggenheim. Their infomercial, which was broadcast two months later, on October 29, 2008, was "executed with high standards of cinematography", according to The New York Times . [13] In 2012, he released The Road We've Traveled , a 17-minute short film on the president. [14]

Guggenheim directed and was an executive producer of the 2009 pilot for Melrose Place . His brother-in-law, Andrew Shue, starred on the 1990s version of the series.

In 2008, he released It Might Get Loud , a documentary that glimpses into the lives of guitarists Jimmy Page, The Edge, and Jack White.

Guggenheim's 2010 documentary Waiting for "Superman" , a film about the failures of American public education sparked controversy and debate. Guggenheim knew his film would lead to this and said, "I know people will say this movie is anti-this or pro-that. But it really is all about families trying to find great schools". [15] This film received the Audience Award for best documentary at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. Its public release was in September 2010.

A documentary film about the band U2 directed by Guggenheim titled From the Sky Down opened the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival in September. [16]

In 2013, he directed a 30-minute documentary The Dream is Now Archived December 5, 2017, at the Wayback Machine about four undocumented students in the United States as they deal with the U.S. immigration system.

In 2015, he directed a documentary film He Named Me Malala about a young Pakistani female activist Malala Yousafzai, who was targeted by Taliban gunmen, shot in the head and left wounded. [17]

In 2019, he created and directed a documentary miniseries titled Inside Bill's Brain: Decoding Bill Gates . The series explores the mind and motivations behind the captain of industry and philanthropist Bill Gates, the rise of Microsoft, and the past and current pursuits of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

In 2020, Guggenheim and Jonathan King launched production company Concordia Studio. [18]

In 2023, the documentary Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie, directed by Guggenheim, was released on Apple TV+. Featuring read excerpts from Michael J. Fox's own books, the biopic stars Fox himself as both interviewee and narrator, recounting his acclaimed career and experience contending with Parkinson's disease. The feature received seven Emmy Nominations. [19]

Personal life

Guggenheim married actress Elisabeth Shue in 1994. They have three children together. [20] [21]

Accolades

YearAwardCategoryNominee(s)ResultRef.
2006 Gotham Independent Film Awards Best Documentary An Inconvenient TruthNominated [22]
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards Best Documentary/Non-Fiction FilmWon [23]
Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Awards Best Documentary FeatureWon [24]
2007 Academy Awards Best Documentary Feature Film Won [25]
2010 Sundance Film Festival Audience Award for Best DocumentaryWaiting for "Superman"Won [26]
2011 Critics' Choice Movie Awards Best Documentary Feature Won [27]
Directors Guild of America Awards Outstanding Directing – Documentaries Nominated [28]
San Diego Film Festival Best Documentary Won [29]
Audience Award for Best Documentary Won
2015 Adelaide Film Festival Best DocumentaryHe Named Me MalalaNominated [30]
2016 British Academy Film Awards Best Documentary Nominated [31]
Cinema for Peace awards Most Valuable Documentary of the YearNominated [32]
Critics' Choice Awards Best Documentary - Feature Nominated [33]
Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards Outstanding Directing for Nonfiction Programming Nominated [34]
San Diego Film Festival Audience Choice Award Won [35]
Satellite Awards Best Documentary Film Nominated [36]
2023 Critics' Choice Documentary Awards Best Director Still: A Michael J. Fox MovieWon [37]
2024 Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Directing For A Documentary/Nonfiction Program Won [38]

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