Ezra Edelman

Last updated

Ezra Edelman
Ezra Edelman, May 2011 (cropped).jpg
Edelman at the 70th Annual Peabody Awards, 2011
Born
Ezra Benjamin Edelman

(1974-08-06) August 6, 1974 (age 50)
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Alma mater Yale University (BA)
Occupation(s) Television director, television producer
Parents
Relatives Jonah Edelman (brother)

Ezra Benjamin Edelman (born August 6, 1974) is an American documentary producer and director. He won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for Nonfiction Programming for directing O.J.: Made in America (2016). He has also directed an unreleased documentary on the musician Prince.

Contents

Early life and education

Edelman was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He is the son of Marian Wright Edelman, former civil rights leader and aide to Martin Luther King Jr. and founder and president of the Children's Defense Fund, and Peter Edelman, former aide to Senator Robert F. Kennedy, former Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services for Planning and Evaluation, and professor at Georgetown University Law Center. [1] His father is Jewish. [2] He has two brothers, Joshua, an educational administrator, and Jonah, co-founder and CEO of Stand for Children. His parents were the third interracial marriage in Virginia after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the state's anti-miscegenation law in Loving v. Virginia . His paternal great-grandfather was a Polish rabbi who was killed during the Holocaust and his maternal grandfather was a Baptist minister; he was raised in both faiths. [2] [3]

Edelman graduated from Sidwell Friends School in Washington D.C. in July 1992, [4] before going on to earn his bachelor's degree from Yale University. [5]

Career

Documentary projects

Edelman is best known for producing and directing the Academy Award-winning 2016 documentary film O.J.: Made in America for ESPN's 30 for 30 . [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [5] In his Oscar acceptance speech, Edelman dedicated the award to Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman, whom O. J. Simpson had been tried and acquitted of murdering in 1995. Previously he directed three HBO Sports documentaries: Magic & Bird: A Courtship of Rivals , [6] [7] [11] The Curious Case of Curt Flood (2011) [6] and the Emmy Award-winning Brooklyn Dodgers: Ghosts of Flatbush . [7] [5] [12] He also wrote and directed a special on the former Big East Conference called Requiem for the Big East, also a part of the 30 for 30 series. [13] Edelman produced Wyatt Cenac's Problem Areas , an HBO documentary series that ran for two seasons. Edelman also produced Stax: Soulsville U.S.A. for HBO, revolving around Stax Records. [14]

In 2018, it was reported that Edelman would be developing a biopic with writer Rowan Ricardo Phillips for Legendary Entertainment, based on the life of baseball player Roberto Clemente. [15]

Edelman directed a nine-hour documentary about the musician Prince. [16] He was recruited to the project for Netflix in 2019 by Lisa Nishimura, then vice president of independent film and documentary features, with the promise of access to "the vault", Prince’s archive of unreleased material. [16] This was negotiated by the bank administering Prince's estate; Netflix reportedly paid tens of millions of dollars for the access, in a deal that gave Edelman and Netflix editorial control of the resulting film. [16] However, while the project was underway, Nishimura was laid off and the estate changed hands, with former Prince attorney L. Londell McMillan leading objections to the depiction of Prince in the documentary, and seeking to block the film's release. [16] In September 2024, The New York Times Magazine reported, "As of today, there is no indication that the film will ever come out." [16]

Personal life

Edelman lives in Brooklyn, New York City.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Courtney B. Vance</span> American actor (born 1960)

Courtney Bernard Vance is an American actor. He started his career on stage before moving to film and television. Vance has received various accolades, including a Tony Award and two Primetime Emmy Awards, as well as nominations for a Grammy Award, Golden Globe Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarah Paulson</span> American actress (born 1974)

Sarah Catharine Paulson is an American actress. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Tony Award. In 2017, Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeff Zimbalist</span> American filmmaker

Jeffrey Leib Nettler Zimbalist is an American filmmaker. He has been Academy Award shortlisted, has won a Peabody, a DuPont, 5 Emmy Awards with 17 Emmy nominations. He is the owner of film and television production company All Rise Films.

Todd Boyd, aka "Notorious Ph.D.", is the Katherine and Frank Price Endowed Chair for the Study of Race & Popular Culture and Professor of Cinema and Media Studies in the USC School of Cinematic Arts. Boyd is a media commentator, author, producer, consultant and scholar. He is considered an expert on American popular culture and is known for his pioneering work on cinema, media, hip hop culture, fashion, art and sports. Boyd received his PhD in Communication Studies from the University of Iowa in 1991 and began his professorial career at USC in the fall of 1992.

Burt Kearns is an American author, journalist, and television and film producer, writer and director, whom Vanity Fair referred to as "a show business and pop culture savant."

Up Close is an American sports interview show that aired on ESPN+ in 2021 and had aired on ESPN from 1981–2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sterling K. Brown</span> American actor (born 1976)

Sterling Kelby Brown is an American actor. Known for his leading roles on stage and screen, he has received numerous accolades including three Primetime Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award as well as a nomination for an Academy Award. He was included in Time magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liz Garbus</span> American film director and producer

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.

<i>30 for 30</i> Series of documentary films airing on ESPN from 2009

30 for 30 is the title for a series of documentary films airing on ESPN, its sister networks, and online highlighting interesting people and events in sports history. This includes four "volumes" of 30 episodes each, a 13-episode series under the ESPN Films Presents title in 2011–2012, and a series of 30 for 30 Shorts shown through the ESPN.com website. The series has also expanded to include Soccer Stories, which aired in advance of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, and audio podcasts.

<i>The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story</i> Season 1 of "American Crime Story"

The first season of American Crime Story, titled The People v. O. J. Simpson, revolves around the O. J. Simpson murder trial, as well as the combination of prosecution confidence, defense witnesses, and the Los Angeles Police Department's history with African-American people. It is based on Jeffrey Toobin's book The Run of His Life: The People v. O. J. Simpson (1997).

<i>O.J.: Made in America</i> 2016 American documentary

O.J.: Made in America is a 2016 American documentary, produced and directed by Ezra Edelman for ESPN Films and their 30 for 30 series. It was released as a five-part miniseries and in theatrical format. O.J.: Made in America premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2016, and was theatrically released in New York City and Los Angeles in May 2016 by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It debuted on ABC on June 11, 2016, and aired on ESPN.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Connor Schell</span> American film producer

Connor Schell is an American producer of television and film and founder of non-fiction production studio Words + Pictures. He is the co-creator with Bill Simmons and executive producer of the 30 for 30 series for ESPN. Schell was also an executive producer of the Academy Award-winning documentary film O.J.: Made in America and the Emmy Award-winning miniseries The Last Dance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caroline Waterlow</span>

Caroline Waterlow is an American producer, best known for producing the documentary film O.J.: Made in America ESPN's 30 for 30. Waterlow won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 89th Academy Awards, together with director Ezra Edelman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brad Simpson (producer)</span> American film and television producer

Bradford Simpson is an American film and television producer and partner at Los Angeles-based film studio Color Force.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexis Martin Woodall</span> American executive producer

Alexis Martin Woodall is an American producer, executive producer and the president of Ryan Murphy Productions. Woodall has won three Primetime Emmy Awards for her producing work on The Normal Heart, American Crime Story: The People V. O.J. Simpson and American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace. She has also won two Golden Globe Awards for executive producing The People V. O.J. Simpson and The Assassination of Gianni Versace.

Richard Brown is a Scottish film and television producer based in New York and London whose credits include True Detective, Catch-22, Outlaw King, This England and 44 Inch Chest.

<i>O.J.: Made in America</i> (soundtrack) 2016 film score by Gary Lionelli

O.J.: Made in America is the score album to the 2016 documentary film of the same name directed by Ezra Edelman for ESPN Films and their 30 for 30 series, that documents the life of O. J. Simpson. It featured music composed by Gary Lionelli. The album consisting 40 tracks of his score was released by Lakeshore Records on June 6, 2016. It received critical acclaim and a nomination for Outstanding Music Composition for a Limited Series, Movie, or Special at the 69th Primetime Emmy Awards.

Jason Hehir is an American film director and producer. Hehir has directed André the Giant (2018), The Last Dance (2020), Countdown: Inspiration4 Mission to Space (2021), and Murder in Boston: Roots, Rampage, and Reckoning (2023).

<i>Stax: Soulsville U.S.A.</i> 2024 American TV documentary series

Stax: Soulsville U.S.A. is an American documentary series directed and produced by Jamila Wignot. It corrects the history of Stax Records.

Jamila Wignot is an American film director and producer. Wignot has directed Ailey (2021), and co-directed Town Hall (2013) with Sierra Pettengill. In 2024, Wignot directed and produced Stax: Soulsville U.S.A. for HBO.

References

  1. ↑ Green, Penelope (February 7, 2017). "After Two Tragedies, a Love to Bring Down Barriers". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  2. 1 2 Lawson, Carol (October 8, 1992). "AT HOME WITH: Marian Wright Edelman; A Sense of Place Called Family". The New York Times. Retrieved March 4, 2017.
  3. ↑ Weiss Shulkin, Mark (2011). 100 Years In America: A History of a Jewish family a century after Immigration. iUniverse. p. 2. ISBN   9781462010431 . Retrieved March 4, 2017.
  4. ↑ Malloy, Courtland (July 26, 1992). "Two Worlds Under a Cap and Gown". The Washington Post . Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 Insheiwat, Shelly (June 1, 2016). "Filmmaker Ezra Edelman: ESPN Documentary 'O.J. Made in America'". Foxla.com. Los Angeles, CA. Retrieved June 16, 2016.
  6. 1 2 3 Busch, Anita (May 9, 2016). "'O.J.: Made In America' Filmmaker Ezra Edelman Lands At CAA". Deadline Hollywood. Deadline.com. Retrieved June 16, 2016.
  7. 1 2 3 Khal (June 9, 2016). "Ezra Edelman Made 'O.J.: Made in America' So White People Realize: "Black People Have Gone Through a Lot of Sh*t"". Complex. New York, NY. Retrieved June 16, 2016.
  8. ↑ A.O. Scott, "Review: 'O.J.: Made in America,' an Unflinching Take on His Rise and Fall," The New York Times , May 19, 2016.
  9. ↑ National Public Radio (June 14, 2016). "New 5-Part Series Considers The 'Perfect Perversity' Of The O.J. Simpson Case". Fresh Air. National Public Radio. Retrieved June 16, 2016.
  10. ↑ Miller, James Andrew (June 10, 2016). "Why ESPN Gave Director Ezra Edelman Nearly Eight Hours for 'O.J.: Made in America'". Vanity Fair. New York, NY: Condé Nast. Retrieved June 16, 2016.
  11. 1 2 Marcus, Stephanie; Strachan, Maxwell (April 27, 2016). "Everyone Is About To Know Ezra Edelman's Name". The Huffington Post . Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  12. ↑ Gough, Paul J. (April 29, 2008). "HBO Tops Sports Emmys". Hollywood Reporter. Los Angeles, CA. Retrieved June 16, 2016.
  13. ↑ Steinberg, Dan (March 12, 2014). "Ezra Edelman and ESPN's 'Requiem for the Big East'". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  14. ↑ White, Peter (May 3, 2022). "Stax Records Docuseries Set At HBO From Jamila Wignot & Ezra Edelman". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 27, 2024.
  15. ↑ McClintock, Pamela (February 5, 2018). "Ezra Edelman to Direct Roberto Clemente Baseball Biopic for Legendary". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 5, 2018.
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 Weiss, Sasha (September 8, 2024). "The Prince We Never Knew". The New York Times.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.