Jeremy Kagan

Last updated
Jeremy Kagan
Born (1945-12-14) December 14, 1945 (age 77)
Mount Vernon, New York, U.S.
Education Harvard University (BA)
New York University (MFA)
American Film Institute (GrDip)
PartnerAnneke Campbell

Jeremy Paul Kagan (born December 14, 1945) is an American film and television director, screenwriter, and television producer. [1]

Contents

Early life

Born in Mount Vernon, New York, Kagan received his B.A. from Harvard University in 1967. He went on to attend the newly formed New York University Graduate Institute of Film & Television and was in the first class at the AFI Conservatory.

Film and television career

Kagan's feature film credits include the box-office hit Heroes (1977), [2] The Big Fix [2] (1978), a political comedy-thriller starring Richard Dreyfuss; The Chosen (1981), from the classic book of the same name by Chaim Potok; The Journey of Natty Gann [1] (1985), the first American movie ever to win the Gold Prize at the Moscow International Film Festival; the underground comedy Big Man on Campus [2] (1989); the cult classic fencing film By The Sword [2] (1991); and the hybrid film Golda's Balcony [2] (2006), from the hit play of the same name. His feature Shot was about what one bullet does to many lives.

He has also been a prolific television director, starting already in 1972 at the age of 26, directing "The Most Crucial Game", an episode in the second Columbo [2] season. In 1996, Kagan won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for the Chicago Hope episode "Leave of Absence". Other credits include the television movie Katherine: The Making of an American Revolutionary, which he also wrote, and Conspiracy: The Trial of the Chicago 8 [2] for which he won the CableACE Award for Best Dramatic Special. Kagan also directed Roswell: The UFO Conspiracy, [2] which garnered a Golden Globe Award nomination.

Other television films include The Ballad of Lucy Whipple, [2] Courage [2] with Sophia Loren, Scott Joplin, Descending Angel for HBO and for Showtime Color of Justice, [2] Bobbie's Girl, [2] and Crown Heights, [2] about the riots in 1991 which won the Humanitas Award in 2004 for "affirming the dignity of every person." This film also received an NAACP Image Award and the Directors Guild nomination for best family film. Kagan also directed a movie episode of Steven Spielberg's Emmy winning Taken . He has worked on several other series shows including The West Wing , The Guardian , [2] Resurrection Blvd. , [2] Picket Fences , [2] Boomtown and more. His recent animation films have been shown on JLTV and film festivals.

Kagan produced and directed the ten-part series The ACLU Freedom Files, in 2006 and 2007 which received a number of awards and was shown on Link TV, Court TV and PBS. Kagan has made a number of short documentaries and advocacy dramatic films for NGOs including The Doe Fund which works with the homeless and formerly incarcerated, and The Democracy School a movement developing local governance, and Bioneers which advances achievements in environmental and social justice.

Other ventures

Kagan is a full tenured professor at the University of Southern California where he teaches the graduate courses in directing and has recently created the Center for Change Making Media which is a hub for research and training in advocacy cinematic genres. His production company ACTransformative Media has made numerous shorts including three for VaccinateLA.

He has served as artistic director at the Robert Redford's Sundance Institute and is on a National Board Member of the Directors Guild of America and chairperson of its Special Projects Committee which provides cultural and educational programs for the 19,000 members. In 2004 he was honored with the Robert Aldrich Award for "extraordinary service to the guild." [3]

In his capacity with the Directors Guild of America, Kagan also moderates the group's annual roundtable discussion featuring that year's five nominees for Outstanding Directing – Feature Film. [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]

Kagan is also the author of three books Directors Close Up and a "living" eTextbook Keys to Directing. www.keystodirecting.com.


Personal life

Kagan lives in Venice, California, with his companion Anneke Campbell. She is an author, and was a writer on the series Freedom Files. His daughter Eve is a graduate of the Harvard Ed School, and is a practicing psychologist, actress, writer, and yoga teacher.

Awards and nominations

YearAwardResultCategoryFilm or series
1988 CableACE Awards NominatedDirecting a Theatrical or Dramatic SpecialConspiracy: The Trial of the Chicago 8
WonDramatic SpecialConspiracy: The Trial of the Chicago 8
(Shared with Amanda DiGiulio, Charles Hairston, Max A. Keller, Micheline H. Keller, and Ron Sossi)
2004 Directors Guild of America Award WonRobert B. Aldrich Achievement Award
-
2005NominatedOutstanding Directorial Achievement in Children's ProgramsCrown Heights
1996 Emmy Award WonOutstanding Individual Achievement in Directing for a Drama SeriesChicago Hope
(For ""Leave of Absence" episode)
1981 Montreal World Film Festival WonPrize of the Ecumenical Jury - Special Mention The Chosen
Grand Prix des AmériquesThe Chosen
1987Paris Film FestivalWonSpecial Jury PrizeThe Chosen

Related Research Articles

Alan Smithee is an official pseudonym used by film directors who wish to disown a project. Coined in 1968 and used until it was formally discontinued in 2000, it was the sole pseudonym used by members of the Directors Guild of America (DGA) when directors, dissatisfied with the final product, proved to the satisfaction of a guild panel that they had not been able to exercise creative control over a film. The director was also required by guild rules not to discuss the circumstances leading to the movie or even to acknowledge being the project's director.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Directors Guild of America</span> Film and television trade union

The Directors Guild of America (DGA) is an entertainment guild that represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry and abroad. Founded as the Screen Directors Guild in 1936, the group merged with the Radio and Television Directors Guild in 1960 to become the modern Directors Guild of America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen Gyllenhaal</span> American film director

Stephen Roark Gyllenhaal is an American film director and poet. He is the father of actors Jake Gyllenhaal and Maggie Gyllenhaal.

Bryan Gordon is an American film and television director, writer and producer who is primarily known for directing comedy television shows.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paris Barclay</span> American television director and producer

Paris K. C. Barclay is an American television director, producer, and writer. He is a two-time Emmy Award winner and is among the busiest single-camera television directors, having directed nearly 200 episodes of television to date, for series such as NYPD Blue, ER, The West Wing, CSI, Lost, The Shield, House, Sons of Anarchy, In Treatment and Glee; and more recently Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, The Watcher, and American Horror Story: NYC. He also serves as an Executive Producer on many of the shows he directs, and occasionally as a writer or co-creator as well. From 2013 to 2017, Barclay served two terms as the President of the Directors Guild of America. For the past three years, he has been listed by Variety as “one of 500 most influential business leaders in Hollywood.”

Sharron Miller is an American television and film director, producer, and screenwriter. She is one of the pioneering women directors who worked regularly in mainstream Hollywood in the 1970s and 1980s. In 1984 she was the first woman ever to win the coveted Directors Guild of America Award for directing a narrative (non-documentary) work.

<i>The Starter Wife</i> (miniseries) American TV series or program

The Starter Wife is a 2007 USA Network television miniseries, based on the 2006 novel of the same name by Gigi Levangie Grazer. Its title is derived from the concept of a starter marriage. Filmed over four months in Queensland, Australia, the plot focuses on Molly Kagan who, after years of marriage to a Hollywood film mogul, is forced to redefine herself and her role in society when her husband leaves her for a younger woman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Sargent</span> American film director (1925–2014)

Joseph Sargent was an American film director. Though he directed many television movies, his best known feature-length works were arguably the action movie White Lightning starring Burt Reynolds, the biopic MacArthur starring Gregory Peck, and the horror anthology Nightmares. His most popular feature film was the subway thriller The Taking of Pelham One Two Three. Sargent won four Emmy Awards over his career.

The 56th Directors Guild of America Awards, honoring the outstanding directorial achievements in films, documentary and television in 2003, were presented on February 7, 2004 at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza. The ceremony was hosted by Carl Reiner. The nominees in the feature film category were announced on January 6, 2004 and the other nominations starting on January 8, 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jesús Salvador Treviño</span> American film director

Jesús Salvador Treviño is an American television director of Mexican descent.

Elliot Silverstein is an American film and television director. He directed the Academy Award-winning western comedy Cat Ballou (1965), and other films including The Happening (1967), A Man Called Horse (1970), Nightmare Honeymoon (1974), and The Car (1977). His television work includes four episodes of The Twilight Zone (1961–1964).

The 60th Directors Guild of America Awards, honoring the outstanding directorial achievements in films, documentary and television in 2007, were presented on January 26, 2008, at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza. The ceremony was hosted by Carl Reiner. The nominees in the feature film category were announced on January 8, 2008, and the nominations for directorial achievement in television, documentaries and commercials were announced on January 10, 2008.

Paul Hoen is an American film director and producer. He is best known for his directorial work with Nickelodeon and Disney Channel, especially his direction of Disney Channel Original Movies. He has directed and produced projects such as The Cheetah Girls: One World (2008), Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam (2010), Zombies (2018) and Zombies 2 (2020) and Zombies 3 (2022)

Donald Roy King is an American television director, and also a producer, writer, and actor. He served as the director for Saturday Night Live from 2006 until 2021. He has "directed more hours of live network television than anyone else in the history of television," according to Michael Chein.

The 63rd Directors Guild of America Awards, honoring the outstanding directorial achievements in films, documentary and television in 2010, were presented on January 29, 2011 at the Hollywood and Highland Center. The ceremony was hosted by Carl Reiner. The nominees for the feature film category were announced on January 10, 2011, the nominations for the television and commercial categories were announced on January 11, 2011, and the nominees for documentary directing were announced on January 12, 2011.

The 64th Directors Guild of America Awards, honoring the outstanding directorial achievements in films, documentary and television in 2011, were presented on January 28, 2012 at the Hollywood and Highland Center. The ceremony was hosted by Kelsey Grammer. The nominees for the feature film category were announced on January 9, 2012, the nominations for the television and commercial categories were announced on January 10, 2012, and the nominees for documentary directing were announced on January 12, 2012.

The 65th Directors Guild of America Awards, honoring the outstanding directorial achievements in films, documentary and television in 2012, were presented on February 2, 2013 at the Hollywood and Highland Center. The ceremony was hosted by Kelsey Grammer for the second time. The nominees for the feature film category were announced on January 8, 2013, the nominations for the television and commercial categories were announced on January 9, 2013, and the nominees for documentary directing were announced on January 14, 2013.

The 66th Directors Guild of America Awards, honoring the outstanding directorial achievements in films, documentary and television in 2013, were presented on January 25, 2014 at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza. The ceremony was hosted by Jane Lynch. The nominees for the feature film category were announced on January 7, 2014, the nominations for the television and commercial categories were announced on January 9, 2014, and the nominees for documentary directing were announced on January 13, 2014.

Miles Jay is a Canadian filmmaker whose work includes Super Bowl commercials and music videos. He won an Emmy Award in 2018 for his work on a Squarespace advertisement featuring actor John Malkovich and was nominated for a Grammy Award for his work on Leon Bridges' "River" music video. He was nominated for Best Commercial Director at the Directors Guild of America Awards in 2016 and 2018.

MJ Delaney is a British director. She is known for her work on Ted Lasso, for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award in 2022.

References

  1. 1 2 "Jeremy Kagan". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times . 2014. Archived from the original on March 18, 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 "Jeremy Kagan Filmography". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times . 2016. Archived from the original on March 25, 2016.
  3. ↑ "Jeremy Kagan: 2004 Robert B. Aldrich Award Recipient". Directors Guild of America .
  4. ↑ "Meet the 2020 DGA Nominees for Theatrical Feature Film". Directors Guild of America . Archived from the original on December 21, 2021.
  5. ↑ "Meet the 2019 DGA Nominees for Feature Film". Directors Guild of America . Archived from the original on December 21, 2021.
  6. ↑ "Meet the 2018 DGA Nominees for Feature Film". Directors Guild of America . Archived from the original on December 21, 2021.
  7. ↑ "Meet the 2017 DGA Feature Film Nominees". Directors Guild of America . Archived from the original on December 21, 2021.
  8. ↑ "Meet the 2016 DGA Feature Film Nominees". Directors Guild of America . Archived from the original on December 21, 2021.

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.