Molly Fowler

Last updated

Molly Macklin Fowler (born February 7, 1957) [1] is an American television producer and documentary filmmaker who reframed her investigative and story-telling skills as a mitigation specialist for criminal litigation. [2] She was Executive Producer of Red Darragh Films, LLC, and has been a supervising and co-executive producer for now-Governor Wes Moore and his Omari Productions since 2011 when she was paired with Moore for his debut as series anchor for "ABC News Beyond Believe on OWN." [3] Together they produced the PBS mini-series “Coming Back with Wes Moore” with a grant from The Corporation for Public Broadcasting for Omari and Powderhouse Productions in Somerville, MA. [4] In 2018, she founded Justice-Partners, Inc. a 501c3 charity initially established to make socially relevant films, the first of which was "Born To Be," the story of gender affirmation surgeon Jess Ting, M.D. [5] which premiered at the 2019 New York Film Festival. [6]

Contents

Career

Fowler was hired out of the dramaturgy program at the Yale School of Drama to represent Warner Theatre Productions at the National Theatre of Great Britain in an early TV production deal. [7] She remained in the U.K. as a theatre director where she received a Fringe First Award at the Edinburgh Festival for her production of Emily Mann’s “Still Life” [8] at the Traverse Theatre, which was transferred to the Donmar Warehouse in London and subsequently to Riverside Studios in London. Fowler then served as a script advisor for Dustin Hoffman’s Punch Productions. [9] She was Literary Manager for the Manhattan Theatre Club, [10] and in 1984 reunited with Writer/Director Emily Mann for the Broadway production of political thriller “Execution of Justice” which included cast members Wesley Snipes, Mary McDonnell, and Stanley Tucci alongside John Spencer as San Francisco City Supervisor Dan White in a drama that centers around the trial for the murder of Harvey Milk and George Moscone. [11]

Fowler subsequently transitioned to television as a producer for Phil Donahue [12] and as a booker for Diane Sawyer on ‘ABC News PrimeTime Live.” In 1995, Fowler joined ABC Daytime as Director of Development and served as a programming executive over ‘One Life to Live’ and ‘All My Children.’ [13] In 2001, Fowler teamed with Producer Richard O’Regan in a joint venture between The New York Times and Granada Factual to produce “World Birth Day,” “World Birth Day Delivering Hope” and “World Wedding Day.” [14] The three two-hour specials were the first productions co-funded by the Discovery International and broadcast on each of the Discovery networks around the world. Reviewed by Leslie Camhi for the New York Times ″World Birth Day″ was described as “an ambitious and affecting two-hour documentary,” [15]

Fowler returned to the theatre to direct Yale classmate Anna Theresa Cascio’s "Broad Channel," [16] which was produced for television by Scott Hornbacher after his exit from HBO’s “The Soprano’s.”

She developed Benson Lee’s “Planet B-Boy” at Tribeca All Access in 2005. [17] The film employed social media and became a cult hit at its debut at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival in an outdoor screening sponsored by ESPN. [18]

Fowler joined Point Made Films and produced and directed “In 500 Words or Less,” which examined the college application process in 2008. [19] For Odyssey Networks, Fowler teamed with Forest Whitaker and his Significant Pictures as Executive Producer of “Serving Life,” living in a men's maximum security prison in Angola, Louisiana to document the story of 4 men learning to staff the hospice there, which was part of Oprah’s Doc Club on the premiere season for OWN. [20]

Fowler produced nine live events for physicist Brian Greene at the 2011 World Science Festival. [21] One of them, titled “Music and the Spark of Spontaneity,” was subsequently profiled by the New York Times. [22]

She teamed with crime investigator John Walsh to produce “John Walsh Investigates: Abducted in the Heartland” for Lifetime TV [23] before rejoining Wes Moore to make “Coming Back with Wes Moore” which the Baltimore Sun reviewed: “At a time in American life when we are seeing reports of veterans dying while waiting months and even years for basic care at Veterans Affairs hospitals, this documentary about soldiers returning to civilian life after combat in Iraq and Afghanistan is timely and deeply touching." [24]

Born to Be opened at the New York Film Festival. [25]

Through her charity, Justice Partners Inc., Fowler works with the Louisiana Center for Children's Rights as a mitigation specialist and investigator working with juveniles facing a life sentence without the possibility of parole and adults for whom the Miller v. Alabama and Montgomery v. Louisiana SCOTUS cases have afforded an opportunity for re-sentencing. She has also overseen the release of 8 prisoners serving inordinately long sentences imposed by the State of Louisiana and/or federally in her short tenure in New Orleans.[ citation needed ]

Personal life

She is the widow of attorney Jack Levine and has two daughters. [26] She lives in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Awards

Fringe First, Traverse Theatre “Still Life”

Christopher Award, “Serving Life”

Humanitas Award, “Serving Life”

42nd Annual News & Documentary Emmy Awards (2021) - Best Documentary Nominee, "Born to Be"

Indie-Lincs International Film Festival 2022 - Big Imp for Feature Film Winner, "Born to Be"

Dorian Film Awards 2021 - Best LGBTQ Documentary Nominee "Born to Be"

Nashville Film Festival 2020 - Best Documentary Feature Winner, "Born to Be"

Trans Stellar Film Festival 2020 - Best Documentary Feature and Best Feature, "Born to Be"

Kansas City Underground Film Festival 2020 - Best Feature Film, "Born to Be"

Seattle Asian American Film Festival 2020 - Grand Jury Best Documentary Feature, "Born to Be"

Critic’s Pick, The New York Times (2020) "Born to Be"

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ondi Timoner</span> American film director

Ondi Doane Timoner is an American filmmaker and the founder and chief executive officer of Interloper Films, a production company located in Pasadena, California.

Thomas Furneaux Lennon is a documentary filmmaker. He was born in Washington, D.C., graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy in 1968 and Yale University in 1973.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leanne Pooley</span> New Zealand-Canadian filmmaker

Leanne Pooley ONZM is a Canadian filmmaker based in Auckland, New Zealand. Pooley was born and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, she immigrated to New Zealand in the mid-1980s and began working in the New Zealand television and film industry before moving to England where she worked for many of the world's top broadcasters. She returned to New Zealand in 1997 and started the production company Spacific Films. Her career spans more than 25 years and she has won numerous international awards. Leanne Pooley was made a New Zealand Arts Laureate in 2011 and an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the New Year's Honours List 2017. She is a member of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Joshua Seftel is an Academy Award-nominated film director. Seftel began his career in documentaries at age 22 with his Emmy-nominated film, Lost and Found, about Romania's orphaned children. He followed this with several films including Stranger at the Gate, an Oscar-nominated short documentary executively produced by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai. His political campaign film Taking on the Kennedys was selected by Time Magazine as one of the “ten best of the year." Seftel also directed the underdog sports film The Home Team which premiered at SXSW, and a film about the Broadway revival of the musical Annie, It's the Hard Knock Life.

Bruce David Klein is an Emmy-nominated producer, director, and writer of television, film, and digital entertainment. He is the founder of Atlas Media Corp. and serves as its president and executive producer.

James Michael Spione is an American director, producer, writer and editor of both documentary and fiction films. Early on in his career, he developed a reputation for suspenseful dramatic shorts; his later career, however, has been marked by a new focus on short and feature-length documentaries for both theatrical release and public television broadcast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tami Gold</span> American film director

Tami Kashia Gold is a documentary filmmaker, visual artist and educator. She is also a professor at Hunter College of the City University of New York in the Department of Film and Media Studies.

Ric Esther Bienstock is a Canadian documentary filmmaker best known for her investigative documentaries. She was born in Montreal, Quebec and studied at Vanier College and McGill University. She has produced and directed an eclectic array of films from investigative social issue documentaries like Sex Slaves, an investigation into the trafficking of women from former Soviet Bloc Countries into the global sex trade and Ebola: Inside an Outbreak which took viewers to ground zero of the Ebola outbreak in Zaire - to lighter fare such as Penn & Teller’s Magic and Mystery Tour.

Lindsey Dryden is a British film director, producer and writer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yoruba Richen</span> American film producer

Yoruba Richen is an American film director, screenwriter and producer. Her work has been featured on PBS, New York Times Op Doc, Frontline Digital, New York Magazine's website -The Cut, The Atlantic and Field of Vision. Her film The Green Book: Guide to Freedom was broadcast on the Smithsonian Channel to record audiences and was awarded the Henry Hampton Award for Excellence in Documentary Filmmaking.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Candescent Films</span> American film production company

Candescent Films is an American film production company that produces and finances documentary and narrative films that explore social issues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi</span> American film director

Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi is an American documentary filmmaker. She was the director, along with her husband, Jimmy Chin, for the film Free Solo, which won the 2019 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. The film profiled Alex Honnold and his free solo climb of El Capitan in June 2017. Their first scripted film venture was Nyad, a biopic chronicling Diana Nyad's quest to be the first person to swim from Cuba to Florida.

Nick Sandow is an American character actor, writer, producer and director, best known for his role as Joe Caputo in the Netflix comedy-drama series, Orange Is the New Black (2013–2019).

Marion Lipschutz is an American documentary producer, writer, and director. Lipschutz has directed and produced award-winning documentaries, including BEI BEI, The Education of Shelby Knox and Young Lakota.

Rose Rosenblatt is an American producer, director, editor, and writer of documentary films. She directed and edited the Sundance award winningThe Education of Shelby Knox (2005); and Young Lakota (2013).

Michael Chandler is an American producer, director, writer and editor of feature and documentary films. He produced and directed, with Sheila Canavan, the feature documentary Compared to What? The Improbable Journey of Barney Frank, a Showtime Networks Broadcast Premier and official selection of the Tribeca Film Festival; the PBS Independent Lens feature documentary Knee Deep which one reviewer called, “one of the year's best 'believe it or not' documentaries, a rural Rashomon and a compelling cinematic experience;” and produced & directed Forgotten Fires, a PBS documentary which investigated the burning by Ku Klux Klansmen of Black churches. Bill Moyers said about it: "If we wanted a real dialog about race in America, we'd start with this film." Chandler also produced & directed investigative documentaries for the PBS series Frontline, including Blackout, a collaboration with The New York Times, The Future of War, and Secrets of the SAT.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julia Reichert</span> American filmmaker and activist (1946–2022)

Julia Bell Reichert was an American Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker, activist, and feminist. She was a co-founder of New Day Films. Reichert's filmmaking career spanned over 50 years as a director and producer of documentaries.

Sandy McLeod is an independent filmmaker. She is a member of the Directors Guild of America and has been nominated for an Academy Award.

Smriti Mundhra is an American filmmaker based in Los Angeles. Her production company, Meralta Films, specializes in documentary films and non-fiction content.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melissa Haizlip</span> American filmmaker

Melissa Haizlip is an American film producer, director and writer most notable for her 2018 award-winning film, Mr. SOUL!. Haizlip won an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Writing in a Documentary for Mr. SOUL!.

References

  1. ↑ U.S. Public Records Index Vol 1 & 2 (Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.), 2010.
  2. ↑ https://insidetheshows.com/blog/molly-fowler
  3. ↑ "Creative Jobs :: Careers for Graphic Designers, Copywriters, Social Media Managers, Proof Readers and More". www.mediabistro.com. Retrieved 2023-02-03.
  4. ↑ "Retired Site | PBS". PBS .
  5. ↑ "Trans-FormationDoc". Archived from the original on 2018-04-29. Retrieved 2018-04-29.
  6. ↑ "New York Film Review: 'Born to Be'". 3 October 2019.
  7. ↑ https://issuu.com/st.catherinesschool/docs/110413-01_scn_spring14_final_low/1 Fowler
  8. ↑ "What's on".
  9. ↑ "Rocky Mountain Women's Film | Building Community Around Film".
  10. ↑ "History".
  11. ↑ http://www.playbillvault.com/Show/Detail/Cast/5245/Execution-of-Justice-at-Virginia-Theatre#credits [ permanent dead link ]
  12. ↑ "Molly M. Fowler is Married". The New York Times. 27 August 1990.
  13. ↑ "Rocky Mountain Women's Film | Building Community Around Film".
  14. ↑ https://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/01/arts/television-review-vastly-different-glimpses-of-lives-beginning [ dead link ]
  15. ↑ https://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/01/arts/television-review-vastly-different-glimpses-of-lives-beginning [ dead link ]
  16. ↑ "One Man Nearly Goes Under in Queens in New Solo Broad Channel, April …". www.playbill.com. Archived from the original on 9 January 2015. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  17. ↑ https://tribecafilminstitute.org/programs/detail/tribeca_all_access
  18. ↑ "Tribeca Festival".
  19. ↑ "Home". in500wordsorless.com.
  20. ↑ "Doc Club". Archived from the original on 2014-11-11. Retrieved 2014-11-04.
  21. ↑ http://www.worldsciencefestival.com/ World Science Festival
  22. ↑ Belluck, Pam (6 June 2011). "When the Melody Takes a Detour, the Science Begins". The New York Times.
  23. ↑ http://www.hollywood.com/tv/55527460/john-walsh-investigates-abduction-in-the-heartland
  24. ↑ The Baltimore Sun "Coming Back - At last, TV does right by veterans
  25. ↑ https://www.filmlinc.org/nyff2019/films/born-to-be/
  26. ↑ The Philadelphia Inquirer [ bare URL ]
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.