Steve Anderson (director)

Last updated
Steve Anderson
Steve Anderson film director.jpg
Anderson in 2013
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater Nazareth College
Occupation Film director
Years active1987present
Known for The Big Empty
Fuck
The River Murders

Steve Anderson is an American film director, writer, and producer. After graduating with an undergraduate degree from Nazareth College in Rochester, New York, he gained experience as a television cameraman. He made documentary films for PBS, and won a Peabody Award for Safe Haven in 1987. He moved to Los Angeles, California in 1989 and worked for CNN.

Contents

Anderson made his feature film directorial debut in 2003 with The Big Empty starring Daryl Hannah and Jon Favreau. He directed the documentary film Fuck , which features commentary by a variety of individuals, including Kevin Smith, Steven Bochco, Janeane Garofalo, Bill Maher, Drew Carey, and Alanis Morissette.

Early life and education

Anderson was raised in Pittsford, New York. [1] He received an undergraduate degree from Nazareth College in Rochester, New York. [1] He worked as a cameraman for WXXI-TV. [1]

Career

Steve Anderson gained experience in filmmaking while directing documentary films for PBS. [2] One of these productions for PBS titled Safe Haven earned him recognition with a Peabody Award in 1987. [1] [2] In 1989, Anderson moved to Los Angeles, California. [2] He worked for CNN in California. [1]

Anderson made his feature film directorial debut in 2003 with the film The Big Empty . [3] [4]

He directed the documentary film Fuck , which features commentary by a variety of celebrities. [5] [6] [7]

Filmography

YearFilm Director Writer Producer OtherNotes
2003 The Big Empty YesYes
2004Promised LandYes
2005 Fuck YesYesYesYesVoice actor
2011 The River Murders YesYes
2013This Last Lonely PlaceYesYesYes
2018White OrchidYesYesYes

Awards

YearWorkAwardOrganizationResult
1987Safe Haven, PBS documentary film Peabody Award Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia Won [1] [2]
2003 The Big Empty Sonoma Valley Film Festival Audience Award for Best Feature Sonoma Valley Film Festival Won [1]
2004Promised Land Golden Leopard Locarno International Film Festival Nominated [8]
2012 The River Murders Festival Award: Best Feature Film Hoboken International Film Festival Won [9]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pittsford, New York</span> Town in New York, United States

Pittsford is an incorporated town in Monroe County, New York. A suburb of Rochester, its population was 30,617 at the time of the 2020 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lowell Bergman</span> American journalist

Lowell Bergman is an American journalist, television producer, and professor of journalism. In a career spanning nearly five decades, Bergman worked as a producer, a reporter, and then the director of investigative reporting at ABC News and as a producer for CBS's 60 Minutes, leaving in 1998 as the senior producer of investigations for CBS News. He was also the founder of the investigative reporting program at the Graduate School of Journalism at UC Berkeley and, for 28 years, taught there as a professor. He was also a producer and correspondent for the PBS documentary series Frontline. In 2019, Bergman retired.

Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Movement is an American television series and 14-part documentary about the 20th-century civil rights movement in the United States. The documentary originally aired on the PBS network, and it also aired in the United Kingdom on BBC2. Created and executive produced by Henry Hampton at his film production company Blackside, and narrated by Julian Bond, the series uses archival footage, stills, and interviews by participants and opponents of the movement. The title of the series is derived from the title of the folk song "Keep Your Eyes on the Prize", which is used as the opening theme music in each episode.

<i>Fuck</i> (film) 2005 American documentary film directed by Steve Anderson

Fuck is a 2005 American documentary film by director Steve Anderson about the word "fuck". The film argues that the word is an integral part of societal discussions about freedom of speech and censorship. It examines the term from perspectives which include art, linguistics, society and comedy, and begins with a segment from the 1965 propaganda film Perversion for Profit. Scholars and celebrities analyze perceptions of the word from differing perspectives. Journalist Sam Donaldson talks about the versatility of the word, and comedian Billy Connolly states it can be understood despite one's language or location. Musician Alanis Morissette comments that the word contains power because of its taboo nature. The film features the last recorded interview of author Hunter S. Thompson before his suicide. Scholars, including linguist Reinhold Aman, journalism analyst David Shaw and Oxford English Dictionary editor Jesse Sheidlower, explain the history and evolution of the word. Language professor Geoffrey Nunberg observes that the word's treatment by society reflects changes in our culture during the 20th century.

<i>Independent Lens</i> Television documentary film series (began 1999)

Independent Lens is a weekly television series airing on PBS featuring documentary films made by independent filmmakers. Past seasons of Independent Lens were hosted by Angela Bassett, Don Cheadle, Susan Sarandon, Edie Falco, Terrence Howard, Maggie Gyllenhaal, America Ferrera, Mary-Louise Parker, and Stanley Tucci, who served two stints as host from 2012-2014.

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

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.

<i>POV</i> (TV series) American public television series

POV is a Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) public television series which features independent nonfiction films. POV is an initialism for point of view.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nazareth University</span> Private university in Pittsford, New York, U.S.

Nazareth University is a private university in Pittsford, New York. It offers over 60 undergraduate majors and more than two dozen graduate programs. The college was previously Nazareth College of Rochester, or Nazareth College.

Kartemquin Films is a four-time Oscar-nominated 501(c)3 non-profit production company located in Chicago, Illinois, that produces a wide range of documentary films. It is the documentary filmmaking home of acclaimed producers such as Gordon Quinn, Steve James, Peter Gilbert, Maria Finitzo, Joanna Rudnick, Bing Liu, Aaron Wickenden, and Ashley O’Shay (Unapologetic).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rochester metropolitan area, New York</span> Metropolitan statistical area in New York, United States

The Rochester metropolitan area, denoted the Rochester, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area by the United States Census Bureau, is a metropolitan statistical area consisting of six counties in Western New York, anchored by the city of Rochester, New York. Many counties are mainly rural with various farming communities scattered throughout the metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the MSA had a population of 1,090,135. The Rochester MSA is the 3rd largest MSA in New York state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Guttentag</span> American film director

Bill Guttentag is an American dramatic and documentary film writer-producer-director. His films have premiered at the Sundance, Cannes, Telluride and Tribeca film festivals, and he has won two Academy Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rainstorm Entertainment</span> Independent film company

Rainstorm Entertainment is an independent film development, production and sales company headquartered in Hollywood, California.

John Curran is an American film director and screenwriter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Allen Harris</span>

Thomas Allen Harris is a critically acclaimed, interdisciplinary artist who explores family, identity, and spirituality in a participatory practice. Since 1990, Harris has remixed archives from multiple origins throughout his work, challenging hierarchy within historical narratives through the use of pioneering documentary and research methodologies that center vernacular image and collaboration. He is currently working on a new television show, Family Pictures USA, which takes a radical look at neighborhoods and cities of the United States through the lens of family photographs, collaborative performances, and personal testimony sourced from their communities..

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steven G. Kaplan</span> American film producer

Steven G. Kaplan is an American film and television producer, the co-founder of the film production company Rainstorm Entertainment.

Jennifer Kes Remington is an American composer and filmmaker. She has done music for titles such as The Powerpuff Girls, Scary Movie 4, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, Socket, and Clerks II. Her work on Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends garnered her two Annie Award wins in 2005 and 2006 as well as a third Annie nomination in 2007. All three were in the category "Best Music in an Animated Television Production" and shared with series composer James L. Venable. Her documentary film Hollywood, 90038 won the award for Best Documentary at the 2007 LA Femme Film Festival. She has also composed music for the video games Raving Rabbids: Travel in Time, Raving Rabbids: Alive & Kicking, and Rabbids Land.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ric Reitz</span> American actor

Kenric Lowell Reitz is an American actor, writer, composer, director and producer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Osit</span> American filmmaker (born 1987)

David Osit is an American documentary filmmaker, editor and composer. His documentaries include Mayor and Thank You for Playing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Anderson (director)</span> American film director, producer, and writer (born 1954)

John Anderson is an American documentary film director, producer, editor and writer. His primary subjects are rock, blues and folk musicians. Anderson often makes films about musicians he admires, such as Brian Wilson, the American singer, songwriter, and record producer who co-founded The Beach Boys. His interest in film-making began when he saw Richard Lester’s “A Hard Day's Night” at the age of 10. Some of Anderson's inspirations are the works of many filmmakers, including Michelangelo Antonioni, Murray Lerner and Jerry Lewis. He is an alumnus of Northwestern University School of Communication, where he studied Radio/TV/Film and Music Theory & Composition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shane Boris</span> American film producer (born 1981)

Shane Boris, is a film producer and the founder of Cottage M, an independent production house. Boris was nominated for Best Documentary Feature for The Edge of Democracy at the 92nd Academy Awards in 2020. Later, in 2022, Boris produced two acclaimed documentaries, Fire of Love and Navalny, both securing Oscar nominations and marking him the first producer since Walt Disney to be nominated for two Academy Awards for Best Documentary Feature in the same year. Unlike Disney, Boris not only garnered nominations but also won the Oscar in 2023 for Navalny. This dual accomplishment of two nominations and a win set a new record in film history.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Doser, Mike (2003). "Also playing... Local boy makes good (film)". Rochester City Newspaper. Rochester, New York . Retrieved June 7, 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Garner, Jack (Gannett News Service) (January 9, 2007). "What did they say? Swear word is focus of new documentary". USA Today . Arlington, Virginia. p. ARC.
  3. Garner, Jack (January 4, 2007). "'Naughty word' intrigues Pittsford grad". Democrat and Chronicle . Rochester, New York: Gannett Company . Retrieved April 25, 2013.
  4. Punter, Jennie (December 1, 2006). "Four Letters, Two Stars". The Globe and Mail . Canada: CTVglobemedia Publishing Inc. p. R17; Section: The Globe Review 7; film.
  5. French, Karl (February 11, 2009). "The slow road to revelation". The Financial Times . The Financial Times Ltd. Retrieved April 17, 2013.
  6. Garner, Jack (January 5, 2007). "'F---: The Documentary'". Democrat and Chronicle . Gannett . Retrieved April 17, 2013.
  7. Baumgarten, Marjorie (December 1, 2006). "F*ck". The Austin Chronicle . Austin Chronicle Corp. Retrieved April 17, 2013.
  8. "Awards for Promised Land". IMDb . IMDb.com, Inc. 2013. Retrieved June 7, 2013.
  9. "Awards for The River Murders". IMDb . IMDb.com, Inc. 2013. Retrieved June 7, 2013.