Robert Greenwald

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Robert Greenwald (born August 28, 1945) is an American filmmaker, and the founder of Brave New Films, a nonprofit film and advocacy organization whose work is distributed for free in concert with nonprofit partners and movements in order to educate and mobilize for progressive causes. With Brave New Films, Greenwald has made investigative documentaries such as Uncovered: The War on Iraq (2004), Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism (2004), Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price (2005), Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers (2006), Rethink Afghanistan (2009), Koch Brothers Exposed (2012), and War on Whistleblowers (2013), Suppressed 2020: The Fight to Vote (2020),<ref name=":0">Template:Cite AV media</ref> Suppressed and Sabotaged: The Fight to Vote (2022), Suppressed and Sabotaged: The Fight to Vote (2024),<ref name=":1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Beyond Bars (2023),<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> as well as many short investigative films and internet videos.

Before launching Brave New Films in 2000, Greenwald produced and/or directed more than 65 TV movies, miniseries, and films as well as major theatrical releases.<ref name="encyclopedia">Template:Cite book</ref> His early body of work includes Steal This Movie! (2000),<ref name="afi">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> starring Vincent D'Onofrio as 60s radical Abbie Hoffman; Breaking Up (1997), starring Russell Crowe and Salma Hayek; A Woman of Independent Means (1995) with Sally Field; The Burning Bed (1984)<ref name="afi" /> with Farrah Fawcett; and Xanadu (1980), for which he won the inaugural Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Director.

Greenwald has earned 25 Emmy Award nominations, two Golden Globe nominations, the Peabody Award and the Robert Wood Johnson Award. He was awarded the 2002 Producer of the Year Award by the American Film Institute.

Early life

Robert Greenwald was born and raised in New York City. He is son of the prominent psychotherapist Harold Greenwald,<ref name="Harold obit">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="fref">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and the nephew of choreographer Michael Kidd. He attended the city's High School of Performing Arts. Greenwald started his directing career in the theater, with The People Vs. Ranchman (1968),<ref>Broadway World. The People Vs. Ranchman. Retrieved August 20, 2013</ref> A Long Time Coming and A Long Time Gone (1971),<ref>The Village Voice. "Richard Farina: A Long Time Coming and A Long Time Gone." Published November 11th, 1971. Retrieved August 20th 2013.</ref> Me and Bessie (1975) and I Have a Dream (1976), a play based on the life of Martin Luther King Jr., with Billy Dee Williams playing King.<ref name="fref"/><ref>Template:Citation</ref>

Television and feature film career

Greenwald moved to Los Angeles in 1972, where he continued working as a theater director at the Mark Taper Forum.<ref name=Bruguiere>Template:Cite book</ref> He later launched a career as a director for television, establishing first Moonlight Productions<ref name=Bruguiere/> and then Robert Greenwald Productions (RGP), and began creating theatrical films, television movies, miniseries and documentaries with a distinct social and political sensibility. Moonlight Productions was responsible for 34 films, and RGP has brought more than 45 films to audiences worldwide. In 1977, Greenwald received his first of three Emmy Award nominations for producing the television movie 21 Hours at Munich<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> about the massacre at the 1972 Olympics, which was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie at the 29th Primetime Emmy Awards. His next Emmy nomination came in 1984 at the 37th Primetime Emmy Awards where he was nominated for Outstanding Directing in a Limited Series or a Special for directing The Burning Bed,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> one of the most-watched television movies of all time.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Based on a true story, The Burning Bed has been credited as "a turning point in the fight against domestic violence."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Greenwald also directed theatrical films such as Xanadu (1980), Sweet Hearts Dance (1988), Breaking Up (1997), and Steal This Movie! (2000).<ref name="Xanadu">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Xanadu received mostly negative reviews. The film underperformed at the box office, grossing only $23 million against a reported $20 million budget, a total that was insufficient to offset all related costs and return a profit. A double feature of Xanadu and another musical released at about the same time, Can't Stop the Music directed by Nancy Walker, inspired John J. B. Wilson to create the Golden Raspberry Awards (or "Razzies"), an annual event "dishonoring" what is considered the worst in cinema for a given year.<ref name="germain">Template:Cite news</ref> Xanadu won the first Razzie for Worst Director at the 1st Golden Raspberry Awards and was nominated for six other awards.

Documentary work

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Greenwald turned to documentary filmmaking in 2002,<ref>"Robert Greenwald Biography" Indiegogo.com. Retrieved Oct 3, 2013.</ref> executive-producing three political documentaries known as "The Un Trilogy": Unprecedented: The 2000 Presidential Election (2002);<ref>NED MARTEL. "Attempts to Sort Out and Make Sense of History." New York Times. Published October 1, 2004. Retrieved August 22, 2013.</ref> Uncovered: The Whole Truth About The Iraq War (2003),<ref>John Anderson. Damning Portrait On War In Iraq. Newsday. Published, September 24, 2004. Retrieved August 22, 2013.</ref> which Greenwald also directed; and Unconstitutional: The War on Our Civil Liberties.

At Brave New Films, Greenwald has produced and directed numerous feature-length documentaries, along with many short films and videos.<ref name="robertgreenwald">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2013, Greenwald released War on Whistleblowers: Free Press and the National Security State and a documentary about the U.S. government's drone program, Unmanned: America's Drone Wars.<ref>Sign up to stream Unmanned: America's Drone War</ref> His full-length feature documentary, Making a Killing: Guns, Greed, and the NRA (2015), illustrates the connection between gun industry profits and gun deaths in America.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Following the release of 16 Women and Donald Trump, which featured women who publicly accused President Trump of sexual misconduct, Greenwald hosted three of the accusers at a December, 2017 press conference in New York.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2018, Greenwald created a short film to thank three Black women targeted by Donald Trump entitled, Thanks.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref>

In 2019, Greenwald released Suppressed: The Fight to Vote<ref name=":0" /> about voter suppression in the 2018 Georgia election, in which Democrat Stacey Abrams narrowly lost to Republican Brian Kemp in the race for governor.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Variety described the film as "scary and galvanizing" and said it demonstrated that "what happened in Georgia has implications that extend far beyond that race."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The film was updated and released in April 2022 to expose voter suppression laws passed in 19 states across the United States. The 2022 film, entitled Suppressed and Sabotaged: The Fight to Vote<ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref> features additional stories from voters in Florida, Arizona, and Texas. The updated version 2024 version of Suppressed and Sabotaged: The Fight to Vote<ref name=":1" /> highlights personal stories from Georgia voters during the controversial gubernatorial race between Stacey Abrams and Brian Kemp.

As coronavirus raged throughout the US in the summer of 2020, Greenwald's short film, Maddie’s Grandparents: A Preventable COVID Tragedy,<ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref> about Maddie Kaji, a Florida teenager who turned her grief at losing both her grandparents to COVID-19 into activism,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> made national headlines, as did her response to President Donald Trump telling Americans not to let COVID “dominate” their lives.<ref>Archived at GhostarchiveTemplate:Cbignore and the Wayback MachineTemplate:Cbignore: {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}Template:Cbignore</ref> Greenwald also joined forces with American rock musician Tom Morello for No Justice No Peace,<ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref> a short video about police violence that “spotlights the contrast between the racial injustice in the U.S. and the Trump administration's position on it”<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> in honor of George Floyd.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2023, Greenwald and Brave New Films released Beyond Bars,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> an intimate look into the life of former San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin. He has continued producing short films like E. Jean Carroll V. Donald J. Trump (2024) available for free to the public and starring Ellen Burstyn, Kathryn Hahn, Regina Taylor, and Lexi Underwood.<ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref>

Greenwald released the harrowing documentary Gaza: Journalists Under Fire in 2025 through Brave New Films.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Produced by Brave New Films, the documentary examines the lives of three Palestinian journalists killed by the Israeli army while covering the genocide in Gaza: Bilal Jadallah, Heba Al-Abadlah, and Ismail Al-Ghoul.

Distribution and impact

Greenwald has applied the principles of guerrilla filmmaking at Brave New Films, using small budgets and short shooting schedules to produce political documentaries<ref name="nyt071104"/> and then distributing them on DVDs and the Internet in affiliation with advocacy groups such as MoveOn.<ref name="nyt071104">Template:Cite news</ref> Brave New Film's methods are "rewriting the book on how movies are made and distributed."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Greenwald's innovative model is said to be "working magnificently":<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> "Millions of viewers have seen BNF films via grassroots 'house parties' and independent online DVD sales",<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> as well as in more traditional theater screenings and online.

As a pioneer in alternative methods for effective progressive political campaigns,<ref name=huffpo>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=moviemaker>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=alternet>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=jumpcut>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=aclu>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Greenwald has eschewed traditional distribution models of studio and network releases.<ref name=moviemaker/><ref name=alternet/> He was among the first to post political online shorts and viral videos on YouTube and elsewhere on the internet, as well as releasing full-length documentaries online in a series of “real time” chapters.<ref name=alternet/><ref name=jumpcut/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Greenwald's group takes full advantage of a variety of media outlets, such as Facebook and Twitter, and harnesses new distribution channels as soon as they emerge.<ref name=aclu/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> A 2019 profile described the approach as a "marketing alchemy of feeds, hashtags, likes, favorites, hearts, @s, memes, soundbites and video clips, all edited, spliced and calibrated to grab attention in a hyperspeed world."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

This approach has "inspired hundreds of thousands of people to take action and forced pressing issues into the mainstream media."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He has been called "one of the most prominent and influential voices in new media."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> According to a Brave New Films website, Template:As of its documentaries "have been streamed across all 7 continents and have been viewed over 70 million times."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Politics

Various sources have described Greenwald's political activism as left-wing.<ref name="Robert Greenwald">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Greenwald has lectured at Harvard University for the Nieman Foundation for Journalism and speaks frequently across the country about his work.<ref>"Robert Greenwald Bio" Accessed Oct 4, 2013</ref> He addressed the United States House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense regarding war profiteering on May 10, 2007.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2013, Greenwald went to Capitol Hill once again, to discuss weaponized unmanned aerial vehicles with lawmakers. At a Congressional briefing, Greenwald testified with the Rafiq Rehman family, the first Pakistani drone strike survivors to appear before Congress.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Since May 2005, Greenwald has been a contributing blogger to The Huffington Post.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Selected filmography

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Feature-length documentaries

Features and television movies

Documentary shorts

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Awards and honors

Greenwald's work has earned 25 Emmy Award nominations,<ref name="consumeratty">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> two Golden Globe nominations,<ref name="consumeratty" /> the Peabody Award<ref name="consumeratty" /> and the Robert Wood Johnson Award.<ref name="consumeratty" /> He was awarded the 2002 Producer of the Year Award by the American Film Institute.<ref name="afi" /> He has been honored for his investigative film work by the ACLU Foundation of Southern California;<ref name="acluaward">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> the Liberty Hill Foundation;<ref name="libertyhill">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> the Los Angeles chapter of the National Lawyers Guild;<ref name="politico">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Physicians for Social Responsibility;<ref name="politico" /> Consumer Attorney's Association of Los Angeles;<ref name="consumeratty" /> Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy<ref name="politico" /> and the Office of the Americas.<ref name="robertgreenwald" />

Greenwald's films have garnered the following nominations and awards:

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  • 25 Emmy Award nominations<ref name="consumeratty" />
  • 4 Cable ACE Award nominations<ref name=consumeratty />
  • 2 Golden Globe nominations<ref name=consumeratty />
  • 2 DGA Nominations (1978 and 1985)
  • 8 Awards of Excellence from the Film Advisory Board.<ref name=consumeratty />
  • Directors Guild of America Award, for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Specials for The Burning Bed, 1984.
  • The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for Excellence in Health and Medical Programming, for Sharing the Secret, 2000.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

  • The Peabody Award, for Sharing the Secret, 2000.<ref name="secret4">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

  • The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Prism Commendation for Blonde, 2002.
  • Producer of the Year Award by the American Film Institute, 2002.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

  • Literacy in Media Award, for The Book of Ruth, 2004.
  • Laurel Award, for Outfoxed, 2008.
  • Telly Award, (Bronze), for This Brave Nation, 2009.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

  • Media for a Just Society, Finalist for Law and Disorder, 2013.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Robert Greenwald has been the recipient of the following awards for his activism:

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

  • The Christopher Award,<ref name=afi/> 1981 (for media that “affirm the highest values of the human spirit")
  • ACLU of Southern California, Garden Party Award, 2003 and 2013.<ref name=acluaward/>
  • Physicians for Social Responsibility Los Angeles, Peacemaker Award, 2003<ref name=commongood>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

  • The Los Angeles Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild Honors Robert Greenwald as "A Producer and Director who uses his talent and artistry to promote better understanding between people and advance the cause of peace, justice and freedom." - June 8, 2003;<ref name=politico/>
  • Rage for Justice, Citizen Activist of the Year, 2004.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

  • Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE)’s City of Justice Award 2005.<ref name=politico/>
  • Liberty Hill Foundation's Upton Sinclair Award, 2006.<ref name=libertyhill/>
  • Norman Felton and Denise Aubuchon Humanitarian Award, 2007<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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References

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