Jon Else

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Jonathan Holden "Jon" Else (born June 16, 1944 in Worcester , Massachusetts ) is an American film director , film producer , screenwriter , cameraman and documentary filmmaker , who is best known for his film The Day After Trinity (1981) dealt with the physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer , who is considered the father of the atomic bomb, but condemned its further use.

biography

Training, commitment, success

Else was born in Worcester , Massachusetts . He grew up in Sacramento , California . He studied at Yale for two years before working for the civil rights movement in Mississippi and Alabama in 1964/1965 . Else served on the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and then on the War On Poverty movement in Sacramento. In 1968 he received his Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of California at Berkeley and in 1974 his Bachelor MA in Communication from Stanford University . From 1988 to 1993 he completed a MacArthur scholarship .

From 1997 to 2014 Else was the director of the documentary program at UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism. He won four Emmys (screenwriter, producer, director and camera), won several Columbia-DuPonts and Peabody Awards as well as two Oscar nominations, the Prix ​​Italia , the Sundance Special Prize and the Sundance Filmmaker's Trophy.

Working on the film

For his first film Arthur and Lillie , Else received an Academy Award nomination in 1976 in the category “Best Documentary Short Film ” together with Kristine Samuelson and Steven Kovacs . In the film, Hollywood veteran Arthur Mayer and his wife Lillie look back on the beginnings of the film industry. In the 1980/81 documentary The Day After Trinity Else appeared as a producer, wrote the screenplay, directed and was seen in the film as an interviewer. The film tells the story of the American theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer (1904–1967) who attempted to build the first atomic bomb, which was tested in July 1945 at the Trinity site in New Mexico . However, after seeing the consequences of their use against the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki , he condemned another operation. The title of the film is taken from an interview in which Oppenheimer was asked by Robert F. Kennedy whether President Lyndon B. Johnson should be urged to start talks to stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons. Oppenheimer replied that it was 20 years too late and added: "That should have happened the day after Trinity."

For the film Palace of Delights: The Exploratorium produced by Else for Nova in 1982 , he takes a look behind the scenes of the Exploratorium and follows the development of three exhibits from prototype to museum maturity. The work won a Cine Golden Eagle Award. Else, who has contributed to major documentary series, also appeared as a cameraman in Henry Hampton 's 1987 documentary series Eyes on the Prize : America's Civil Rights Year, about the black civil rights movement in the United States and its fight against segregation and racism . In the 1989 documentary Yosemite: The Fat of Heaven for the Sundance Institute founded by Robert Redford , Else traces the conquest of the Yosemite wildlife park in 1851 and represents the transformation of what is now the park, which attracts more than three million visitors annually and is £ 25,000 daily Garbage produced is the focus of his film.

In 1993 Else produced the first episode, A Job at Ford’s, for the stationery series The Great Depression . The film deals with the way in which the car, as a product of work and a catalyst for profound transformations in American society, dominated people's lives. For the documentary miniseries Cadillac Desert (1997) he produced the episodes Mulholland's Dream and The Mercy of Nature , for which he also wrote the screenplay, stood in the camera and directed. It is about water, money, politics and the transformation of nature. In his 1999 documentary Sing Faster: The Stagehand's Ring Cycle (1999), he shows the activities of a stagehands crew employed by the San Francisco Opera during a production of Richard Wagner's opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen, both during their work and during their free time .

In his PBS documentary Open Outcry , published in 2001, Else takes a look behind the scenes of the securities and commodity exchanges and the so-called floor trading . In the episode Wonders Are Many: The Making of Doctor Atomic of the documentary television series Independent Lens , Else took up the subject of the atomic bomb and Oppenheimer again in 2008. The film shows the creation of an opera whose content is to make preparations that lead to the detonation of the world's first nuclear weapon. In 2009 Else directed the episode Inside Guantanamo Bay for the National Geographic Explorer television series , which focuses on the practices in the Guantanamo Bay military prison . In his 2011 documentary produced The Island President , he portrayed Mohamed Nasheed , the then President of the Maldives .

Else has worked as a cameraman on countless documentaries for the BBC , PBS , ABC , MTV , Arte , HBO and Netflix , including the BBC / PBS production History of Rock And Roll Who Are The Bolts , the Paramount / MTV productions Tupac: Resurrection , Alice Waters , Afghanistan: Hell of a Nation , Novas Fire Wars , several independent feature films, and dozens of commercials and music videos.

Filmography (selection)

  • 1975: Arthur and Lillie (documentary short; producer, director)
  • 1977: Off the Wall (camera)
  • 1977: Who Are the DeBolts? And Where Did They Get Nineteen Kids? (Documentary; camera)
  • 1979: Rust Never Sleeps (documentary; camera)
  • 1980: Journeys from Berlin / 1971 (screenplay)
  • 1980: Can't It Be Anyone Else (documentary; camera)
  • 1981: The Day After Trinity (documentary; producer, screenplay, director, interviewer)
  • 1982: The Atomic Café (Script: Archive Advisor)
  • 1982: Palace of Delights: The Exploratorium (documentary)
  • 1983: Hells Angels Forever (documentary)
  • 1984: Booker (TV film; camera)
  • 1986: Top Gun - You fear neither death nor the devil (camera assistant)
  • 1987–1990: Eyes on the Prize (documentary television series, 14 episodes, producer, camera)
  • 1989: Yosemite: The Fat of Heaven (documentary, screenplay, director)
  • 1991: Circle of Recovery (documentary; camera)
  • 1992: Look at It This Way (TV miniseries, 3 episodes; camera)
  • 1993: The Great Depression (documentary television series, episode A Job at Ford’s ; producer, camera, screenplay, director)
  • 1994: Crumb (documentary; camera crew)
  • 1995: America's War on Poverty (miniseries; co-producer)
  • 1996: The West (documentary television series, 9 episodes; camera)
  • 1997: Cadillac Desert (documentary miniseries, episodes Mulholland's Dream and The Mercy of Nature ;
    producer, cinematography, screenplay, director)
  • 1998: America's Endangered Species: Don't Say Good-by (documentary television film; camera)
  • 1998: Life Beyond Earth (documentary television film; camera)
  • 1999: Sing Faster: The Stagehands' Ring Cycle (documentary; producer, director)
  • 1999: Bird by Bird with Annie (documentary; camera)
  • 1999-2016: American Experience (documentary television series, 7 episodes; camera)
  • 2000: They Drew Fire (documentary television film; camera)
  • 2001: Open Outcry (documentary television film; producer, screenplay, director)
  • 2002: Life 360 ​​(documentary television series, episode Money ; producer segment Creating Desire )
  • 2002: Ansel Adams: A Documentary Film (documentary television film; camera)
  • 2002: Nova (documentary TV series, episode: Fire Wars ; camera)
  • 2003: Tupac: Resurrection (documentary; camera)
  • 2003: American Masters (documentary television series, episode Alice Waters and Her Delicious Revolution ; camera)
  • 2004: Tell Them Who You Are (documentary; camera)
  • 2005: The Weight of the World (documentary short film; producer, editor)
  • 2005: Frontline (documentary television series, episode T he OJ Verdict ; camera)
  • 2006: Shut Up & Sing (documentary; camera)
  • 2007: National Geographic Explorer (documentary television series, episode Inside Bethlehem ; camera)
  • 2007: The War (documentary mini television series, 5 episodes; camera)
  • 2008: American Experience (TV documentary series; 4 episodes; producer)
  • 2008: Independent Lens (TV documentary series, episode Wonders Are Many: The Making of 'Doctor Atomic' ;
    producer, screenplay, director)
  • 2009: National Geographic Explorer (TV documentary series, episode Inside Guantanamo Bay ; director)
  • 2009: Minotaur (short film; camera)
  • 2011: Last Call at the Oasis (documentary; camera)
  • 2011: The Island President (documentary; producer)
  • 2013: A Kind of Order (documentary; camera)
  • 2013: Next stop: Fruitvale Station ( Fruitvale Station , biographical crime drama; camera team)
  • 2014: Merchants of Doubt (documentary; camera)
  • 2015: The Georgia Girl (documentary short; consultant)
  • 2015: The Mystery of Matter: Search for the Elements (documentary mini television series, 4 episodes; camera)
  • 2016: Cooked (documentary television series, episode Earth; camera)
  • 2017: The Force (on the board)

Awards (selection)

- Nominated ... -

  • 1976: Academy Awards 1976
    for the Oscar in the category “Best Documentary Short Film” together with Kristine Samuelson and Steven Kovacs
    for Arthur and Lillie
  • 1981: Academy Awards 1981
    for the Oscar in the category "Best Documentary" for The Day After Trinity
  • 1999: Sundance Film Festival
    for the Jury Grand Prix for Sing Faster: The Stagehands' Ring Cycle
  • 2002: Primetime Emmy Awards
    for the Primetime Emmy for American Experience , episode Ansel Adams: A Documentary Film
    with Buddy Squires and Michael Chin
  • 2010: News & Documentary Emmy Awards
    for the Emmy for National Geographic Explorer , Episode Inside Guantanamo
    with Bonni Cohen, Kathleen Cromley, Jonathan Halperin, Kim Woodard, Robert Zakin and Max Salomon

- Excellent … -

  • 1998: Primetime Emmy Awards
    with the Primetime Emmy for America's Endangered Species: Don't Say Good-bye , associated with Wolves at Our Door
    along with Richard Chisolm, Paul Goldsmith, Buddy Squires, Gerald Cotts, Nick Caloyianis
  • 1999: Sundance Film Festival
    with the Filmmakers Trophy for Sing Faster: The Stagehands' Ring Cycle
  • 2000: News & Documentary Emmy Awards
    with Emmy for Sing Faster: The Stagehands's Ring Cycle
    with David Davis and John Lindsay
  • 2004 San Francisco International Film Festival
    with the Golden Gate Persistence of Vision Award

International Documentary Association

  • 2010: with the IDA Award for Limited Series / Series
    together with Connie Field, Gregory Scharpen, Ken Chowder
  • 2012: with the Pare Lorentz Award for The Island President
    together with Jon Shenk, Bonni Cohen and Richard Berge

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Jon Else, Professor see page journalism.berkeley.edu (English).
  2. ↑ Yosemite: The Fate Of Heaven see page lib.berkeley.edu (English).
  3. ↑ A Job at Ford's: PBS Great Depression Series (1993) see page laborfilms.com (English).
  4. ↑ Wonders are Many: The Making of Doctor Atomic see page pbs.org (English).
personal data
SURNAME Else, Jon
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Else, Jonathan Holden (full name); Else, Jonathan; Else, Jon H.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American film director, film producer, screenwriter, cameraman and documentary filmmaker
DATE OF BIRTH June 16, 1944
PLACE OF BIRTH Worcester , Massachusetts , United States