Philip Davis Guggenheim is an American screenwriter, director, and producer. Active in television and film's directions and productions since the 1990s, from 2006 Guggenheim has specialized in making

documentaries A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". The American author and media analyst Bill ...

, ranking the top 100 highest-grossing documentaries of all time with three works: ''

An Inconvenient Truth ''An Inconvenient Truth'' is a 2006 American documentary film directed by Davis Guggenheim about former vice president of the United States Al Gore's campaign to educate people about Climate change, global warming. The film features a slide s ...

'', ''

It Might Get Loud ''It Might Get Loud'' is a 2008 American documentary film by filmmaker Davis Guggenheim. It explores the careers and musical styles of prominent Rock music, rock guitarists Jimmy Page, the Edge, and Jack White. The film premiered at the 2008 Toro ...

'', and '' Waiting for "Superman".'' Guggenheim's cinematographic projects received several awards and nominations, including the

Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film The Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film is an award for documentary films. In 1941, the first awards for feature-length documentaries were bestowed as Special Awards to '' Kukan'' and '' Target for Tonight''. They have since been bes ...

for ''An Inconvenient Truth'', the

Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Documentary Feature The Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Documentary Feature is a retired award given to people working in the motion picture industry by the Broadcast Film Critics Association from 1995 to 2015. In 2016, the association started a new set of awards ...

for '' He Named Me Malala'' and two nominations at the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Documentary/Nonfiction Program. His credits include ''

NYPD Blue ''NYPD Blue'' is an American police procedural television series set in New York City, exploring the struggles of the fictional 15th Precinct detective squad in Manhattan. Each episode typically intertwines several plots involving an ensemble ca ...

'', '' ER'', '' 24'', '' Alias'', ''

The Shield ''The Shield'' is an American crime drama television series created by Shawn Ryan and starring Michael Chiklis that aired on FX from March 12, 2002 to November 25, 2008 for seven seasons. The show is known for its portrayal of corrupt police ...

'', '' Deadwood'', and the documentaries ''

'', ''

The Road We've Traveled ''The Road We've Traveled'' is a 2012 documentary film about the Presidency of Barack Obama. Directed by Davis Guggenheim, the documentary was produced by Barack Obama's re-election campaign and was narrated by Tom Hanks. The film Events detail ...

'', '' Waiting for "Superman"'', '' Inside Bill's Brain: Decoding Bill Gates''.

Early life

Philip Davis Guggenheim was born in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

, the son of Marion Davis (née Streett) and

filmmaker Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...

Charles Guggenheim. His father was

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

, whereas his mother was Episcopalian. He graduated from the Potomac School,

Sidwell Friends School Sidwell Friends School is a private, college preparatory, Quaker school located in Bethesda, Maryland, and Washington, D.C., offering pre-kindergarten through high school classes. Founded in 1883 by Thomas W. Sidwell, its motto is ' (), alludi ...

and

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

Career

Guggenheim joined the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

Western drama '' Deadwood'' as a producer and director for the first season in 2004. The series was created by

David Milch David Sanford Milch (born March 23, 1945) is an American writer and producer of television series. He has created several television shows, including ABC's ''NYPD Blue'' (1993–2005), co-created with Steven Bochco, and HBO's '' Deadwood'' (200 ...

and focused on a growing town in the

American West The Western United States (also called the American West, the Western States, the Far West, the Western territories, and the West) is census regions United States Census Bureau As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the mea ...

. Guggenheim directed the episodes "Deep Water", "Reconnoitering the Rim", "Plague" and "Sold Under Sin". He left the show at the end of Season 1. The documentary ''

'' was produced and directed by Davis Guggenheim. ''An Inconvenient Truth'' won the

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

in 2007 for Best Documentary Feature. The film, released in 2006, featured former U.S. Vice President

Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American former politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. He previously served as ...

and his international slideshow on global warming. Then-candidate

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

's biographical film, which aired during the

Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 18 ...

in August 2008, was directed by Guggenheim. Their

infomercial An infomercial is a form of television commercial that resembles regular TV programming yet is intended to promote or sell a product, service or idea. It generally includes a toll-free telephone number or website. Most often used as a form of di ...

, which was broadcast two months later, on October 29, 2008, was "executed with high standards of cinematography", according to ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''. In 2012, he released ''

'', a 17-minute short film on the president. Guggenheim directed and was an executive producer of the 2009 pilot for ''

Melrose Place ''Melrose Place'' is an American prime-time television soap opera that aired on Fox from July 8, 1992, to May 24, 1999, for seven seasons. The show follows the lives of a group of young adults living in an apartment complex in West Hollywood, ...

''. In 2008, he released ''

'', a documentary that glimpses into the lives of guitarists

Jimmy Page James Patrick Page (born 9 January 1944) is an English musician and producer who achieved international success as the guitarist and founder of the Rock music, rock band Led Zeppelin. Page began his career as a studio session musician in Lo ...

The Edge David Howell Evans (born 8 August 1961), better known as the Edge or simply Edge,McCormick (2006), pp. 21, 23–24 is a British-Irish musician, singer, and songwriter. He is best known as the lead guitarist, keyboardist, and backing vocalist o ...

, and

Jack White John Anthony White (; born July 9, 1975) is an American musician who achieved international fame as the guitarist and lead singer of the rock duo the White Stripes. As the White Stripes disbanded, he sought success with his solo career, subse ...

. Guggenheim's 2010 documentary '' Waiting for "Superman"'', a film about the failures of American public education sparked controversy and debate. Guggenheim knew his film would lead to this and said, "I know people will say this movie is anti-this or pro-that. But it really is all about families trying to find great schools". This film received the Audience Award for best documentary at the 2010

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

. Its public release was in September 2010. A

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

about the band U2 directed by Guggenheim titled ''

From the Sky Down ''From the Sky Down'' is a 2011 American documentary film directed by Davis Guggenheim about rock music, rock band U2 and the production of their 1991 album ''Achtung Baby''. The film documents the album's difficult recording period, the band m ...

'' opened the

2011 Toronto International Film Festival The 36th annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) was held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, between September 8 and September 18, 2011. Buenos Aires, Argentina was selected to be showcased for the 2011 City to City programme. The opening fil ...

in September. In 2013, he directed ''The Dream is Now'', a 30-minute documentary about four undocumented students in the United States as they deal with the U.S. immigration system. In 2015, he directed a documentary film '' He Named Me Malala'' about

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

i activist

Malala Yousafzai Malala Yousafzai (; , pronunciation: ; born 12 July 1997) is a Pakistani female education activist, film and television producer, and the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize laureate at the age of 17. She is the youngest Nobel Prize laureate in history, ...

, who was targeted by

Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...

gunmen, shot in the head and left wounded. In 2019, he created and directed a documentary miniseries titled '' Inside Bill's Brain: Decoding Bill Gates''. The series explores the mind and motivations behind the captain of industry and philanthropist

Bill Gates William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American businessman and philanthropist. A pioneer of the microcomputer revolution of the 1970s and 1980s, he co-founded the software company Microsoft in 1975 with his childhood friend ...

, the rise of

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

, and the past and current pursuits of the

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation The Gates Foundation is an American private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it was launched in 2000 and is reported to be the third largest charitable foundation in the world, holding $ ...

. In 2020, Guggenheim and Jonathan King launched production company Concordia Studio. In 2023, the documentary '' Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie'', directed by Guggenheim, was released on

Apple TV+ Apple TV+ is an American subscription over-the-top streaming service owned by Apple. The service launched on November 1, 2019, and it offers a selection of original production film and television series called Apple Originals. The service w ...

. Featuring read excerpts from

Michael J. Fox Michael Andrew Fox (born June 9, 1961), known professionally as Michael J. Fox, is a Canadian and American actor and activist. Beginning his career as a child actor in the 1970s, he rose to prominence portraying Alex P. Keaton on the NBC sitcom ...

's own books, the biopic stars Fox himself as both interviewee and narrator, recounting his career and experience contending with

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...

. The feature received seven Emmy Nominations.

Personal life

Guggenheim married actress

Elisabeth Shue Elisabeth Shue (born October 6, 1963) is an American actress. She has starred in films such as '' The Karate Kid'' (1984), '' Adventures in Babysitting'' (1987), ''Cocktail'' (1988), ''Back to the Future Part II'' (1989), '' Back to the Future P ...

in 1994. They have three children together. He is the first cousin of actress

Patty Guggenheim Patty Guggenheim is an American comedian, writer and actress. A member of The Groundlings comedy troupe, as an actress she is best known for her role as Madisynn King on '' She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.'' Career As a comedian Guggenheim was part of ...

Accolades

References

External links

*
TeachBiography

The Director's Take: Davis Guggenheim captures the ideals of the "former next president"
interview, ''

Riverfront Times The ''Riverfront Times'' (''RFT'') was a free progressive weekly newspaper in St. Louis, Missouri, that consisted of local politics, music, arts, and dining news in the print edition, and daily updates to blogs and photo galleries on its websit ...

'', June 7, 2006
"Waiting for Superman" to Save Our Public Schools: An in-depth interview with Director Davis Guggenheim
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Guggenheim, Davis 1963 births Directors of Best Documentary Feature Academy Award winners American documentary filmmakers Film directors from Missouri Film producers from Missouri American people of German-Jewish descent American television directors American television producers Brown University alumni Members of the Creative Commons board of directors Primetime Emmy Award winners Living people Businesspeople from St. Louis Sundance Film Festival award winners