Shawn Efran is an American filmmaker, journalist, television producer, and media entrepreneur.
His work, including as producer for ''
60 Minutes
''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who chose to set it apart from other news programs by using a unique styl ...
'' on
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...
, and as founder and executive producer of Efran Films, has garnered critical acclaim, including seven
Emmy awards
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
, a
Peabody, a
Polk
Polk may refer to:
People
* James K. Polk, 11th president of the United States
* Polk (name), other people with the name
Places
*Polk (CTA), a train station in Chicago, Illinois
* Polk, Illinois, an unincorporated community
* Polk, Missouri ...
, and four
.
Career
Efran earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the
University of Oregon
The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...
, and went on to work as an Associate Producer for
Court TV
Court TV is an American digital broadcast network and former cable television channel. It was originally launched in 1991 with a focus on crime-themed programs such as true crime documentary series, legal analysis talk shows, and live news cove ...
from 1993–1995.
From 1995 to 2010, Efran worked for
CBS News
CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio service CBS. CBS News television programs include the ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs '' CBS News Sunday Morning'', '' 60 Minutes'', and '' 48 H ...
in producing, writing and editing capacities.
His work at ''60 Minutes'' and ''
60 Minutes II
''60 Minutes II'' (also known as ''60 Minutes Wednesday'' and ''60 Minutes'') is an American weekly primetime news magazine television program that was intended to replicate the "signature style, journalistic quality and integrity" of the origina ...
'' on CBS includes two Emmy-winning documentaries – an investigation of the
genocide in Darfur
The Darfur genocide is the systematic killing of ethnic Darfuri people which has occurred during the ongoing conflict in Western Sudan. It has become known as the first genocide of the 21st century. The genocide, which is being carried out agai ...
and a documentary following the
Iowa National Guard
The Iowa National Guard of the United States, National Guard consists of the:
*Iowa Army National Guard and the
*Iowa Air National Guard
The Iowa National Guard headquarters is at Camp Dodge in Johnston, Iowa, Johnston, several miles north of th ...
through a deployment cycle
in Iraq – and a Peabody-winning interview with a U.S. Marine accused of mass murder.
In 2010, he founded Efran Films, a multi-media
production company
A production company, production house, production studio, or a production team is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, and ...
, with offices in New York City and Toronto. Efran Films has produced for
VICE TV
Vice (formerly known as Viceland and also known as Vice TV) is an American basic cable television channel that launched on December 2, 2019, replacing H2 on most multichannel television providers in the United States. It is a part of the Vicela ...
,
Paramount+
Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to:
Entertainment and music companies
* Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. The following busin ...
,
Investigation Discovery
Investigation Discovery (stylized and branded on-air as ID since 2008) is an American multinational pay television network dedicated to true crime documentaries owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. As of February 2015, approximately 86 million Ameri ...
,
Oxygen
Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as wel ...
,
BRAVO
Bravo(s) or The Bravo(s) may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music Groups and labels
*Bravo (band), a Russian rock band
* Bravo (Spanish group), represented Spain at Eurovision 1984
*Bravo Music, an American concert band music publishing company ...
,
Food Network
Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a joint venture and general partnership between Warner Bros. Discovery Networks (which holds a 69% ownership stake of the network) and Nexstar Media Group ...
,
History Channel
History (formerly The History Channel from January 1, 1995 to February 15, 2008, stylized as HISTORY) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney ...
,
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
,
NBC News
NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's var ...
, the
Huffington Post
''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
,
AOL
AOL (stylized as Aol., formerly a company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online) is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City. It is a brand marketed by the current incarnation of Yahoo (2017â ...
,
Weather.com
The Weather Company is a weather forecasting and information technology company that owns and operates weather.com and Weather Underground. The Weather Company has been a subsidiary of the Watson & Cloud Platform business unit of IBM since 2016. ...
,
HDNet
AXS TV is an American cable television channel. Majority-owned by Anthem Sports & Entertainment, it is devoted primarily to music-related programming (such as concert films, documentaries, and reality series involving musicians) and combat sport ...
,
AxsTV,
Plum TV
Plum TV was an American Terrestrial television, broadcast television network targeted mostly to affluent viewers in the country. The majority of the programming was locally produced largely in affluent vacation communities, marketed towards the ma ...
,
Current TV
Current TV was an American television channel which broadcast from August 1, 2005, to August 20, 2013. Prior INdTV founders Al Gore and Joel Hyatt, with Ronald Burkle, each held a sizable stake in Current TV. Comcast and DirecTV each held a smalle ...
,
and others. Efran Films creates programming on topics ranging from home design
to the
revolution in Libya.
Efran and journalist
Adam Ciralsky
Adam Ciralsky (born September 22, 1971) is an American journalist, television and film producer and attorney. Many of his original reports have been optioned and adapted for film and television through his production company P3 Media. In 2018, Cir ...
co-directed ''The Project'', a theatrical documentary profiling the
Somali pirate
Piracy off the coast of Somalia occurs in the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channel and Somali Sea, in Somali territorial waters and other surrounding areas and has a long and troubled history with different perspectives from different communities. I ...
-hunting
Puntland Maritime Police Force
The Puntland Maritime Police Force (PMPF) is a security force based in Puntland, an autonomous region in northeastern Somalia. As of March 2012, the PMPF had around 500 personnel. The force is eventually expected to comprise 10,000 personnel.
Ac ...
. The film was an official selection of the 2013
Tribeca Film Festival
The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by TriBeCa Productions, Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive progra ...
.
Accolades
Efran has won two Emmy awards for "Outstanding Continuing Coverage" in ''60 Minutes'' ''"Fathers, Sons, and Brothers"'', and ''"Searching for Jacob"'',
a Peabody Award for ''"The Killings in Haditha"'',
two
Society of Professional Journalists awards for ''"The All American Canal"'' and ''"The Purge"'',
an
Overseas Press Club
The Overseas Press Club of America (OPC) was founded in 1939 in New York City by a group of foreign correspondents. The wire service reporter Carol Weld was a founding member, as was the war correspondent Peggy Hull. The club seeks to maintain ...
award
and is a 2013
Webby Honoree
for the
AOL
AOL (stylized as Aol., formerly a company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online) is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City. It is a brand marketed by the current incarnation of Yahoo (2017â ...
.com series ''Home of the Brave.''
His company, Efran Films, has won four additional Emmy’s including two "Outstanding Business, Consumer and Economic Report" Awards for ''The Source: The Human Cost Hidden Within a Cup of Coffee'' in 2018 and ''Hidden Cost: Our Laws Have Not Kept Up With The Climate'' in 2019; as well as two "Outstanding Investigative Journalism in Spanish" Awards for ''The Real Death Valley'' in 2015,
[IMDB]
The Real Death Valley Awards
/ref> and ''Cosecha de Miseria (Harvest of Misery)'' in 2017.
The company was awarded in 2017 the Gerald Loeb Award
The Gerald Loeb Award, also referred to as the Gerald Loeb Award for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism, is a recognition of excellence in journalism, especially in the fields of business, finance and the economy. The award was estab ...
for Video for ''Cosecha de Miseria (Harvest of Misery) & The Source'' produced for Telemundo
Telemundo (; formerly NetSpan) is an American Spanish-language Terrestrial television, terrestrial television network owned by NBCUniversal Television and Streaming#NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, a divi ...
and The Weather Channel
The Weather Channel (TWC) is an American pay television channel owned by Weather Group, LLC, a subsidiary of Allen Media Group. The channel's headquarters are in Atlanta, Georgia. Launched on May 2, 1982, the channel broadcasts weather forecas ...
.[ASPIREist.com]
About Page
/ref>
The Emmy-winning film ''The Real Death Valley'' also won: the New York Press Club Award for "Continuing Coverage" in 2015, the George Polk Award
The George Polk Awards in Journalism are a series of American journalism awards presented annually by Long Island University in New York in the United States. A writer for Idea Lab, a group blog hosted on the website of PBS, described the award ...
for "Television Reporting", the Society of Professional Journalists Award for "Excellence in Journalism" in 2014 and was a Medal Winner of the 2014 Edition of the Investigative Reporters & Editors Award.
References
External links
*
ASPIREist
' website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Efran, Shawn
Living people
American documentary film directors
American film producers
University of Oregon alumni
American male journalists
Gerald Loeb Award winners for Audio and Video
Year of birth missing (living people)