Todd Wider
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Todd Wider is an American plastic surgeon and
Emmy Award 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 ...
–winning film producer based in New York, who is active in documentary filmmaking.


Education

He graduated from Ward Melville High School in 1982, Princeton University in 1986, and Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1990.


Medicine

As a surgeon, he was active in helping the passage of the Women's Health and Cancer Act of 1998, federal legislation signed into law by President Bill Clinton, mandating insurance coverage for breast cancer reconstruction. He also was a volunteer surgeon for Victims Services, an organization providing surgery to victims of abuse, and was a volunteer surgeon at Ground Zero after the
September 11, 2001 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...
in New York City.


Films

As a film producer, Wider has produced, with his brother Jedd, ''
Beyond Conviction ''Beyond Conviction'' is a 2006 documentary film directed and produced by Rachel Libert that tells the story of three crime victims as they prepare to meet the people who committed these crimes. The film follows participants in a program based on ...
'' (2006), a documentary about restorative justice in the Pennsylvania prison system that premiered on MSNBC, was featured on Oprah, and won a number of awards. Wider also produced '' What Would Jesus Buy?'' (2007), a Morgan Spurlock film about consumerism in the United States that focuses on the performance artist Billy Talen. He is also an executive producer of '' Taxi to the Dark Side'' (2007), a documentary about prisoner abuse directed by
Alex Gibney Philip Alexander Gibney (; born October 23, 1953) is an American documentary film director and producer. In 2010, ''Esquire'' magazine said Gibney "is becoming the most important documentarian of our time". Gibney's works as director include '' ...
that won the Academy Award for Best Documentary of 2008. Taxi to the Dark Side also won an Emmy for Best Documentary of 2008. Wider also produced ''The Untyings'' (2006), a film about exorcism in Romania and ''A Dream in Doubt'' (2006), directed by Tami Yeager, a documentary about intolerance in the wake of the September 11 attacks that focuses on a
Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...
family in Arizona. In addition, he produced ''
Kicking It ''Kicking It'' is a 2008 documentary film directed by Susan Koch and Jeff Werner focusing on the experiences of seven homeless people at the Homeless World Cup football (soccer) game. Featured in the documentary, narrated by actor Colin Farrell we ...
'' (2007), a documentary about the Homeless World Cup, an international tournament for the homeless football league, which premiered at the
Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...
in 2008, and features Colin Farrell and the music of U2. He also produced A ''Time to Stir'' which screened as a work-in-progress at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival and concerns the Columbia University 1968 student uprisings, and ''Client #9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer'' (2010), who was shortlisted for Academy Award consideration for Best Documentary of 2010. Wider also produced ''Semper Fi, Always Faithful'', about water contamination at the Camp Lejeune Marine base and one Marine's crusade to find justice for his daughter, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival 2011. ''Semper Fi, Always Faithful'' was shortlisted for Academy Award consideration for Best Documentary of 2011. He also produced '' Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God'', a feature documentary directed by
Alex Gibney Philip Alexander Gibney (; born October 23, 1953) is an American documentary film director and producer. In 2010, ''Esquire'' magazine said Gibney "is becoming the most important documentarian of our time". Gibney's works as director include '' ...
, which was shortlisted for Academy Award consideration for Best Documentary of 2012 and won three
Primetime Emmys The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime E ...
in 2013 including one for exceptional merit in documentary filmmaking. Wider also produced ''Kings Point'', which was nominated for an
Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject) This is a list of films by year that have received an Academy Award together with the other nominations for best documentary short film. Following the Academy's practice, the year listed for each film is the year of release: the awards are annou ...
in 2012. Wider's directorial debut, ''
God Knows Where I Am ''God Knows Where I Am'' is a 2016 American documentary film directed and produced by Todd Wider and Jedd Wider and narrated by Lori Singer. The film premiered to critical acclaim, and screened in cities and film festivals all over the world, wi ...
'' premiered to critical acclaim, and screened in cities and film festivals all over the world, winning numerous awards, including the ''Special Jury Prize for International Feature'' at
Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival The Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival is the largest documentary festival in North America. The event takes place annually in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The 27th edition of the festival took place online throughout May and June ...
. The documentary premiered and was nationally broadcast on PBS stations and Netflix in 2018.


References




External links

*
Beyondconviction.comnpr.org story
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wider, Todd American plastic surgeons Living people American film producers Princeton University alumni Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons alumni Ward Melville High School alumni Year of birth missing (living people)