Jon H. Else is an American documentary

filmmaker Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, castin ...

and professor at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. He directs the documentary program.

Biography

Born in Worcester, Massachusetts, Else moved west for college. He earned a B.A. (English, 1968) from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant un ...

, and an M.A. (Communication, 1974) from

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is conside ...

. He directed and produced major documentaries beginning in 1980, with one about the work during World War II at Los Alamos in developing and testing the atomic bomb. Another was about the Exploratorium. In 1987 he made a documentary about the civil rights movement from 1954 to 1965, based on the history of the same name ''

Eyes on the Prize ''Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Movement'' is an American television series and 14-part documentary about the 20th-century civil rights movement in the United States. The documentary originally aired on the PBS network, and it als ...

''. In 1988 he was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in 1988. He created additional documentaries on a wide variety of subjects, as well as working as a writer or cinematographer on Emmy Award-winning works.

Awards

* 1988

MacArthur Fellows Program The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and commonly but unofficially known as the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to between 20 and 30 indi ...

* 1989

Emmy 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 ...

- ''Yosemite: The Fate Of Heaven'', director * 1993 Emmy - ''The Great Depression'', writer * 1998 Emmy - ''America's Endangered Species: Don't Say Good-bye'', cinematographer * 1999 Emmy - '' Sing Faster: The Stagehands' Ring Cycle'' * 1999

Sundance A Sun Dance is a Native American ceremony. Sun dance or Sundance may also refer to: Places ;Canada * Sundance, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood * Sundance, Manitoba, a ghost town ;United States * Sundance, New Mexico, a census-designated pla ...

Filmmaker's Trophy - ''Sing Faster: The Stagehands' Ring Cycle''

Filmography

* '' The Day After Trinity: J. Robert Oppenheimer and the Atomic Bomb'' (1980) * ''Palace Of Delights: The Exploratorium'' (1982), producer, director, cinematographer * '' Eyes On The Prize: America's Civil Rights Years'' (1987, covering 1954–1965), series producer for PBS and cinematographer * ''Yosemite: The Fate Of Heaven'' (1989, aired in ''

American Experience (season 2) Season two of the television program ''American Experience'' originally aired on the PBS network in the United States on October 3, 1989 and concluded on January 16, 1990. This is the second season to feature David McCullough David Gaub McCu ...

''), producer, director, cinematographer * ''Eyes on the Prize II: America at the Racial Crossroads 1965–1985'' (1990), series producer and cinematographer. * ''Wonders Are Many: The Making of Doctor Atomic'' (2008) * '' Cadillac Desert: Water and the American West'' (1997), director, producer, cinematographer * '' Sing Faster: The Stagehands' Ring Cycle'' (1999), producer, director, cinematographer * ''Open Outcry'' (2001), producer, director, cinematographer * ''

The Island President ''The Island President'' is a 2011 documentary film about the efforts of then-President of the Maldives Mohamed Nasheed to tackle rising sea levels resulting from climate change. Produced by Actual Films, an Oscar- and Emmy-winning American docum ...

'' (2011), executive producer

References

Living people 1944 births American film directors MacArthur Fellows Sundance Film Festival award winners University of California, Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism faculty UC Berkeley College of Letters and Science alumni Stanford University alumni {{US-film-director-1940s-stub