Join us Tuesday, October 15, 2024, for this engaging online mentor session as acclaimed filmmakers Stacy Robinson and Rita Coburn share their unique approaches to bringing the past to life, highlighting how personal stories intertwine with the larger historical forces at play. Through showcasing excerpts from their respective documentaries on iconic figures like Maya Angelou, Ida B. Wells, and Marion Anderson, as well as films like "Birth of Gospel," the session promises to be engaging and enlightening. Together, they will showcase various tools, including the incorporation of historical footage and creative strategies for scenarios where such material is scarce. Don't miss this opportunity to gain insights into crafting narratives that are both compelling and rich in character and historical depth.
Q & A to follow.
Stacy Robinson is an award-winning filmmaker with twenty years of experience writing and producing documentaries for CNBC, OWN, PBS and numerous cable networks. As a storyteller, she searches for the emotional soul of every story – no matter how big or how small the subject might seem.
Most recently, she produced a 6-episode series for Disney+ on a figure skating troupe from Harlem. Robinson wrote and directed Emmy Award winning documentaries on Ida B. Wells and the Birth of Gospel Music for WTTW PBS in Chicago. She is the winner of Peter Lisagor awards for historical and cultural journalism.
Previously, she received a National Emmy nomination for News and Documentary for her work as Co-Director of We Are Witnesses: Chicago in collaboration with Kartemquin Films and The Marshall Project.
In the verité landscape, Stacy has written and produced an hour-long documentary film for Discovery Networks on the female doctors who provide healthcare inside Chicago’s Cook County Jail. She and her film crew spent over a month with unprecedented access following the doctors and jail detainees. She has written and supervised a 6-hour follow-up documentary series focusing on pregnant women detained at Cook County Jail and the unique psychological and physical challenges they face.
With National Geographic, Stacy Robinson served as supervising producer for the documentary series, Final Report, focusing on such watershed moments in American history as TWA Flight 800, Attica Prison Riot, the Exxon Valdez oil spill, and the Gulf War. She was the director and producer of a 2-hour historical documentary on the 1935 Florida Hurricane, which aired on History.
Stacy grew up in Claremont California and holds her bachelor’s degree in fine art from The School of The Art Institute of Chicago. She now calls the Midwest her permanent home and serves as Artistic Director for Kartemquin Films.
Rita Coburn is a Peabody and Emmy Award-Winning Director, Writer, and Producer of radio, television, and film. Beginning her career as a producer and writer for various news outlets across the U.S., Coburn went on to produce for the likes of The Oprah Winfrey Show, Oprah Radio, Apollo Live!, and Walt Disney Productions. In 2016, "Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise," which was co-directed and co-produced by Coburn, premiered at the 2016 Sundance Festival and went on to win a Peabody Award in 2017. Coburn is the director of "Marian Anderson: The Whole World in Her Hands," which will premiere nationwide Tuesday, February 8 at 9 p.m. ET on PBS American Masters; please check your local listings.
Coburn’s value is such that she bridges the gap between generations and preserves African-American history. Through her work, she uniquely addresses topics from a multi-generational lens with a passion for impacting others through the untold stories of prominent figures and key ideals relevant to African-American culture.