Resume & Bio, Gary Weimberg
Professional Biography
Gary Weimberg is passionately interested in people. As a producer, director, editor, writer, and cameraperson, he has had a four-decade career of listening to stories, telling stories, and making documentaries. His films span activist, indie, and commercial genres. The cornerstones of his work are diversity and clarity, in pursuit of justice and delight.
His awards include two Emmys, six Emmy Award nominations, a Director’s Guild of America nomination, his own Sundance Film Festival Special Jury Award, and over 80 “best film” awards from film festivals. He edited two documentaries that were nominated for Academy Awards
His video work has been everywhere; from primetime TV broadcast documentaries for ABC, PBS, HBO, Fox, WB channel; to YouTubes, Vimeos, TikToks and 200+ shorts for Teaching Channel.org, a Gates Foundation funded educational web-portal.
Diversity? Compare these two films: his PBS documentary The Double Life of Ernesto Gomez-Gomez advocated for the release of 11 Puerto Rican political prisoners through a verité and personal-video style portrait of Ernesto, the son of one of the prisoners. Six months after broadcast, the prisoners received Presidential Clemency from Bill Clinton and were freed after 19 years of jail.
In contrast, The Heiress and Her Chateau was a glossy historical documentary chronicling the 100-year rise and fall of a 100-room architectural masterpiece. With high production values and narration, the film reveals the drama and lives of the ultra-rich, with a happy ending – the multi-million dollar restoration of the Chateau by the 162nd richest man-in-the-world.
On My Love Affair with the Brain, Gary spent 5 years following and learning neuroscience from Dr. Marian Diamond (who the NYTimes called the “2nd best college professor in the world”.) Quite different from the mobsters, molls and murderers of the mafia in his Fox TV mini-series, Loyalty and Betrayal. (“among the snappiest of the genre” NYTimes) Both films were Emmy nominated.
For his primetime ABC documentary The Story of Mothers and Daughters Gary and his researchers interviewed over 400 women and girls to choose the 40 to follow in depth (“a miraculous, perfect film” NY Daily News; “television at its best” LA Times). For the follow-up, The Story of Fathers and Sons, they interviewed over 600 men and boys. (“almost staggering in its candor.” Variety)
In 2020, in the very start of COVID, he made a Zoom-based, 100% socially distanced documentary short that successfully raised the money to distribute 7,000 computers to local house-bound youth.
He lives and works in Berkeley with Catherine Ryan; his frequent co-producer/co-director and life-partner. He is a published writer, a former radio DJ, mediocre pianist, and claims he is fluent in Spanish after 3 margaritas
(take this last with a grain of salt)
“What’s the editor’s name again?”
“Gary”
“Gary, you’re gonna be a good director someday.”
— Burt Lancaster, 1982
(Note: * means shared credit)
Co-PRODUCER / EDITOR Voices from the Silenced: Pre-Roe Abortion Stories 2024
Activist theater stage play turned into a video, created by Martha Boesing and Victoria Rue, 2024
PRODUCER*/DIRECTOR*/EDITOR/CAMERA My Love Affair with the Brain: The Life and Science of Dr. Marian Diamond
one of the founders of modern neuroscience, 2nd most popular college professor in the world, YouTube celebrity. PBS, 2017
NOMINATED for a National News and Documentary EMMY AWARD.
WINNER of 8 “Best Documentary” and “Audience Choice” Awards at film festivals.
PRODUCER* / DIRECTOR* / EDITOR / WRITER The Heiress and Her Chateau: Chateau Carolands of California
The true story of an American Downton Abbey, 98-year history of a 98-room architectural masterpiece. KQED, 2014
NOMINATED for 2 Regional EMMY AWARDs, Best Documentary, Best Writing.
WINNER of 4 “Best Documentary” Awards at film festivals.
PRODUCER* / DIRECTOR* / EDITOR* Soldiers of Conscience PBS, POV series, 2008
US soldiers in Iraq and the greatest moral dilemma of all – to kill or not to kill – and the stories of some who decide not to.
NOMINATED for a National News and Documentary EMMY AWARD.
WINNER of 5 “Best Documentary” Awards at film festivals.
PROD.*/ DIRECTOR / EDITOR / CAMERA The Double Life of Ernesto Gómez-Gómez PBS, POV, 1999
the film that helped President Clinton pardon the Puerto Rican 12, Closing night of 1999 POV series
NOMINATED, Outstanding Documentary Director, Directors Guild of America
WINNER of 5 “Best Documentary” Awards at film festivals.
DIRECTOR*/ EDITOR / WRITER Loyalty & Betrayal: The Story of the American Mob
Episode #1, the first two hours of a four-hour documentary mini-series for Fox. Broadcast July 25, 1994.
WINNER National News and Documentary EMMY AWARD
EDITOR / Documentary CONSULTANT 3 Seconds in October: The Shooting of Andy Lopez PBS, 2022
WINNER Regional EMMY AWARD in the Societal Concerns category
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR/EDITOR/CAMERA TeachingChannel.org, 200+ short web videos, 2011 to 2016
DIRECTOR America’s Most Haunted: Ghosts of San Francisco, Travel Channel, 2002
PRODUCER*/DIRECTOR*/EDITOR/CAMERA* Teens WB TV Network, 2000
PRODUCER*/DIRECTOR*/EDITOR*/CAMERA* The Story of Fathers & Sons ABC primetime, 1999
PRODUCER*/ DIRECTOR* / EDITOR* The Story of Mothers & Daughters ABC, primetime, 1997
DIRECTOR / EDITOR* The Great Sky Elephant Narrated by Laurence Olivier PBS, 1986
DIRECTOR / EDITOR* The Elephant Flies Narrated by Burt Lancaster PBS, 1986
PRODUCER / DIRECTOR / EDITOR Celebrating the 7th activist video about Nicaragua, 1986
PRODUCER / DIRECTOR / EDITOR $20.01: A Chinese Food Odyssey an award winning short, 1980
PRODUCER*/DIRECTOR*/EDITOR/CAMERA Civic Unity 5 years of SF Foundation in support local activism. 2002-2008
PRODUCER*/DIRECTOR*/EDITOR/CAMERA* Media for Non-Profit, various 90+ shorts to help raise over $15 million,
including The SF Fdn, The Women’s Fdn., Bay Area Black United Fund, 7th Generation Fund, Liberty Hill Fdn, Asian Pacific Fund.
EDITING & OTHER CREDITS
EDITOR* / WRITER* Ballets Russes, theatrical documentary, 2006
Portrait of the worlds most glamorous ballet company, the 49th most financially successful documentary of all time (as of 2007)
EDIT DOCTOR And the Band Played On, feature film, HBO, 1993
Official credit: “Additional Editor.” The completed film won Best Editing at American Cinema Editors Awards, & Emmy for the same.
EDITOR Earth and the American Dream, HBO, 1992
feature-length documentary on the environment, produced and directed by Bill Couturié, screened at the White House.
WINNER National Primetime EMMY AWARD
WINNER – Sundance Jury Special Award for Outstanding Achievement in Editing
EDITOR Memorial: Letters from American Soldiers, NBC, 1991
a documentary short about U.S. wars from WW1 to the Gulf, produced and directed by Bill Couturie .
ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATION for Short Documentary
EDITOR / WRITER* SuperChief: The Life and Legacy of Earl Warren, PBS, 1989
a bio. of US Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren. Directed by Bill Jersey & Judith Leonard.
ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATION for Best Documentary
EDITOR* Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin, ITVS, PBS, 2003,
Bio-doc on the great pacifist organizer, film was on Bill Moyers 2012 List of 10 Best Documentaries on Champions of Social Justice
EDITOR* Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam, HBO, 1987
double Emmy winning documentary on the Vietnam War, produced and directed by Bill Couturie.
WRITER Butt Thong, screenplay, optioned at Universal, 1991.
WRITER Ishi: The Last Wild Indian, screenplay. 1st place winner, Bay Guardian Script-writing Competition, 1988; Writer’s Guild Foundation Fellowship Semi-Finalist. 1988.
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER Maria’s Story, a heroic woman & war in El Salvador, PBS,POV 1990
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER Dateline: San Salvador, elections in El Salvador, PBS 1986
SOUND EDITOR Selected credits 1982-1990
Godfather III, directed by Francis Coppola, Paramount, 1990; Hot Spot, Skywalker Sound, directed by Dennis Hopper , 1990; Colors, Skywalker Sound , directed by Dennis Hopper, 1987; Nightmare on Elm Street III, 1987; Hot Pursuit, Paramount, 1987; Campus Man, Paramount, 1987; Wild Rose, New Front Films, 1983; The Black Stallion Returns, United Artists, 1982
EDITOR* / Consultant A Fierce Green Fire Enviro history, Redford Narrator, 2012
EDITOR* / Co-Producer Have You Heard from Johannesburg, 7 pt series on ending apartheid, 2012
EDITOR* Something Ventured, history of venture capital in Silicon Valley, 2011
SERIES EDITOR / Consultant Asian America, USA, 3 half hour episodes, NAATA, PBS, 2003
SEGMENT EDITOR Frontline World , pilot for the PBS series, 2002
EDITOR Modern Meat Frontline, PBS, 2002
EDITOR* Store Wars: When Wal-Mart Comes to Town, PBS, 2001
EDITOR A Bridge of Books: The Story of the National Yiddish Book Center, 2001
EDITOR Jewish film Festival Theatrical Trailer, 2000, 2001
SEGMENT EDITOR / CAMERA farmclub.com, music variety, USA cable, 2000
EDITOR* / WRITER* Mystery of the Last Tsar, The Tsar’s bones, scientific murder mystery, 1995
EDITOR San Francisco Sound, installation for Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, 1994
EDITOR Terminal USA, a TV movie, Funded by ITVS for PBS, 1993
EDITOR* Gone Too Soon, a music video for Michael Jackson, 1991
EDITOR / WRITER* The Road to Brown, civil rights history. Shared writing, PBS, 1990
EDITOR / WRITER* Chicano Park, Barrio Logan and Chicano exper., PBS, 1988
EDITOR Selected additional credits 1980-2000
Thin Green Line,Environmental activism, Outdoor Life Network , 2000; Martin Scorsese’s Favorite Films, pilot for a series, 1991; Visionary San Francisco, installation,S.F. Museum of Modern Art, 1990; Why Don’t You Dance,drama from R.Carver short story, 1991; Here’s My Hand, bio for Hubert Humphrey Museum, 1990; Destination: San Francisco, video travel guide, 1988; Yugo Goes Network, corporate campaign, 1986; Ford’s – The Story of a Theater, docu-drama, PBS, 1984; Tale of Two Sphinxes, ballooning in Egypt, 1984; A New Beginning, USC Trojans, Video Sports Network, 1984; In the Name of Democracy, elections in El Salvador. PBS, 1983; Songs from a Distant Jungle, music of Papua New Guinea, 1982; The New You Asked For It , pilot for the TV series, 1980
ADDITIONAL EXPERIENCE: PUBLISHED WRITINGS (short-stories, travel columns & film criticism); feature film 1st A.D.; ON-LINE Editor; film LAB TECHNICIAN; Radio DJ; Investigative News CAMERAMAN and RESEARCHER; Dog Groomer, construction worker, moving man, lots of world travel, BA with honors in Communications/Visual Arts, University of California, San Diego, 1980.
LANGUAGES: English and sometimes passable Spanish
REFERENCES & REEL AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST
List of Awards
Director’s Guild of America Nomination
Directorial Achievement in Documentary, The Double Life of Ernesto Gómez Gómez, 1999
Emmy Award Nominations
Outstanding Historical/Cultural Documentary, The Heiress and Her Chateau, 2015
Outstanding Individual Achievement, Writing, The Heiress and Her Chateau, 2015
Outstanding Science and Technology Program, My Love Affair with the Brain: The Life and
Science of Dr. Marian Diamond, 2017
Outstanding Individual Achievement, Editing, Soldiers of Conscience, 2008
Emmy Award WINNERS
Outstanding Individual Achievement, Editing, Loyalty and Betrayal: The Story of the American Mob, 1995
Outstanding Individual Achievement, Editing, Earth and the American Dream, 1993
Academy Award Nominations
Short Documentary Subject, Memorial: Letters from American Soldiers, 1991
Feature Length Documentary, SuperChief: The Life and Legacy of Earl Warren, 1989
“5 Best Films in 15 years” List
The Story of Mothers & Daughters Rocky Mountain Women’s Film Festival, 15th anniversary in 2003
My Love Affair with the Brain has also received:
- Best Science Film of 2017 – AAAS/Kavli Gold Medal, Science Journalism Awards, • Best Science Film of 2017, Spanish Science Film Festival, • Best Educational Film of 2017, Pariscience Festival International du Films Scientifique, • BEST SCIENCE FILMs OF 2017 – Science Books & Film year-end list, • Best in Festival – Audience Award, RiverRun International Film Festival, Winston-Salem, NC, • Best in Festival – American Psychological Association film festival, • Best Documentary – Indigo Moon film festival, • Best Documentary – High Falls Film Festival, NY, • Best Documentary, Audience Award, Durango Film Festival, • Audience Favorite Award – Mill Valley Film Festival, CA.
Soldiers of Conscience has also received:
- Best Documentary, Rhode Island Film Festival, 2007 • Best Film, Hamptons International film fest, Conflict and Resolution competition, • Best doc, Foyle Film fest • Finalist, best doc, Denver Film festival and screenings at 15 other film festivals to date.
Three Women and a Chateau has also received:
Best Documentary, Rhode Island Film Festival and screenings at 11 other film festivals.
The Double Life of Ernesto Gómez Gómez has also received:
- 1st place award-winner, Best Documentary, Big Muddy Film Festival, 1999 • Documentary Competition Winner, Athens International Film & Video Festival • Winner, Best Documentary, San Antonio Cine Festival • Grand Jury Prize, Best of Festival, Image (Atlanta) Film & Video Festival • screened at Smithsonian Institute, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, American Museum of Natural History (NY), Berlin Film Festival and 15 other festivals
Earth and the American Dream has also received:
- Sundance Film Festival, Special Jury Prize for Superb Technical Achievement in Editing • Award, San Francisco Film Fest. • Best Nature documentary, Cable Ace Awards •Best Doc., Environmental Media Awards.
SuperChief: The Life and Legacy of Earl Warren also received:
- CINE Golden Eagle • Emmy nomination • Golden Apple Award, National Educational Film Festival. • Christopher Award • IDA Distinguished Documentary Achievement Award
And The Band Played On has received:
- Emmy Award, Best Editing of a Mini-Series or Special
- Best Editing, Commercial TV, American Cinema Editor’s “Eddie” Awards, 1994
- Nominated for a Cable ACE Award, Best Edited Cable TV Movie.
The Road to Brown has received:
- Best Black History Award, American Film and Video Fest.
- “Outstanding 1990 Academic Non-print Materials,” Choice’s Magazine
Ishi: The Last of His Tribe a screenplay, received:
- 1st place Bay Guardian Script-writing Competition, 1988
- Semi-finalist, Writer’s Guild of America East Fellowship Program, 1988
Maria’s Story has received:
- Edward R Murrow Award • Best Documentary, San Antonio Film Fest. • Silver Hugo, Chicago Film Fest. • Best Documentary, Fest of Latin Amer, Havana • Award, San Francisco Film Fest.
Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam has received:
- Two National Emmy Awards: Outstanding Informational Special, Best Writing • 1989 Peabody Award • Best Documentary, San Francisco Film Fest. • Honorable Mention, U.S. Film Fest. • Official Selection, Cannes Film Fest., the first documentary ever to be so elected. • Best Documentary Special at ACE Awards • Nomination, Best Documentary Editing at Cable ACE Awards • Program-of-the-Year 87-88, Television Critics Association • included, TV Guide list “100 Best Moments on Television”
Chicano Park has received:
- Gold Award, Houston Film Fest. • Best Northern California Film, National Education Film Fest. • Honorable Mention, San Francisco Film Fest. • CINE Golden Eagle
Songs from a Distant Jungle has received:
- CINE Golden Eagle • Blue Ribbon, American Film Fest. • Silver Screen award, US Industrial Film Fest. • Best of Show, San Francisco Advertising Club Showcase Competition • Silver “Cindy” from IFPA • Best in Category and Bronze “Anvil ” Trophy, America Film Fest. • Honorable Mention at San Francisco International Film Fest.
In the Name of Democracy has received:
- Best of the Festival at Philadelphia International Film Fest. • Red Ribbon at American Film Fest. • included in the Best of the Global Village Festival Exhibition.
$20.01: A Chinese Food Odyssey: • 1st place, Nevada City Film Fest. • 1st place, Carlsbad Film Fest. •screenings at Telluride Film Fest., the Ann Arbor Film Fest., and the San Francisco International Film Fest.
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Jesse Cox
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Amber Webb
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