Sanford Meisner: The American Theatre's Best Kept Secret
A leading acting teacher who trained some of the most famous performers of the stage and screen, Sanford Meisner was a founding member of the Group Theatre. The Group Theatre, a cooperative theater ensemble, became a leading force in the theater world of the 30s. Meisner performed in many of the group’s most memorable productions.
Nick Doob
Casts & Crew
Sanford Meisner
Stephen Harvey
Susan Boehm
Robert Duvall
Peter Falk
Lee Grant
Anne Jackson
Elia Kazan
David Mamet
Vivian Matalon
Gregory Peck
Suzanne Pleshette
Sydney Pollack
Tony Randall
Mark Rydell
José Angel Santana
Mary Steenburgen
Frances Sternhagen
Gwen Verdon
Jon Voight
Eli Wallach
Joanne Woodward
Also Directed by Nick Doob
From directors Nick Doob and Shari Cookson, "Requiem for the Dead" is made entirely from found footage, including social media posts, 9-1-1 calls, news stories and police files. The film tells the stories of those who have been killed by gunfire, whether from accidental violence, random shootings, family disputes or suicide. Hear those stories of those who have died, which is only a fraction of the 32,000 people killed in America each year, 88 per day, from gun violence.
On May 24, 2000, the historic Ryman Auditorium was booked to offer Nashvillians an evening of sublime beauty. Label executives and soundtrack producers so loved the music of O Brother, Where Art Thou? that they brought it to life as a benefit concert for the Country Music Hall of Fame. Filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen loved it so much that they hired famed documentary filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker to record the show for posterity. The concert that unfolded that night was one of the greatest musical moments in the annals of Music City. Performers: John Hartford, Alison Krauss, Emmylou Harris, Gillian Welch, Chris Thomas King, The Cox Family, Fairfield Four, Union Station, Colin Linden, The Nashville Bluegrass Band, The Peasall Sisters, Ralph Stanley, David Rawlings, The Whites.
Join filmmaking duo Chris Hegedus and Nick Doob as their cameras follow Franken to book signings, campaign rallies and the launch of Air America Radio, documenting his transformation from irreverent funnyman to political pundit.
A film about the life of African American Donald Horner from New Haven, Connecticut, detailing his views on society, his experience, of his time in jail, and his growing relationship with the filmmaker. - Revitalizing History: Recognizing the Struggles, Lives, and Achievements of African American and Women Art Educators
A collection of performances by street musicians across the country, from New York to San Francisco, New Orleans to Chicago, the film presents 19 musicians in seven cities, and was one of Doob's first feature-length films. Among the singers, guitarists, drummers, dancers, and other artists, Doob includes street performance legends such as Brother Blue, Gene Palma, Bongo Joe, the Automatic Human Jukebox, and bluesman Jimmy Davis. The film captures a cross-section of Americans filled with raw talent, showmanship, and hustle, and presents a time capsule of the fashion, architecture, and culture of the 1970s. (Yale Film Archive)
Doob’s first longer film begins with a shot of the sun setting over the Hudson River in New York City, and goes on to examine the nighttime street life found in the block of 42nd Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues. As Doob describes it, “That block was fairly notorious at that time, with pornographic bookstores and theaters, peep-shows, and prostitution. It was also a kind of magnet for exotic personalities, and a visually interesting location.” The film showed at many film festivals, won a prize at the West German Short Film Festival in Oberhausen, and was well reviewed in the New York Times. After making this film, and after the experience of taking Murray Lerner’s filmmaking class at Yale, Doob worked as Lerner’s cinematographer on a number of films, including his 1979 Academy Award-winning documentary FROM MAO TO MOZART. (Yale Film Archive)
Seven people living through various stages of Alzheimer's disease are profiled in this documentary.
As a senior at Yale College in 1968, Doob was invited to participate in the Scholars of the House Program, a senior honors program that required students to create, in lieu of regular classes, “a finished essay or project which must justify by its scope and quality the freedom which has been granted.” Rather than pursue a more traditional written work, Doob initially chose to make a film, an unorthodox approach that had not been previously attempted. In the end, Doob chose to make two films to fulfill the requirement, beginning with COSTUMED DANCER. The film is a progression of images of a dancer, shot and printed on high contrast stock, and stacked in the printer in a number of layers so as to create multiple images of the dancer, moving from single image to multiple image in a kind of phasing. It is cut to music composed by Doob’s friend David Sewall, who was the subject of one of Doob’s later films, LONDON SONGS (1972). (Yale Film Archive)
Prior to STREET MUSIC, Doob made this 27-minute documentary, which follows his Yale classmate David Sewall, a violinist and singer, as he performs traditional and original songs on the streets and in the pubs, parks, and markets of London. In color and in black and white, Sewall's unique style and good humor transfix audiences of curious school children, West End theater-goers, and passersby on the sidewalk. His energetic performance of then-current hit "Young Girl" for a group of Covent Garden flower sellers is a particular highlight, and the film closes with a moving rendition of “Danny Boy” that prompts pub-goers to join Sewall in song. Preserved at Fotokem, 2021.
This is the story of a year in the life of one mother whose daily struggles illuminate the challenges faced by more than 42 million American women and the 28 million children who depend on them.