The Filmmaker
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Roberta Grossman
BLESSED IS THE MATCH Director/Producer
What keeps her motivated as an independent filmmaker:
This is a particularly difficult time for independent film, given the economic crisis. Raising money for documentaries is never a picnic, and now it sometimes feels impossible. But then, a story, a problem, an issue that infuriates you comes along and you know you just have to make a film about it — and somehow, you find a way to do it. You make a decision to start pushing the rock up the hill one more time, and you don’t stop until you get to the top.
Her three favorite films:
Motorcycle Diaries, Reds, Funny Girl
Her advice for aspiring filmmakers:
My usual line is “Make sure you have a trust fund.” But I didn’t, and I was eventually able to make the film I always wanted to make. So better advice might be to be patient. Success doesn’t have to happen overnight.
Bio
An award-winning filmmaker with a passion for history and social justice, Roberta Grossman has written and produced more than 40 hours of documentary television. She was the series producer and co-writer of 500 Nations, the eight-hour CBS miniseries on Native Americans hosted by Kevin Costner. Grossman’s feature documentary Homeland: Four Portraits of Native Action, premiered in February 2005, and has screened and won awards at more than 40 festivals worldwide. Other writing and producing credits include In the Footsteps of Jesus, a four-hour special for the History Channel; Hollywood & Power: Women on Top, a special for AMC; The Rich in America: 150 Years of Town and Country Magazine for A&E; The History of Christianity: The First Thousand Years, a four-hour special on A&E; Medal of Honor, a six-part television series produced for U.S. News & World Report; and Heroines of the Hebrew Bible and Judas for the A&E series Mysteries of the Bible.
