Inspired to create a unique documentary about Rikers through the eyes of men and women who have been detained there, Bill Moyers reached out to some long-time collaborators. Meet the filmmakers and others who have worked on RIKERS: AN AMERICAN JAIL.
To learn more about the inspiration and making of the film, read this essay from Bill Moyers, or watch his introduction to the film.
A broadcast journalist for more than four decades, Bill Moyers has been recognized as one of the unique voices of our times, with more than 30 Emmys, two Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards, nine Peabodys, three George Polk Awards and many other distinctions.
With his wife and creative partner, Judith Davidson Moyers, Bill Moyers produced the groundbreaking weekly news programs NOW with Bill Moyers, Bill Moyers Journal and most recently, Moyers & Company. Other notable productions include the landmark series, Moyers on America; On Our Own Terms: Moyers on Dying; and Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth. These productions are part of a large body of journalistic programming created by Public Affairs Television, the company that Moyers founded in 1986. Over the years, the production company was widely acclaimed for its innovative and courageous exploration of subjects ranging from politics and the environment to the role of media in democracy. Public Affairs Television closed in 2015, but Moyers continues to work on journalistic projects with long-time colleague Judy Doctoroff at Public Square Media.
Moyers began his journalism career at age 16 as a cub reporter for his hometown newspaper in Marshall, Texas. He was a founding organizer and deputy director of the Peace Corps before serving as President Lyndon B. Johnson’s press secretary from 1965 to 1967. As publisher of Newsday from 1967 to 1970, Moyers led the paper to two Pulitzer Prizes. In 1976, he was the senior correspondent for the distinguished documentary series CBS Reports and later a senior news analyst for The CBS Evening News.
Besides his work in television, Moyers has authored 12 books, including bestsellers such as Moyers on Democracy, Healing and the Mind, The Power of Myth and Listening to America. He currently serves as president of the Schumann Media Center, a non-profit organization that supports independent journalism. See more about Moyers.
Judy Doctoroff is currently the president and executive producer of Public Square Media. Previously she worked with Judith and Bill Moyers for three decades, supervising the production, promotion and distribution of over 700 hours of programming and serving as president and chief operating officer for Public Affairs Television. Doctoroff received several Emmys as well as a duPont-Columbia Gold Baton Award for her work at Public Affairs Television and under her stewardship, it earned widespread recognition as one of the most prolific and acclaimed independent production companies.
Doctoroff served as executive producer of some of Moyers’ most notable series, including Moyers & Company, Faith and Reason and Moyers on Addiction: Close to Home. She also directed and managed the digital operations of PAT, including its presence on social media and its award-winning news website, BillMoyers.com, which continues now under the aegis of Public Square Media. See more about Doctoroff.
Marc Levin is an award-winning independent filmmaker and co-founder of Brick City TV. He has worked with Bill Moyers over three decades. Among many acclaimed productions for Moyers are: The Home Front with Bill Moyers, which was honored with a duPont-Columbia Gold Baton Award, and The Secret Government: The Constitution in Crisis, which was awarded an Emmy.
Levin has received many honors, including a total of three National Emmys and four duPont-Columbia Awards. His groundbreaking feature film, Slam, won both the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and the Camera d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival.
He has made 15 films for HBO, including his latest, Class Divide, which premiered in October 2016. A long time collaborator with Mark Benjamin, the pair partnered with Robert Redford of Sundance Productions for Chicagoland, an eight-hour docu-series for CNN, which first aired in 2014 to great critical acclaim. Also working with Benjamin, Levin produced and directed Brick City, a Peabody Award-winning and twice Emmy-nominated docu-series about the struggling city of Newark, NJ. See more about Levin.
Over his 40-year career Mark Benjamin has created an award-winning body of work for the major networks and several leading cable channels. His work on RIKERS is the latest on a long list of acclaimed productions working with Marc Levin and Bill Moyers.
Benjamin served as the cinematographer for the award-winning film Slam, which won both the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and the Camera d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival.
Other films shot by Benjamin include HBO’s Thug Life in DC, which won a national Emmy for best documentary film and CIA: America’s Secret Warriors, which was awarded a duPont-Columbia Award; and HBO’s Gang War: Banging in Little Rock, awarded the ACE award for best documentary. After producing and directing the ground-breaking, eleven-hour series Brick City with Levin, the pair started a tv production company by the same name. CNN’s Chicagoland was the next series Benjamin executive produced with Levin and Robert Redford’s Sundance Productions.
His first filming assignment came during the 1973 Arab-Israeli war in the Middle East, where he served as a combat cameraman for NBC News in the Sinai Desert. See more about Benjamin.
Rolake Bamgbose, a Nigerian-American journalist, producer and director with over a decade of television news and documentary experience, joined Brick City TV to produce RIKERS. She is currently a features producer on HBO’s new nightly program, Vice News Tonight, covering stories related to civil rights and social justice. Her work been featured on ABC News, NBC, MSNBC, BBC, Discovery and VICE on HBO. Her documentary work has covered a wide range of topics, and includes the films Hate In America, March to Justice and Everest Avalanche Tragedy.
In 2010 Bamgbose traveled to Haiti to film and report on the devastation following the country’s catastrophic earthquake. Her passion for travel and interest in cultural mores, especially the roots of socio-economic inequalities, has guided her dedication to tell stories of those marginalized by the mainstream media. She holds a Master of Journalism, with a focus in Mass Communications and Media Studies, from Howard University. See more about Bamgbose.
PRODUCED BY
Marc Levin
Mark Benjamin
PRODUCER
Rolake Bamgbose
EDITOR
Jason Pollard
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Mark Benjamin
LINE PRODUCER
Kara Rozansky
CO-PRODUCERS
Jackson Devereux
John Maidman
ADDITIONAL EDITORS
James Lester
Ema Ryan Yamazaki
ADDITIONAL CAMERA
Daniel B. Levin
John Maidman
MUSIC
Ian Hatton
FILM GRAPHIC DESIGN
Dale Robbins
POST PRODUCTION SUPERVISOR?
Giancarlo Baldino
SOUND MIX
Evan Benjamin
COLORIST / ONLINE EDITOR
Ken Sirulnick
ARCHIVAL MATERIALS COURTESY OF:
AP Images
Axiom Images, Inc.
Shutterstock
Jennifer S. Altman
JC Dhien Photography
Lorenzo Steele
RESEARCH SUPPORT PROVIDED BY:
William Walker McLaury, Jr.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS & ENGAGEMENT
Colby Kelly
DIRECTOR OF ENGAGEMENT
Su Patel
COMMUNICATIONS DESIGN
Jon Kalish
MEDIA RELATIONS
Lynn Brodsky
WEB WRITER
Karin Kamp
PRODUCTION EXECUTIVES
Karen Kimball
Yuka Nishino
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
Judy Doctoroff O’Neill
EXECUTIVE EDITOR
Bill Moyers
A Production of Schumann Media Center, Inc. and Brick City TV LLC
in association with Public Square Media, Inc.
Schumann Media Center, Inc. © 2016