American film producer (born 1970)
Mikaela Beardsley (born January 22, 1970) is an American documentary film producer and entrepreneur . She is currently the executive director of the What Works Media Project .[ 1] Most of her films are distributed by PBS or HBO Documentary Films .
Biography
Beardsley was born in Boston, MA . In 1992, she graduated magna cum laude from Princeton University , where she earned her BA in Comparative Literature. At Princeton, she was classmates with future screenwriter Craig Mazin and future U.S. Senator Ted Cruz ,[ 2] [ 3] as well a roommate of film producer and later collaborator, Jamie Gordon.[ 4] She has produced over a dozen nationally broadcast films, and has worked with the likes of Martin Scorsese , Alex Gibney , and Wim Wenders , among others.[ 5]
Career
In 1993, Beardsley began her career at WGBH-TV in Boston, Massachusetts .[ 6] She then moved to New York , where she acted as an associate producer on The Irish in America: Long Journey Home .
In 2003, PBS presented a seven-part documentary film series from Martin Scorsese called, Martin Scorsese Presents: The Blues , dedicated to exploring the history of the uniquely American musical genre. Beardsley served as a producer on episodes directed by Scorsese, Clint Eastwood , Charles Burnett and Wim Wenders .
In 2009, Beardsley produced the documentary film Reporter , about New York Times columnist Nicholas D. Kristof 's work in the Democratic Republic of Congo . The film was directed by Eric Daniel Metzgar , and executive produced by Ben Affleck . The film premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival ,[ 7] before first airing on HBO on February 18, 2010.[ 8] In 2011, Beardsley would receive an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Informational Programming - Longform for Reporter .
Beardsley originated the Half the Sky movement ,[ 9] a multi-year global media project aimed at improving opportunity for women and girls in the developing world, based on the critically acclaimed nonfiction book , by Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn . This included a four-hour documentary in 2012 that Beardsley executive produced, which PBS aired in two parts on consecutive nights. The documentary featured celebrity advocates America Ferrera , Diane Lane , Eva Mendes , Meg Ryan , Gabrielle Union , and Olivia Wilde traveling to developing countries.[ 10] In November of that year, Beardsley served as the keynote speaker at the first annual Global Solutions Forum at Vail Mountain School , discussing the project.[ 11] For Half the Sky , Beardlsey developed a partnership with USAID , that linked the Ford Foundation , IKEA Foundation, Intel and numerous other corporate partners, including Coca-Cola , Goldman Sachs , Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation , John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation , Nike , and the Rockefeller Foundation , raising five million dollars for direct programs.[ 12]
In 2015, Beardley received her second Emmy nomination, this time for Outstanding Historical Programming, for producing Makers: Women Who Make America .
In 2016, Mikaela initiated the What Works Media Project , joining with Results For America, Soledad O'Brien 's Starfish Media Group, The Sorenson Impact Center, and Impact Partners. The project commissions award-winning documentary directors to produce character-driven shorts focusing on the advancement of social mobility, and the government officials leading the way. First announced at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival , the films are scheduled to go into production in late 2017.[ 13]
Filmography
Producer
Personal life
She is married to film producer Cary Woods [citation needed ] .
References
^ "What Works Media Project Two-Pager" (PDF) . Results4America.org . Results For America. Retrieved November 8, 2017 .
^ Stuart, Tessa (April 29, 2016). "A Compendium of People Who Hate Ted Cruz's Guts" . Rolling Stone . Retrieved November 8, 2017 .
^ Mazin, Craig (February 5, 2016). "BTW, Mikaela Beardsley is one of the nicest, purest, good-hearted people I've ever met. So naturally, Ted called her mom a whore" . Twitter . Retrieved November 8, 2017 .
^ Boyd, E.B. (March 2, 2011). "Starting a movement: Alumnae raising awareness about women in the developing world" . Princeton Alumni Weekly . Retrieved November 8, 2017 .
^ "Mikaela Beardsley" . Winter Innovations Summit, 2017 . Retrieved November 8, 2017 .
^ "Team" . Half The Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide . Retrieved November 8, 2017 .
^ Davis, Robert (January 19, 2009). "Sundance 2009: Taking Chance and Reporter" . Paste Magazine . Retrieved November 8, 2017 .
^ "Hank Stuever on HBO's 'Reporter' with Nicholas D. Kristof" . The Washington Post . February 2, 2010. Retrieved November 8, 2017 .
^ "Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide" . Half the Sky momement . Retrieved January 19, 2018 .
^ "Half The Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide" . PBS . Retrieved November 8, 2017 .
^ Woodland, Betty Ann (November 1, 2012). "Documentary filmmaker Mikaela Beardsley visits Vail Mountain School" . Vail Daily . Retrieved November 8, 2017 .
^ "Funder" . Half the Sky Movement . Retrieved November 8, 2017 .
^ "Our Work: What Works Media Project" . Results For America . Retrieved November 8, 2017 .
External links