Robert J. Siegel

Robert J. Siegel is an American filmmaker from New York City. He spent the better part of his adolescence (and likes to say he grew up) at the Leow's Paradise theater in the Bronx. He attended NYU Film School, where he shot the school's first student film to be theatrically released, "Arrivederci Darling, That's My Advice To You," which received a Cine Golden Eagle award. His senior thesis film, "City of Fire," was honored as a finalist at the San Francisco International Film Festival - and was one of the first student films to be offered worldwide distribution by the USIA. Upon graduating film school, Siegel worked primarily in New York making documentaries and commercials. He was head of production for Carity Hoffman Associates, and subsequently worked for both J. Walter Thompson and McCann Erickson, where he produced and directed commercials for companies including Coca Cola. For over 30 years, Siegel served as the head narrative professor at the SUNY Purchase Film Conservatory, where he creatively supervised hundreds of thesis films. His debut feature film, "Parades," was the first American film to address the Vietnam war - and created a firestorm of controversy when it premiered at the USA Film Festival in Dallas. A true maverick filmmaker, Siegel only makes films which speak to the immediate issues of modern life, and always in his own way and by his own rules. Siegel's films have received recognition at the San Francisco International Film Festival, the Venice Film Festival, the Montreal Film Festival, and the USA Film Festival in Dallas. The Line was honored by invitation to the Montreal and Deauville International Film Festivals, and his work has been selected into the National Film Archives. He lives in Westchester, NY, with his wife Monique Rothman and their two daughters, Arianne and Gaby.