John Scheinfeld

From pop culture to politics, sports to world religions, Venice and Toronto film festivals to ABC and PBS, Emmy®, Grammy® and Writers Guild Award nominee John Scheinfeld is a critically acclaimed Director, Writer and Producer of documentaries with a broad range of subjects and productions to his credit. Most recently, Scheinfeld directed, wrote and produced Herb Alpert Is..., a powerful, passionate and inspiring theatrical documentary exploring the personal and creative journey of music icon and renaissance man Herb Alpert. The film World Premiered on Facebook Live in October 2020, followed by special screenings for AARP and ASCAP. The film is being distributed worldwide by Abramorama, the preeminent global theatrical and rights management partner for music films. Prior to that he directed, wrote and produced The Happy Days of Garry Marshall, a documentary celebrating the legacy of this Hollywood legend that aired in primetime on ABC in May 2020. It took second place in the ratings for the night and received great reviews. Another Scheinfeld feature documentary about the remarkable life of world music artist Sergio Mendes, Sergio Mendes: In The Key of Joy, had its World Premiere to a standing ovation at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival in January 2020. Great Point Media Ltd. is handling worldwide distribution theatrically and on all other media platforms starting in late 2020. His feature documentary, Chasing Trane: The John Coltrane Documentary, with Academy Award winner Denzel Washington speaking the words of the iconic musician, was an official selection of the Telluride Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival before playing on 175 theater screens worldwide in 2017. Netflix licensed and continues to air the film. Scheinfeld's This Is Bob Hope, with the words of Bob Hope spoken by Billy Crystal, premiered on the prestigious, award-winning PBS series, American Masters in December 2017. Scheinfeld is best known for two widely acclaimed feature documentaries: The U.S. vs. John Lennon, which tells the true story of the US government's attempt to silence the beloved musician and iconic advocate for peace and Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talkin' About Him)?, a compelling yet wildly entertaining documentary about one of the most talented and uncompromising singer-songwriters in pop music history. The U.S. vs. John Lennon was an official selection of the 2006 Venice, Telluride, London and Toronto International film festivals and was released worldwide by Lionsgate. Born out of his love for the music of the Beatles and a keen interest in freedom of speech and personal courage in the face of significant obstacles, Scheinfeld earned the trust of Yoko Ono and was given access to her extraordinary archive. For Who Is Harry Nilsson...?, Scheinfeld was nominated for the prestigious Writers Guild Award and USA Today named him one of the Top 100 People of 2010 in their pop culture poll. Lauded as "close to genius" by novelist Stephen King, the film was a true passion project for Scheinfeld and he skillfully balanced the tantalizing, dramatic, tragic and hilarious aspects of Nilsson's life with the many challenges involved in clearing more than 60 Nilsson songs for inclusion in the film. That same year saw the theatrical release of We Believe, an exuberant celebration of hope, loyalty, faith and the extraordinary love affair between a great city, Chicago, and its baseball team, the Cubs. Scheinfeld established a close working relationship with Major League Baseball, the Major League Baseball Players Association and the Chicago Cubs throughout production. In 2014, he directed, wrote and produced a high-profile documentary for PBS, Dick Cavett's Watergate. It proved so successful that the next year he directed, wrote and produced a follow-up, Dick Cavett's Vietnam. Both are intensely personal, intimate and entertaining explorations of critical events that helped shape American history in the 20th Century, each framed by guest interviews from the period and commentary by legendary talk show host Dick Cavett. Previously, on the heels of a 2006 Grammy® nomination for producing Beautiful Dreamer: Brian Wilson and the Story of SMiLE, Scheinfeld wrote, produced and directed Electric Youth: Teen Stars in the Music Business, a 2-hour special for A&E for which he received an Emmy® nomination as writer. Scheinfeld also wrote, produced and directed No Fighting in the War Room... or... Dr. Strangelove and The Nuclear Threat as well as documentaries for National Geographic, Tomb of Jesus and In The Name of Heaven. During his career Scheinfeld has also written, produced and/or directed numerous documentaries about such pop culture legends as the Bee Gees, Nat 'King' Cole, Bing Crosby, Norman Lear, Dean Martin, the Marx Brothers, Ricky Nelson, Peter Sellers, Frank Sinatra, Brian Wilson and Jonathan Winters. Scheinfeld received a B.A. in Communications and Sociology from Oberlin College and holds an M.F.A. in Radio/Television/Film from Northwestern University.