Joel L. Freedman

Joel Freedman grew up in Hastings, New York. He has directed and produced a wide range of films and videos, which have been shown worldwide, in theaters, on television and in the educational market. His work includes feature films, documentary films and videos, commercials and PSA's - for Hollywood studios, television stations and networks, government agencies and corporate sponsors. He has won many awards and acclaim. He is currently completing a feature documentary film The Seventh Generation and is readying Joplin - The Movie - a feature biopic on the "Queen of Rock n' Roll". He has directed and/or produced more than sixty films and videos including: Brainstorm for MGM starring Natalie Wood, Christopher Walken, and feature documentaries such as the acclaimed Broken Treaty At Battle Mountain and To Protect Mother Earth, each narrated by Robert Redford, and Even If A Hundred Ogres ..., introduced and narrated by Joanne Woodward. He produced and directed with Philip F. Messina the acclaimed anti-drug feature documentary Skezag. His projects include work for Paramount Pictures, MGM, The United States Office of Education, Universal Studios, PBS, The USIA and etc. Freedman holds a B.A. and an MFA degree in Motion Picture Production and Direction from New York University Tisch School of the Arts, where he taught motion picture production as Adjunct Professor of Film and Television. He has lectured at many universities, served as panelist for The New York State Council on the Arts and the International Monitor Awards and is a founding member of The Association of Independent Video and Filmmakers (AIVF). He is has been awarded many grants and has won twenty six international awards including: The CINE Golden Eagle, First Prize -The Golden Sesterce (Nyons, France) * The Gold Medal Special Jury Award - Atlanta, The Best of the Festival and best feature - The United States Environmental Film Festival and etc. He has been honored by The American Film Institute at The Kennedy Center for The Performing Arts and at many international film festivals. He is an accomplished jazz cellist and composer. He appears on ESP Disk, Impulse Records, and Cinna Disk. His daughter is Katherine Rose Freedman - a poet and actress, and his son, Daniel Holley Freedman, jazz percussionist and music producer. Joel lives in Westport, Connecticut.