A Conversation with Ezra Edelman

Description

O.J.: Made in America has been hailed by critics and viewers as a “masterwork of scholarship, journalism, and cinematic art.” Explore this epic documentary and its examination of race, celebrity, media, and the justice system in America with its Peabody and Emmy Award–winning director Ezra Edelman, who has said of the film, “I wanted to explore and understand it all—and, hopefully, offer new perspective. I wasn’t as much interested in the question, “Did he do it?” as I was in the broader question of how O.J. became a symbol of so much…” This intimate conversation will be an opportunity to learn more about Edelman’s approach to the material and the formal challenges of telling the story.

Ezra Edelman is an acclaimed filmmaker with more than a dozen directing and producing credits to his name. In 2014, he directed two films, Requiem for the Big East and The Opposition, which aired as part of ESPN’s acclaimed 30 for 30 documentary series. In 2013, Edelman co-produced the SF Film Society–supported documentary Cutie and The Boxer, which was nominated for an Academy Award.

He also has produced and directed three films for HBO, including Magic and Bird: A Courtship of Rivals, which received a Peabody Award and was nominated for three Emmys. He produced and directed Brooklyn Dodgers: The Ghosts of Flatbush, which won an Emmy, and The Curious Case of Curt Flood.

Before beginning work in documentaries, Edelman spent seven years as a producer on the news magazine show Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, during which time he won four Emmys. A native of Washington DC, Edelman graduated from Yale University and currently lives in Brooklyn.