Mel Lawrence
Mel Lawrence | |
|---|---|
Brooklyn, New York | |
| Died | November 5, 2016 (aged 81) |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation(s) | Film director and producer |
| Family | brother Andrew Lachs |
Mel Lawrence (May 17, 1935 - November 5, 2016) was an American film director and producer and former concert and festival promoter. He is best known for his role as the Director of Operations at the
Life and career
Mel Lawrence was born and raised in
In 1967, Lawrence became the Promotions director of
In 1970 Lawrence moved to New Mexico, where he became the Director of Development for the Wheelwright Museum of the Indian American, a museum dedicated to Native American art. He also continued to produce music festivals, including Jamboree in the Hills, a country music festival in Wheeling, West Virginia, that became an annual festival[4] that is still held today.[5][6]
In 1979 Lawrence turned his attention to documentary filmmaking when he became the Associate Producer of
In 1989, Lawrence worked in Brazil as a line producer for Ilé Aiyé, a PBS documentary about the Candomble religion of Brazil's West African Yoruba immigrants directed by David Byrne of Talking Heads and scouted locations in Brazil for the TBS documentary Without Borders, which focused on the future of the Amazon.
Following the success of this work, Lawrence went on to produce and direct a number of documentaries for HBO and TBS, including The Amazon Warrior (1996), a film about the
Lawrence also executive produced Soul in the Hole (1997), a documentary about Brooklyn street basketball that was released theatrically and won the Independent Spirit: Truer Than Fiction Award.
Lawrence's best-known film is Paha Sapa: The Struggle for the Black Hills (1993), a documentary made for HBO that chronicles the 125-year land-claims conflict between the Lakota
In 1997 Lawrence became Program Director for The Recovery Network, a start-up cable network designed specifically for addicts and their families and support community. Lawrence reprogrammed and produced over 100 hours of content for the network which was seen in over 15 million households in the U.S.
In 1999, Lawrence directed special events for
In 2004, he co-produced Un Retrato de Diego, a documentary about Mexican artist Diego Rivera made by his grandson.[citation needed]
From 2008-2011 Lawrence worked as a story producer on several Discovery Channel series, including Iditarod, and the Emmy-winning Deadliest Catch, and on NBC’s Shark U, and TruTV’s Black Gold, and in 2012 he worked as the consulting producer of the film Visitors, another film written and directed by Godfrey Reggio and scored by Philip Glass.
When Lawrence died he was working on a number of documentaries, including a film about tequila (tentatively titled The Ambassador of Tequila), a work chronicling the stories of multiple generations of a Chinese-American family known as Bamboo Roots, and an update on the conflicts covered in his film Paha Sapa.
He is survived by his partner, the artist Nani Grenell and his beloved nephew Seth Lachs.
Music Festivals
| Year(s) | Festival | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1967-78 | Magic Mountain Music Festival | Co-Producer |
| 1967 | Monterey Pop Festival |
Operations |
| 1968 | Miami Pop Festival | Co-Producer |
| 1968 | Newport Pop Festival | Producer |
| 1969 | Woodstock Festival | Director of Operations |
| 1976-9 | Jamboree in The Hills | Producer |
| 1999 | Woodstock ’99 | Director Special Events |
Filmography
| Year | Title | Credit | Production/Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Koyaanisqatsi |
Associate Producer | Island Alive |
| 1987 | Powaqqatsi: Life in Transformation |
Producer | Cannon |
| 1988 | Without Borders | Associate Producer | TBS |
| 1989 | Île Aye | Line Producer | PBS |
| 1994 | Paha Sapa - The Struggle for the Black Hills | Producer/Director | HBO |
| 1995 | Biker Women | Producer | TBS |
| 1996 | The Amazon Warrior | Producer/Director | TBS |
| 1997 | Legends of the Bushmen | Executive Producer | |
| 1997 | Soul in the Hole | Executive Producer | HBO |
| 2002 | Naqoyqatsi: Life as War |
Co-producer | Miramax |
| 2005 | Un Retrato De Diego | Producer | |
| 2013 | The Ambassador of Tequila | Producer | Baseline Productions |
| 2013 | Visitors | Consulting Producer | Cinedigm |
Television work
- Recovery Network (1997-2000) (Producer, Program Director)
- Iditarod (Original Productions) (2008) (story producer)
- Shark U (Original Productions) (2008) (story producer)
- Deadliest Catch (Original Productions) (2008 - 2010) (story producer)
- Black Gold (Original Productions)(2011-2012) (story producer)
Awards
| 1994 | Paha Sapa: The Struggle for the Black Hills | Emmy (News & Documentary) |
Best Documentary Program | Nomination |
| American Indian Film Festival | Best Director | Win | ||
San Francisco Film Festival |
Golden Gate Award | Win | ||
Cine Golden Eagle Award |
Golden Eagle Award | Win | ||
| National Education Film Festival | Golden Apple Award | Win | ||
| 1997 | Soul in the Hole | Independent Spirit Awards | Truer Than Fiction Award | Win |
References
- ISBN 978-1402766237.
- ^ "Columbia Pictures Plots Music Films". Billboard. 25 June 1977. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
- ^ "The Untold and Deeply Stoned Story of the First U.S. Rock Festival". Rolling Stone. 2014-06-17.
- ^ "The Hour - Google News Archive Search". Retrieved 6 November 2016.
- ^ Inc, Nielsen Business Media (25 June 1977). "Billboard". Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved 6 November 2016 – via Google Books.
{{cite web}}:|last=has generic name (help) - ^ Inc, Nielsen Business Media (2 August 1980). "Billboard". Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved 6 November 2016 – via Google Books.
{{cite web}}:|last=has generic name (help) - ^ "15TH ANNUAL NEWS AND DOCUMENTARY EMMY AWARD NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED BY THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF TELEVISION ARTS AND SCIENCES" (PDF). Retrieved 20 October 2016.
- ^ "PBS TAKES LEAD IN NEWS-DOCUMENTARY EMMY NOMINATIONS". AP News Archive. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
External links
- Mel Lawrence at IMDb