In 2013, I created a documentary-film unit at TIME called Red Border Films. The idea was to make short- and long-form documentaries based on TIME’s reported stories. (The name Red Border Films came from TIME's iconic red border.) I was executive producer for the series. Below are a few of our award-winning documentaries.
A MORNING AT HOME: In this series, we tried to take the intimacy that TIME has been able to achieve in photographic portraits of famous people and extend it into the realm of video. Our goal was to make something personal and cinematic and revealing. Our first “Morning at Home,” directed by Shaul Schwarz, gave viewers a candid look into the domestic life of John Irving, the writer.
HEALING BOBBY In this original feature for TIME, the director and photographer Peter van Agtmael tells the story of Bobby Henline, an Iraq War veteran turned stand-up comedian who makes his injuries part of his comedy. Peter pitched this story to us as a photo essay, but we immediately saw its potential as a film. I was the executive producer for “Healing Bobby,” which won numerous awards, including the Edward R. Murrow Award.
Camouflaged Identity: An estimated 15,000 transgender troops currently serve in the U.S. military. Each has risked dismissal from military service for revealing their identity. In this film, the directors Gillian Laub and Shaul Schwarz tell the stories of Maya Martinez, Landon Wilson, and Jamie Ewing.
RISE: (2011) As the WTC finally was scheduled to open, we wanted to look inside the lives of the iron workers, who mostly were down at ground zero during 9/11 and continued to work down at the site for more than a decade later, rebuilding a building that came down on most of their friends.