Quick Facts
Biography
Professional career
Helen Whitney is an award-winning American producer, director and writer of documentaries and feature films that have aired on PBS, HBO, ABC and NBC. Her subjects have stretched across a broad spectrum of topics including youth gangs, a portrait of the 1996 presidential candidates, a Trappist monastery in Massachusetts, the McCarthy Era, Pope John Paul II, and the late photographer Richard Avedon. "Faith and Doubt at Ground Zero", arguably Whitney's best-known film, was PBS' two-hour special on 9/11, which explored the spiritual aftershocks of this horrific event. Her film, The Mormons, was a four-hour PBS series and the first collaboration between American Experience and Frontline.
Ms. Whitney's most recent film, "Forgiveness: A Time to Love & A Time to Hate", examines the power, limitations - and in rare cases - the dangers of forgiveness through emblematic stories, ranging from personal betrayal to international truth and reconciliation commissions. This three-hour series aired on PBS in April 2011. Whether her film subjects are political or spiritual, they cut close to the bone and on occasion they have created controversy. Her 1982 ABC News Close-Up documentary about the McCarthy Era, "American Inquisition", provoked a libel suit brought by journalist Victor Lasky. Whitney and ABC News were defended by the legendary First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams, whose many landmark cases include the Pentagon Papers. The court ruled in favor of Whitney's documentary. It was decisive victory for ABC News and the producer Helen Whitney. In the words of Floyd Abrams words "we won and the broadcast was totally vindicated." In her feature work, she has directed many distinguished actors, among them Lindsey Crouse, Austin Pendleton, Blair Brown, Brenda Fricker, David Strathairn.
Her films have received the highest awards in the industry. Among her many accolades are an Oscar nomination, the duPont-Columbia University Award, an Emmy Award and the George Foster Peabody Award. Ms. Whitney frequently lectures at colleges and universities, museums and churches throughout the country. In 2012, she presented the William Belden Noble lectures at Harvard University. She has also been an artist-in-residence on numerous campuses and she continues to produce award-winning documentaries that raise important, provoking questions.
Education
Whitney grew up in New York City, where she attended the Chapin School.She received a BA in English literature from Sarah Lawrence College in 1965 and a master's degree in Victorian literature from the University of Chicago in 1967.
Documentary Films - Producer, Director, Writer
| Title | Airing Network | Duration | Year Released |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Edition | PBS | 30 minutes | 1975 |
| Youth Terror: The View From Behind The Gun | ABC | 60 minutes | 1978 |
| The Monastery | ABC | 90 minutes | 1980 |
| Homosexuals | ABC | 60 minutes | 1982 |
| American Inquisition | ABC | 60 minutes | 1983 |
| They Have Souls Too | ABC | 60 minutes | 1992 |
| Society Class In Great Britain | Turner Network | 60 minutes | 1992 |
| Richard Avedon: Darkness and Light | PBS: American Masters | 90 minutes | 1994 |
| The Choice '96 | PBS: Frontline | 2 hours | 1996 |
| John Paul II: The Millennial Pope | PBS Frontline | 3 hours | 1998 |
| Faith and Doubt At Ground Zero | PBS: Frontline | 2 hours | 2002 |
| The Mormons | PBS: Frontline and American Experience | 4 hours | 2007 |
| Forgiveness: A Time To Love And A Time To Hate | PBS | 3 hours | 2011 |
Dramatic Feature Films - Director
Beginning in 1982, following her acceptance by the Sundance Institute, Helen wrote and directed a number of dramatic features for television.
| Title | Airing Network | Year Released |
|---|---|---|
| A Town's Revenge | ABC | 1997 |
| In The Gloaming | Trinity Playhouse | 1997 |
| Every Day Heroes | 1990 | |
| Lethal Innocence | American Playhouse | 1991 |
| First Love. Fatal Love | HBO | 1991 |
Scripts - Writer & Co-Writer
| Title | Role | Airing Station/Location |
|---|---|---|
| The Siege | Co-writer | Commissioned by Trinity Playhouse |
| Change of Heart | Co-writer | Commissioned by American Playhouse |
| Kale Messenger | Co-writer | Commissioned by Warner Brothers |
| K.589 | Co-writer | Selected by The Sundance Film Festival |
| Prejudice: Take One | Writer | Commissioned by Highgate Productions |
| Willa Cather: The Road Home | Co-writer | PBS American Masters |
| The Rise and Fall of Mark Twain | Co-writer | PBS American Masters |
| Deliverance | Co-writer | Commissioned for PBS for the 50th anniversary of WW2 |
| Black, White and Blue | Co-writer | HBO |
| The Song of the Lark | Co-writer | Lifetime Television |
Book
In 2011, following the release of her two-part PBS documentary "Forgiveness: A Time To Love & A Time To Hate", Whitney wrote a companion book to the film with the same title and a foreword by the Dalai Lama.
Abbreviated List of Awards and Nominations
| Year | Body of Work | Award Received |
|---|---|---|
| 1977 | First Edition | Academy Award Nomination: Best Documentary Short |
| 1978 | Youth Terror: The View From Behind The Gun | The San Francisco International Film Festival Award |
| 1978 | First Edition | The Flaherty Film Festival Award |
| 1985 | American Inquisition | The Edward R. Murrow Award |
| 1988 | They Have Souls Too | The Humanitas Prize |
| 1990 | A Town's Revenge | The Humanitas Prize |
| 1995 | Richard Avedon: Darkness and Light | The Director's Guild of America: Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary Film |
| 1995 | Richard Avedon: Darkness and Light | The Hamptons International Film Festival Award for most popular film |
| 1996 | The Choice '96 | The Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award |
| 1996 | The Choice '96 | George Foster Peabody Award |
| 1996 | The Choice '96 | Emmy Award for Outstanding Analysis of a Single Current Story |
| 1996 | The Choice '96 | The Writer's Guild of America Award for Outstanding Script for Television Documentary |
| 2002 | Faith and Doubt At Ground Zero | The Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award |
| 2002 | Faith and Doubt At Ground Zero | The Christopher Award |
| 1999 | John Paul II: The Millennial Pope | The Writer's Guild of America Award for Outstanding Script for Television Documentary |
Film and Lecture Presentations
Helen Whitney has delivered keynote addresses and lectures at Yale University, Berkeley, Pomona College, Harvard Divinity School, Iliff School of Theology in Denver, Bellarmine University, John Jay School of Criminal Justice, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Minneapolis Art Institute, the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Cathedral of the Assumption in Louisville, KY, the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, and the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C, Syracuse University and Roanoke College in Virginia.
Endowed Lectures
- William Belden Noble Lectures at Memorial Church, Harvard University, 2012
- Flagler College Convocation Address for the class of 2012, St. Augustine, Florida
- The Luce Lecture at Boston University, 2007
- The Smith-Pettit Lecture on Mormonism, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2007
Artist In Residence
- Dixie State College
- Brigham Young University
- University of Utah
- Utah Valley University
- Utah State University
- The Studios of Key West
- Stanford University
Teaching
As a 2009 Woodrow Wilson scholar, she has taught at numerous small colleges across the U.S., among them Flagler College, Roanoke College and St. Mary's College.
Associations
- Film Forum, Board Member and Chairman of the Board, 1986-1991
- New York Women in Film and Television, Board Member
- City Church of New York, Founding Member