Paul Stojanovich
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Paul Stojanovich (February 13, 1956 in Sacramento, California – March 15, 2003 near Manzanita, Oregon) was an American television producer. As a teenager Stojanovich became an avid photographer, saving his money to buy an expensive Hasselblad camera and getting his own dark room in his father's barn in Campbell, California. His father Chester Stojanovich was an entimologist with a Doctorate from Stanford and his mother Martha Stojanovich was one of the first women to work at the Center of Disease Control. She was diagnosed with schizophrenia shortly after he was born causing him to turn to photography and making home movies to seek refuge. He won the respect of Graham Nash, an avid photographer, at the age of 13 and was privileged to collaborate with him. At 16 he dropped out of high school and started taking film making classes from Larry Booth in Half Moon Bay, California. His experience as a photographer made the transition to motion pictures relatively easy. His interest in policing began when he was attending high school in [San Jose, California|San Jose]], often listening to his police scanner. He even subscribed to a CHP magazine.
He combined his interest in photography and film-making and his interest in police work when he convinced some friends with the San Jose Sheriff's Office Narco unit to let him hang and film. The film became the Emmy-award winning documentary Narco. Paul then spent a few years working as a camerman for then NBC affiliate KRON. In the early 80s, while working as a camera man at KRON, Paul got to meet one of his favorite photographers, Ansel Adams. Adams was particularly interested in Paul's video camera.
The Beaverton, Oregon Police Department made Stojanovich a Honorary Special Reserve Officer.
Stojanovich died on March 15, 2003 after accidentally falling off a cliff while posing for a photograph his fiance, Kim Crowell, was taking. He was 47. His body was found 29 days after his death making the autopsy benign.
Law enforcement officials credit Stojanovich with showing the human face of police and their devotion to duty in the riveting, documentary format popularized on World's Wildest Police Videos
After serving as a producer of "Cops" and producing and creating the ABC series American Detective, Stojanovich executive produced a series of cime reality shows , including World's Scariest Police Chases and Ultimate Police Challenge.
Before that, he was a field producer for the ABC news magazine "20/20," produced the documentary "Narco" and was creative consultant on Oliver Stone's film "Natural Born Killers."
