Bill Guttentag is a two-time Oscar winning documentary and feature film writer-producer-director.
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In 1988, Guttentag won an Oscar for Best Documentary with his HBO film "You Don't Have to Die," telling the story of one boy's battle against cancer.[1] Guttentag would receive three more Oscar nominations before winning another Oscar for his 2003 documentary "Twin Towers (film)."
In 2007, Guttentag directed two films–Live! (2007 film), which premiered at Tribeca Film Festival, starring Eva Mendes, Andre Braugher David Krumholtz, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Jay Hernandez; and Nanking, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, a documentary about the Rape of Nanking during World War II.
Nanking was shortlisted for an Academy Award, won awards at Sundance Film Festival and other film festivals, earned Guttentag a Writers Guild of America Award nomination, and went on to become the highest grossing theatrical documentary in Chinese history.[2] Nanking also won a George Foster Peabody award in 2009.[3]
Live! had its international Premiere at the Deauville Film Festival and will be distributed in the US by The Weinstein Company. Its international distribution included Lions Gate Entertainment (UK) and Pretty pictures (France).
Guttentag created and executive produced the NBC series Crime & Punishment, which ran from 2002-2004. The show, a reality television spin-off of the Law & Order franchise, followed District Attorneys in San Diego County, California.
Guttentag's first novel, Boulevard, was published by Pegasus Books/W.W. Norton in 2010 and the paperback version was published in May, 2011.[4]
Gutentag recently completed Soundtrack for a Revolution, a film about music and the Civil Rights Movement. The film features performances by John Legend, Joss Stone, The Roots, Blind Boys of Alabama, Richie Havens and Wyclef Jean.[5] Soundtrack for a Revolution had its international premiere at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, and its US premiere at the Tribecca Film festival. The film was released theatrically by Area 23a, and later aired on PBS. Guttentag was nominated for WGA and Producer's Guild Awards for the film, which also won awards at US and international film festivals, and was short-listed for an Academy Award.
Guttentag is currently in post-production on Knife Fight, a film he wrote and directed, starring Rob Lowe, Jamie Chung, Julie Bowen, Carrie-Ann Moss, Eric McCormack, Jennifer Morrison, and Saffron Burrows.[6] The film is about a Democratic political consultant and will be released in fall, 2012.
Guttentag's films have been selected for the Sundance Film Festival three times and have played and won awards at numerous American and international film festivals. They have also received a number of special screenings internationally and in the US, including at the White House.
Since 2001, Guttentag has taught a class on the film and television business at the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University.