Robert Lang (producer)

Robert Lang

Robert Lang (middle)
Occupation Producer, director, Kensington Communications Inc.
Nationality Canada
Genre documentary, factual television
Notable works Museum Secrets, Raw Opium, Diamond Road, The Sacred Balance
Website
www.kensingtontv.com

Robert Lang is a producer, director, writer. He began his career in Montreal working at the National Film Board of Canada as a documentary director and cameraman in the mid-1970s. In 1980, he moved to Toronto where he founded his own independent production company, Kensington Communications, to produce documentaries for television and non-theatrical markets. Since 1998, Lang has been involved in conceiving / producing interactive projects for the web and innovative applications and content for mobile platforms.

Career

Robert Lang's work in television includes a number of documentary and factual series: Museum Secrets, a 22 part television series that investigates the stories behind artifacts in great museums around the world; Shameless Idealists, a five-part series that profiles a number of prominent change-makers and social activists; Diamond Road, a three part series about the diamond industry; The Sacred Balance, a four part miniseries based on the book by geneticist and environmentalist Dr. David Suzuki; 72 Hours: True Crime, a true crime factual series for CBC; and Exhibit A: Secrets of Forensic Science, a forensic crime series hosted by Graham Greene. In 2013, he co-created and was executive producer on a mobile app to enhance your museum experience at the Royal Ontario Museum called ScopifyROM.

In 2015, Lang is producing The Equalizer, the first of two one-hour documentaries in coproduction with Berlin Producers for broadcast on CBC’s The Nature of Things, SRC Explora and ZDF/Arte; he is coproducing a one-hour documentary for TVOntario and CPAC exploring young peoples’ relationship to voting; and he is producing another TV investigation for TVOntario on the subject of fear and risk assessment.

He has also produced, directed and/or written several documentary films, including: Raw Opium, which examines the failure of the War on Drugs through the lives of people involved in the international opium trade; Return to Nepal, in which renowned musician Bruce Cockburn travels to the remote Humla district of Northwestern Nepal; Almost Home: a Sayisi Dene Journey, an intimate portrait of a Canadian aboriginal community in transition; River of Sand, which explores the ancient culture, popular music, and current struggles of the people of Mali, West Africa; Separate Lives, the Gemini-winning documentary which follows the lives of conjoined twins from Pakistan and the pioneering operation that gave them a chance at a new life; The Biggest Little Ticket, a children’s musical fantasy special which won several awards; and Mariposa: Under a Stormy Sky, a documentary music special for CTV.

Lang's work in film and television has garnered a number of national and international awards (see Awards section below for details). He's also been active in the production community as a founding member of the Documentary Organization of Canada, as a board member for The Real News since 2007, as a member of the TV Governance Committee of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television since 2012 and as the founder of the Hot Docs CrossCurrents Fund in 2013.

Filmography

TV Series credits

Year(s) Program Credit Notes
1997–2002 Exhibit A: Secrets of Forensic Science co-creator, producer, director (shared credit) 66 episodes
2002 The Sacred Balance executive producer, director (shared credit) 4 X 1 hour
2003-2007 72 Hours: True Crime co-creator, executive producer (shared credit) 45 episodes
2007 Diamond Road producer, executive producer 3 X 1 hour limited series, feature doc
2010-2013 Museum Secrets executive producer, co-creator, director (Inside the Vatican) 22 episodes
2012 Shameless Idealists executive producer, director, writer 5 x 1/2 hour

Selected Documentary Credits

Year Film Producer Director Writer Notes
1985 Fragile Harvest Yes Yes 1 hour
1986 Seeds Yes Yes 1/2 hour
1988 One Warm Line: The Legacy of Stan Rogers Yes Yes 1 hour
1991 Mariposa: Under a Stormy Sky Yes Yes 1 hour, Music documentary
1991 Earth Journal with Richard Leakey Yes Yes 3 segments of doc series
1993 The Biggest Little Ticket Yes Yes 1 hour Children's Variety
1996 Separate Lives Yes Yes 1 hour
1998 River of Sand Yes Yes Yes 1 hour, additional credit: Camera
2001 My Beat: The Life and Times of Bruce Cockburn Yes Yes 1 hour
2003 Almost Home: a Sayisi Dene Journey Yes Yes Yes 1 hour, additional credit: Sound
2007 Diamond Road Yes 90 min. feature
2008 Return to Nepal Yes Yes Yes 1 hour, additional credit: Sound
2011 Raw Opium Yes Yes 2 X 1 hour, feature documentary
2015 25 Down: Why Young People Don't Vote Yes 1 hour
2015 The Equalizer Yes 2 X 1 hour
2015 Risk Factor Yes 1 hour

Selected Programme Awards, Recognitions

2014 Canadian Screen Award - Museum Secrets (ACCT) Best Factual Series, Best Editing in an Information Program or Series
2013 Canadian Screen Award - Museum Secrets (ACCT)[1]
2008 Canadian New Media Awards, Best News Information, Diamond Road Online (CNMA)[2][3]
2008 Gemini Award – Best Documentary Series, Diamond Road (ACCT)[4]
2008 Platinum Award – Best Feature Documentary, Diamond Road (Houston Worldfest)[5]
2007 Worldmedal – Docudrama, 72 Hours:True Crime (New York Festivals)[6]
2005 Worldmedal – Docudrama, 72 Hours:True Crime (New York Festivals)[7]
2004 Golden Sheaf Award – Best Documentary, Social/Political Almost Home (Yorkton Festival)[8]
2004 NFB Kathleen Shannon Award, Almost Home (Yorkton Short Film & Video Festival)[9]
2004 Platinum Award – Ecology/Environment/Conservation, Sacred Balance Show 3 Fire of Creation (Houston Worldfest)[10]
2003 Prix Science & Societé, Sacred Balance Show 2: The Matrix of Life (Paris Festival International de l’Emission Scientifique de Télévision)[11]
1998 Prix Regard Canadien, River of Sand (Vues D’Afrique)
1998 Gemini Award – Science, Technology, Nature, Separate Lives (ACCT)[12]
1997 Hot Docs – Vision TV Humanitarian Award, A Place in the World[13]
1995 Award of Excellence – Best Variety, The Biggest Little Ticket (Alliance for Children and Television)[14]
1994 Blé D’Or Award, Fragile Harvest (Agrovidéo, Montreal)
1990 Gold Award, Seeds (Berlin Agricultural Film Festival)

References

  1. ↑ "Awards Database". Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. Retrieved Dec 3, 2013.
  2. ↑ "www.bullfrogfilms.com". Bullfrog Films. Retrieved Dec 3, 2013.
  3. ↑ "Top 15 - 2008 Canadian New Media Awards". Backbone Magazine. Retrieved Dec 3, 2013.
  4. ↑ "Canadian Screen Awards database". Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. Retrieved Dec 3, 3013. Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  5. ↑ "2008 Worldfest Winner's List" (PDF). Worldfest Houston. Retrieved Dec 3, 2013.
  6. ↑ "New York Festivals Awards Database". New York Festivals. Retrieved Dec 3, 2013.
  7. ↑ "New York Festivals Awards Database". New York Festivals. Retrieved Dec 3, 2013.
  8. ↑ "2004 Canadian Golden Sheaf Award Winners". Yorkton Film Festival. Retrieved Dec 3, 2013.
  9. ↑ "2004 Canadian Golden Sheaf Award Winners". Yorkton Film Festival. Retrieved Dec 3, 2013.
  10. ↑ "Houston Worldfest Houston Winners 2004" (PDF). Worldfest Houston. Retrieved Dec 3, 2013.
  11. ↑ "A David Suzuki Foundation Moment in History: The Sacred Balance". David Suzuki Foundation. Retrieved Dec 3, 2013.
  12. ↑ "Canadian Screen Awards Database". Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. Retrieved Dec 3, 2013.
  13. ↑ "1997 Hot Docs Awards Archive". Hot Docs. Retrieved Dec 3, 2013.
  14. ↑ "Bizet's Dream and Watatow take ACT Awards". Playback Maagazine. Retrieved Dec 3, 2013.

External links