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{{Short description|American writer and television producer}} |
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⚫ | '''Jacoba |
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{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2020}} |
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⚫ | '''Jacoba Atlas''' is an American [[executive producer]] in television, also publishing as a [[journalist]], [[music critic]], [[novelist]], [[screenwriter]] and [[documentary film]]maker.<ref name=PBS2000/><ref name="RBL Bio">{{cite web |url=https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Writer/jacoba-atlas |title=Jacoba Atlas |website=Rock's Backpages Library |accessdate=August 29, 2020}}</ref> She won a [[Peabody Award]], an [[Emmy Award]] and a [[CableACE Award]] for ''Survivors of the Holocaust'' (1996), a TV documentary made for [[TBS (American TV channel)|TBS]]. |
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Atlas was a rock critic and film critic in the 1970s, serving as the West Coast correspondent of ''[[Melody Maker]]'' in the UK. She wrote for ''[[KRLA Beat]]'', the ''[[Los Angeles Free Press]]'' and several other publications. She moved to television, working for [[NBC News]] in the 1980s, rising to senior producer on the [[Today (American TV program)|''Today'']] show. She co-founded VU Productions with [[Pat Mitchell]] in 1990, writing and producing documentaries. [[Turner Broadcasting System]] hired her as an executive, after which she was an executive producer for [[CNN]], then vice president at [[PBS]] in the 2000s. |
Atlas was a rock critic and film critic in the 1970s, serving as the West Coast correspondent of ''[[Melody Maker]]'' in the UK. She wrote for ''[[KRLA Beat]]'', the ''[[Los Angeles Free Press]]'' and several other publications. She moved to television, working for [[NBC News]] in the 1980s, rising to senior producer on the [[Today (American TV program)|''Today'']] show. She co-founded VU Productions with [[Pat Mitchell]] in 1990, writing and producing documentaries. [[Turner Broadcasting System]] hired her as an executive, after which she was an executive producer for [[CNN]], then vice president at [[PBS]] in the 2000s. |
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In 2019, Atlas made ''Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools'', airing on PBS. |
In 2019, Atlas made ''Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools'', airing on PBS. |
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==Early life and |
==Early life and education== |
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Atlas is the daughter of Jewish dramatist Dorothy Cohen and [[Guggenheim Fellowship|Guggenheim Fellow]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.gf.org/fellows/all-fellows/leopold-atlas/ |title=Leopold Atlas |website=Guggenheim Foundation |accessdate=August 29, 2020}}</ref> playwright, Hollywood screenwriter Leopold Atlas. Her father was investigated as a Communist by the [[House Un-American Activities Committee]], and was [[blacklisted]]. He testified and named 37 names in 1953. Atlas was |
Atlas is the daughter of Jewish dramatist Dorothy Cohen and [[Guggenheim Fellowship|Guggenheim Fellow]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.gf.org/fellows/all-fellows/leopold-atlas/ |title=Leopold Atlas |website=Guggenheim Foundation |accessdate=August 29, 2020}}</ref> playwright, Hollywood screenwriter Leopold Atlas. Her father was investigated as a Communist by the [[House Un-American Activities Committee]], and was [[blacklisted]]. He testified and named 37 names in 1953. Atlas was seven years old when her father died in 1954 of a heart attack. She attended the [[University of California, Berkeley]], during the [[Free Speech Movement]], then shifted to the [[UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television]] for graduate studies. In 1976, she wrote a dissertation on labor unions in the Hollywood film industry.<ref>{{cite book |pages=361–363 |last=Navasky |first=Victor S. |authorlink=Victor Navasky |date=2003 |title=Naming Names |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=9780809001835}}</ref> |
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==Writing career== |
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Atlas first published as a journalist. She wrote an article about [[hippie]]s in the ''[[KRLA Beat]]'' in August 1967.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/hippies-how-why-what-does-it-mean |title=Hippies: How? Why? What Does It Mean? |last=Atlas |first=Jacoba |date=August 26, 1967 |work=[[KRLA Beat]] |accessdate=August 29, 2020}} Hosted by Rock's Backpages Library.</ref> She praised [[Harry Nilsson]] in early 1968.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/nilsson-an-underground-artist-surfaces |title=Nilsson: An Underground Artist Surfaces |last=Atlas |first=Jacoba |date=January 27, 1968 |work=[[KRLA Beat]] |accessdate=August 29, 2020}} Hosted by Rock's Backpages Library.</ref> For ''[[TeenSet]]'' magazine in 1968 she interviewed [[Jimi Hendrix]] at his "rented house in [[Benedict Canyon, Los Angeles|Benedict Canyon]]," recognized by Atlas as the house where the Beatles rested between concert legs in 1965.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JFJ5tE1vP1QC&pg=PA147 |pages=147–150 |last=Roby |first=Steven |title=Hendrix on Hendrix: Interviews and Encounters with Jimi Hendrix |publisher=Chicago Review Press |isbn=9781613743249 |date=2012}}</ref> She wrote reviews of [[the Doors]] in 1968 and [[Steppenwolf (band)|Steppenwolf]] in 1969 for ''Hullabaloo'', an early name for [[Circus (magazine)|''Circus'']] rock magazine. She published frequently in ''[[Melody Maker]]'' in the UK – she was their [[West Coast of the United States|West Coast]] correspondent<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M6Z-DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA68 |page=68 |last=Glen |first=Patrick |date=2018 |title=Youth and Permissive Social Change in British Music Papers, 1967–1983 |publisher=Springer |isbn=9783319916743}}</ref> – including a piece based on a lengthy, relaxed interview with neighbor [[Joni Mitchell]] at her [[Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles|Laurel Canyon]] home in early 1970.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c-NKDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT39 |pages=39–40 |last=Whitall |first=Susan |date=2018 |title=Joni on Joni: Interviews and Encounters with Joni Mitchell |publisher=Chicago Review Press |isbn=9780914090441}}</ref> Atlas described her own Laurel Canyon house as small, with an inoperative fireplace, in an area recently plagued by [[smog]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/laurel-canyon-hip-street-usa |title=Laurel Canyon: Hip Street USA |last=Atlas |first=Jacoba |date=September 12, 1970 |work=[[Melody Maker]] |accessdate=September 7, 2020}} Hosted by Rock's Backpages Library.</ref> |
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⚫ | Atlas previewed the upcoming ''[[Nilsson Sings Newman]]'' album in 1969 for ''Melody Maker'', reviewed the Doors again in 1971 for ''[[New Musical Express]]'', and she wrote about the increasing number of women in [[hard rock]] for [[Billboard (magazine)|''Billboard'']], calling out [[Grace Slick]], [[the Ace of Cups]] and [[Fanny (band)|Fanny]], among others.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/there-arent-many-girls-in-hard-rock-but-a-new-day-and-attitude-is-dawning |title=There Aren't Many Girls In Hard Rock, But A New Day (And Attitude) Is Dawning |last=Atlas |first=Jacoba |date=November 6, 1971 |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |accessdate=August 29, 2020}} Hosted by Rock's Backpages Library.</ref> For ''Melody Maker'' in 1972 she talked to [[Helen Reddy]] about "[[I Am Woman]]", and to [[John Prine]] about his ''[[Diamonds in the Rough (album)|Diamonds in the Rough]]'' album. In 1974 she wrote about [[Neil Sedaka]]'s UK popularity for ''Melody Maker''. She reviewed concerts by [[Aretha Franklin]], [[the Rolling Stones]], [[the Band]], [[Leon Russell]], and wrote about a "disastrous appearance" by [[Joe Cocker]].<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/cocker-dies-a-death |title=Cocker Dies a Death |last=Atlas |first=Jacoba |date=June 15, 1974 |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |accessdate=August 29, 2020}} Hosted by Rock's Backpages Library.</ref> She profiled [[Neil Young]] and [[James Taylor]].<ref name="RBL Bio"/> Other interviews she conducted were with [[Delaney & Bonnie]], [[Smokey Robinson]], [[Ry Cooder]], producer [[Terry Melcher]] of [[the Byrds]], [[Maria Muldaur]], [[the American Breed]], [[Robert Plant]], [[Kris Kristofferson]], [[Rita Coolidge]], jazz saxophonist [[Charles Lloyd (jazz musician)|Charles Lloyd]], singer [[Brenton Wood]], composer [[Tim Hardin]], protest singer [[Phil Ochs]], English rocker [[Arthur Brown (musician)|Arthur Brown]], [[Gram Parsons]], [[Arlo Guthrie]], [[Elton John]], [[The Four Seasons (band)|the Four Seasons]], [[Rod McKuen]], [[Johnny Mathis]], [[Jethro Tull (band)|Jethro Tull]], [[Dennis Wilson]], [[Leonard Cohen]] and [[the Jackson 5]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/jimi-hendrix-2a |title=Jimi Hendrix #2 |last=Atlas |first=Jacoba |date=March 1969 |work=[[Circus (magazine)|Circus]] |accessdate=August 29, 2020}} Hosted by Rock's Backpages Library.</ref> |
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She also wrote for the ''[[Los Angeles Free Press]]'', starting with an interview with director [[Robert Altman]] discussing his 1970 film ''[[M*A*S*H (film)|M*A*S*H]]''.<ref>{{cite news |last=Atlas |first=Jacoba |date=March 25, 1970 |title=MASH director is non-plussed |newspaper=Los Angeles Free Press}}</ref> Atlas wrote articles based on interviews with actors [[Mae West]] and [[George C. Scott]], and an investigative piece about the backstory of the 1974 film ''[[Chinatown (1974 film)|Chinatown]]'': the [[California water wars]].<ref>Atlas, Jacoba (September 27, 1974). "The Facts Behind 'Chinatown'", ''Los Angeles Free Press'', p. 23.</ref> For ''[[Film Comment]]'' in 1975, she interviewed [[Mel Brooks]].<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.filmcomment.com/issue/march-april-1975/ |date=March–April 1975 |magazine=[[Film Comment]] |title=Mel Brooks interview |last=Atlas |first=Jacoba| accessdate=August 29, 2020}}</ref> Atlas was the film critic for the ''Free Press'' in the mid-1970s. She interviewed [[Goldie Hawn]] for ''[[Parents (magazine)|Parents]]'' magazine in 1978. She contributed reviews to [[Ampersand's Entertainment Guide|''Ampersand'']] college entertainment magazine. |
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In 1989 through [[E. P. Dutton|Dutton]], Atlas published a fiction novel, ''Palace of Light'', with characters placed within union politics in the early years of Hollywood. In 1994, she wrote ''A Century of Women'', published through TBS Books as a companion to the [[Turner Broadcasting System]] television series of the same name.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lhhYAAAAYAAJ |title=A Century of Women |date=1994 |last=Atlas |first=Jacoba |publisher=TBS Books |isbn=9781570361425}}</ref> |
In 1989 through [[E. P. Dutton|Dutton]], Atlas published a fiction novel, ''Palace of Light'', with characters placed within union politics in the early years of Hollywood. In 1994, she wrote ''A Century of Women'', published through TBS Books as a companion to the [[Turner Broadcasting System]] television series of the same name.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lhhYAAAAYAAJ |title=A Century of Women |date=1994 |last=Atlas |first=Jacoba |publisher=TBS Books |isbn=9781570361425}}</ref> |
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==Television== |
==Television== |
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Atlas first worked in the television industry as |
Atlas first worked in the television industry as a research assistant to [[Rona Barrett]] on ''[[Good Morning America]]'' in 1976. She was hired by [[NBC News]],<ref name=PushoutFilm>{{cite web |url=https://pushoutfilm.com/team |title=Team |website=Pushout Film |date=September 8, 2019 |accessdate=August 29, 2020}}</ref> rising to spend five years as senior producer on the [[Today (American TV program)|''Today'']] show. In October 1990,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1990/09/17/the-tv-column/ |last=Carmody |first=John |date=September 17, 1990 |title=The TV Column |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |accessdate=September 28, 2020}}</ref> Atlas co-founded VU Productions with [[Pat Mitchell]], to create non-fiction content for [[Gary David Goldberg]]'s [[Ubu Productions]].<ref name=PBS2000/> In 1991 for VU Productions, Atlas co-wrote with Mitchell the screenplay for ''Danger: Kids at Work'', a TV movie starring [[Amy Irving]]. Under VU Productions, Atlas and Mitchell produced ''A Century of Women'' in 1994 for [[Turner Broadcasting System]] (TBS), a six-hour miniseries documentary broadcast in two episodes, narrated by [[Jane Fonda]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-06-05-tv-387-story.html |last=King |first=Susan |date=June 5, 1994 |title=Women Who Made a Difference |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |accessdate=August 29, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-06-07-ca-1306-story.html |last=Rosenberg |first=Howard |authorlink=Howard Rosenberg |date=June 7, 1994 |title=A Mostly Positive 'Century' of Women |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |accessdate=August 29, 2020}}</ref> ''A Century of Women'' was nominated for an [[Emmy Award]] in 1995.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.emmys.com/awards/nominees-winners/1995/outstanding-informational-series |title=Nominees 1995: A Century of Women |website=Emmys |accessdate=August 29, 2020}}</ref> In 1996, TBS tapped Atlas to manage the production of ''Survivors of the Holocaust'', with executive producer [[Steven Spielberg]] joining Mitchell. The documentary won two Emmy Awards, the first for "Outstanding Informational Special", given to the filmmakers including Atlas, Mitchell, Spielberg and director [[Allan Holzman]], and the second for "Outstanding Individual Achievement – Informational Programming" given to Holzman for his editing of the film. It also won a [[Peabody Award]] and a [[CableACE Award]], the latter presented to the filmmakers at the [[18th CableACE Awards]] in 1996. Atlas supervised an independent documentary, ''Dying to Tell the Story'' (1998), about photojournalist [[Dan Eldon]] who was killed at 22 in Somalia.<ref name="RBL Bio"/> |
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After TBS, Atlas worked for [[CNN]], rising to the position of vice president and supervising producer. She helped launch ''[[CNN NewsStand]]'', a news magazine. With CNN, she produced the documentary ''Soldiers of Peace: A Children's Crusade'' (1999), describing children in Colombia working toward peace. Starting in June 2000 at [[PBS]], Atlas was senior vice president overseeing content for six years under president Mitchell, a role she shared with John Wilson: Atlas was based on the West Coast while Wilson was in Florida.<ref name=PBS2000>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/about/about-pbs/blogs/news/pbs-establishes-regionally-based-senior-programming-team-june-10-2000/ |date=June 10, 2000 |title=PBS Establishes Regionally-Based Senior Programming Team |website=PBS |accessdate=August 29, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://current.org/wp-content/uploads/archive-site/pbs/pbs0407atlaswilson.shtml |title=As cume slips, duo aims to keep PBS |
After TBS, Atlas worked for [[CNN]], rising to the position of vice president and supervising producer. She helped launch ''[[CNN NewsStand]]'', a news magazine, and was executive producer.<ref name=Rosenberg1999>{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-jun-16-ca-47578-story.html |last=Rosenberg |first=Howard |date=June 16, 1999 |title=In Secular Land, Spirituality on Rise |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |accessdate=September 7, 2020}}</ref> With CNN, she produced the documentary ''Soldiers of Peace: A Children's Crusade'' (1999), describing children in Colombia working toward peace. Starting in June 2000 at [[PBS]], Atlas was senior vice president overseeing content for six years under president Mitchell, a role she shared with John Wilson: Atlas was based on the West Coast while Wilson was in Florida.<ref name=PBS2000>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/about/about-pbs/blogs/news/pbs-establishes-regionally-based-senior-programming-team-june-10-2000/ |date=June 10, 2000 |title=PBS Establishes Regionally-Based Senior Programming Team |website=PBS |accessdate=August 29, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://current.org/wp-content/uploads/archive-site/pbs/pbs0407atlaswilson.shtml |title=As cume slips, duo aims to keep PBS 'relevant' |newspaper=[[Current (newspaper)|Current]] |first1=Karen |last1=Everhart |first2=Steve |last2=Behrens |date=May 3, 2004 |accessdate=August 29, 2020}}</ref> In June 2006, Atlas left PBS when they closed operations in Los Angeles.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/14/arts/television/14pbs.html |title=Embracing Digital Era, PBS Hires John Boland of KQED to Fill New Post |date=June 14, 2006 |last=Jensen |first=Elizabeth |newspaper=The New York Times |accessdate=August 29, 2020}}</ref> |
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Atlas collaborated with [[Tavis Smiley]] on a series of documentaries for PBS. Atlas was involved with seven broadcasts including: "A Call to Conscience" (2010), "Too Important to Fail" (2011), "Education Under Arrest" (2013), and "Getting Ahead" (2016). One of the series was about Venezuelan conductor [[Gustavo Dudamel]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/chasing-the-dream/stories/getting-ahead-production-team/ |title=Getting Ahead Production Team |date=September 14, 2016 |website=PBS |accessdate=August 29, 2020}}</ref> |
Atlas collaborated with [[Tavis Smiley]] on a series of documentaries for PBS. Atlas was involved with seven broadcasts including: "A Call to Conscience" (2010), "Too Important to Fail" (2011), "Education Under Arrest" (2013), and "Getting Ahead" (2016). One of the series was about Venezuelan conductor [[Gustavo Dudamel]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/chasing-the-dream/stories/getting-ahead-production-team/ |title=Getting Ahead Production Team |date=September 14, 2016 |website=PBS |accessdate=August 29, 2020}}</ref> |
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Atlas wrote and directed ''Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools'', based on the 2016 book of the same name written by [[Monique W. Morris]]. The documentary was broadcast in 2019 by PBS, telling about African American girls disproportionately sent to the [[American juvenile justice system|juvenile justice system]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nbwji.org/post/2019/09/09/world-premiere-of-pushout-the-criminalization-of-black-girls-in-schools-documentary |title=World Premiere of 'PUSHOUT: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools Documentary' |date=September 9, 2019 |website=National Black Women's Justice Institute |accessdate=August 29, 2020}}</ref> |
Atlas wrote and directed ''Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools'', based on the 2016 book of the same name written by [[Monique W. Morris]]. The documentary was broadcast in 2019 by PBS, telling about African American girls disproportionately sent to the [[American juvenile justice system|juvenile justice system]].<ref name=Pushout>{{cite web |url=https://www.nbwji.org/post/2019/09/09/world-premiere-of-pushout-the-criminalization-of-black-girls-in-schools-documentary |title=World Premiere of 'PUSHOUT: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools Documentary' |date=September 9, 2019 |website=National Black Women's Justice Institute |accessdate=August 29, 2020}}</ref> |
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==Awards and recognition== |
==Awards and recognition== |
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==Filmography== |
==Filmography== |
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* |
* 2019: ''Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools''<ref name=Pushout/> |
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* 2016: ''[[Defying the Nazis: The Sharps' War]]'' |
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* 2016: ''[[Tavis Smiley]] Reports: Getting Ahead''<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.phillytrib.com/entertainment/getting-ahead-with-tavis-smiley-comes-to-whyy/article_5f83f239-d6dd-58ee-8877-e47f810a9a4e.html |last=Roberts |first=Kimberly C. |date=October 7, 2016 |title='Getting Ahead with Tavis Smiley' comes to WHYY |newspaper=The Philadelphia Tribune |accessdate=September 7, 2020}}</ref> |
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*2016 – ''Tavis Smiley Reports: Getting Ahead'' |
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* 2013: ''Tavis Smiley Reports: Education Under Arrest''<ref>{{cite press release |url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/tavis-smiley-examines-an-educational-system-under-arrest----experts-say-locking-up-an-11-year-old-for-any-length-of-time-doesnt-make-sense-195234041.html |title=Tavis Smiley Examines An Educational System Under Arrest |date=March 5, 2013 |agency=TS Media |website=PR Newswire |accessdate=September 7, 2020}}</ref> |
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*2013 – ''Tavis Smiley Reports: Education Under Arrest'' |
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* 2013: ''Walking the Camino: Six Ways to Santiago''<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/walking-camino-six-ways-santiago-745558 |last=Lowe |first=Justin |date=October 31, 2014 |title='Walking the Camino: Six Ways to Santiago': Film Review |magazine=Hollywood Reporter |accessdate=September 7, 2020}}</ref> |
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*2013 – ''Walking the Camino: Six Ways to Santiago'' |
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* |
* 2012: ''Tavis Smiley Reports: Dudamel: Conducting a Life'' |
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* |
* 2011: ''Extraordinary Moms'' |
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* |
* 2011: ''[[Miss Representation]]'' |
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* |
* 2011: ''Tavis Smiley Reports: Too Important to Fail'' |
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* |
* 2010: ''Tavis Smiley Reports: A Call to Conscience'' |
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* |
* 2009–2015: ''Craft in America'' |
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* |
* 1999: ''Soldiers of Peace: A Children's Crusade''<ref name=PBS2000/> |
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*1998 – ''CNN NewsStand'' |
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* 1998: ''Assassinated: The Last Days of King & Kennedy''<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://variety.com/1998/film/reviews/assassinated-the-last-days-of-king-kennedy-1200453478/ |last=Linden |first=Sheri |date=April 2, 1998 |title=Assassinated: The Last Days of King & Kennedy |magazine=Variety |accessdate=September 7, 2020}}</ref> |
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*1998 – ''Assassinated: The Last Days of King & Kennedy'' |
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* 1997: ''The Coming Plague''<ref name=PBS2000/> |
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* |
* 1996: ''The Good, the Bad & the Beautiful'' |
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*1996 |
* 1996: ''Survivors of the Holocaust''<ref name=PBS2000/> |
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* |
* 1995: ''Anatomy of Love'' |
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* |
* 1994: ''A Century of Women''<ref name=PBS2000/> |
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* |
* 1992: ''The Home Show'' |
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* |
* 1991: ''Danger: Kids at Work'' |
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*1991 – ''Danger: Kids at Work'' |
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==References== |
==References== |
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==External links== |
==External links== |
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*{{IMDb name|40846|Jacoba Atlas}} |
*{{IMDb name|40846|Jacoba Atlas}} |
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*[https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2baab446eb Jacoba Atlas] at BFI.org |
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20210512063005/https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2baab446eb Jacoba Atlas] at BFI.org |
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{{Authority control}} |
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Atlas, Jacoba}} |
{{DEFAULTSORT:Atlas, Jacoba}} |
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[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]<!-- |
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]<!-- Birth records show October 22, 1946, in Los Angeles County --> |
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[[Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers]] |
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[[Category:American people of German-Jewish descent]] |
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[[Category:American television news producers]] |
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[[Category:CableACE Award winners]] |
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[[Category:Film producers from California]] |
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[[Category:Journalists from California]] |
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[[Category:Television producers from California]] |
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[[Category:American women documentary filmmakers]] |
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[[Category: |
[[Category:American women television producers]] |
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[[Category:Peabody Award winners]] |
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[[Category:UCLA Film School alumni]] |
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[[Category:University of California, Berkeley alumni]] |
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[[Category:Rock critics]] |
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[[Category:American music critics]] |
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[[Category:American film critics]] |
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[[Category:21st-century American women writers]] |
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[[Category:American women music critics]] |
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[[Category:21st-century American businesswomen]] |
Latest revision as of 04:06, 20 October 2023
Jacoba Atlas is an American executive producer in television, also publishing as a journalist, music critic, novelist, screenwriter and documentary filmmaker.[1][2] She won a Peabody Award, an Emmy Award and a CableACE Award for Survivors of the Holocaust (1996), a TV documentary made for TBS.
Atlas was a rock critic and film critic in the 1970s, serving as the West Coast correspondent of Melody Maker in the UK. She wrote for KRLA Beat, the Los Angeles Free Press and several other publications. She moved to television, working for NBC News in the 1980s, rising to senior producer on the Today show. She co-founded VU Productions with Pat Mitchell in 1990, writing and producing documentaries. Turner Broadcasting System hired her as an executive, after which she was an executive producer for CNN, then vice president at PBS in the 2000s.
In 2019, Atlas made Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools, airing on PBS.
Early life and education
[edit]Atlas is the daughter of Jewish dramatist Dorothy Cohen and Guggenheim Fellow[3] playwright, Hollywood screenwriter Leopold Atlas. Her father was investigated as a Communist by the House Un-American Activities Committee, and was blacklisted. He testified and named 37 names in 1953. Atlas was seven years old when her father died in 1954 of a heart attack. She attended the University of California, Berkeley, during the Free Speech Movement, then shifted to the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television for graduate studies. In 1976, she wrote a dissertation on labor unions in the Hollywood film industry.[4]
Writing career
[edit]Atlas first published as a journalist. She wrote an article about hippies in the KRLA Beat in August 1967.[5] She praised Harry Nilsson in early 1968.[6] For TeenSet magazine in 1968 she interviewed Jimi Hendrix at his "rented house in Benedict Canyon," recognized by Atlas as the house where the Beatles rested between concert legs in 1965.[7] She wrote reviews of the Doors in 1968 and Steppenwolf in 1969 for Hullabaloo, an early name for Circus rock magazine. She published frequently in Melody Maker in the UK – she was their West Coast correspondent[8] – including a piece based on a lengthy, relaxed interview with neighbor Joni Mitchell at her Laurel Canyon home in early 1970.[9] Atlas described her own Laurel Canyon house as small, with an inoperative fireplace, in an area recently plagued by smog.[10]
Atlas previewed the upcoming Nilsson Sings Newman album in 1969 for Melody Maker, reviewed the Doors again in 1971 for New Musical Express, and she wrote about the increasing number of women in hard rock for Billboard, calling out Grace Slick, the Ace of Cups and Fanny, among others.[11] For Melody Maker in 1972 she talked to Helen Reddy about "I Am Woman", and to John Prine about his Diamonds in the Rough album. In 1974 she wrote about Neil Sedaka's UK popularity for Melody Maker. She reviewed concerts by Aretha Franklin, the Rolling Stones, the Band, Leon Russell, and wrote about a "disastrous appearance" by Joe Cocker.[12] She profiled Neil Young and James Taylor.[2] Other interviews she conducted were with Delaney & Bonnie, Smokey Robinson, Ry Cooder, producer Terry Melcher of the Byrds, Maria Muldaur, the American Breed, Robert Plant, Kris Kristofferson, Rita Coolidge, jazz saxophonist Charles Lloyd, singer Brenton Wood, composer Tim Hardin, protest singer Phil Ochs, English rocker Arthur Brown, Gram Parsons, Arlo Guthrie, Elton John, the Four Seasons, Rod McKuen, Johnny Mathis, Jethro Tull, Dennis Wilson, Leonard Cohen and the Jackson 5.[13]
She also wrote for the Los Angeles Free Press, starting with an interview with director Robert Altman discussing his 1970 film M*A*S*H.[14] Atlas wrote articles based on interviews with actors Mae West and George C. Scott, and an investigative piece about the backstory of the 1974 film Chinatown: the California water wars.[15] For Film Comment in 1975, she interviewed Mel Brooks.[16] Atlas was the film critic for the Free Press in the mid-1970s. She interviewed Goldie Hawn for Parents magazine in 1978. She contributed reviews to Ampersand college entertainment magazine.
In 1989 through Dutton, Atlas published a fiction novel, Palace of Light, with characters placed within union politics in the early years of Hollywood. In 1994, she wrote A Century of Women, published through TBS Books as a companion to the Turner Broadcasting System television series of the same name.[17]
Television
[edit]Atlas first worked in the television industry as a research assistant to Rona Barrett on Good Morning America in 1976. She was hired by NBC News,[18] rising to spend five years as senior producer on the Today show. In October 1990,[19] Atlas co-founded VU Productions with Pat Mitchell, to create non-fiction content for Gary David Goldberg's Ubu Productions.[1] In 1991 for VU Productions, Atlas co-wrote with Mitchell the screenplay for Danger: Kids at Work, a TV movie starring Amy Irving. Under VU Productions, Atlas and Mitchell produced A Century of Women in 1994 for Turner Broadcasting System (TBS), a six-hour miniseries documentary broadcast in two episodes, narrated by Jane Fonda.[20][21] A Century of Women was nominated for an Emmy Award in 1995.[22] In 1996, TBS tapped Atlas to manage the production of Survivors of the Holocaust, with executive producer Steven Spielberg joining Mitchell. The documentary won two Emmy Awards, the first for "Outstanding Informational Special", given to the filmmakers including Atlas, Mitchell, Spielberg and director Allan Holzman, and the second for "Outstanding Individual Achievement – Informational Programming" given to Holzman for his editing of the film. It also won a Peabody Award and a CableACE Award, the latter presented to the filmmakers at the 18th CableACE Awards in 1996. Atlas supervised an independent documentary, Dying to Tell the Story (1998), about photojournalist Dan Eldon who was killed at 22 in Somalia.[2]
After TBS, Atlas worked for CNN, rising to the position of vice president and supervising producer. She helped launch CNN NewsStand, a news magazine, and was executive producer.[23] With CNN, she produced the documentary Soldiers of Peace: A Children's Crusade (1999), describing children in Colombia working toward peace. Starting in June 2000 at PBS, Atlas was senior vice president overseeing content for six years under president Mitchell, a role she shared with John Wilson: Atlas was based on the West Coast while Wilson was in Florida.[1][24] In June 2006, Atlas left PBS when they closed operations in Los Angeles.[25]
Atlas collaborated with Tavis Smiley on a series of documentaries for PBS. Atlas was involved with seven broadcasts including: "A Call to Conscience" (2010), "Too Important to Fail" (2011), "Education Under Arrest" (2013), and "Getting Ahead" (2016). One of the series was about Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel.[26]
Atlas wrote and directed Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools, based on the 2016 book of the same name written by Monique W. Morris. The documentary was broadcast in 2019 by PBS, telling about African American girls disproportionately sent to the juvenile justice system.[27]
Awards and recognition
[edit]Atlas won a Peabody Award,[28] a CableACE Award and an Emmy Award for the TBS movie Survivors of the Holocaust (1996). She was nominated for two more Emmys: in 1995 for A Century of Women, and in 1999 for Dying to Tell the Story.[29]
Filmography
[edit]- 2019: Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools[27]
- 2016: Defying the Nazis: The Sharps' War
- 2016: Tavis Smiley Reports: Getting Ahead[30]
- 2013: Tavis Smiley Reports: Education Under Arrest[31]
- 2013: Walking the Camino: Six Ways to Santiago[32]
- 2012: Tavis Smiley Reports: Dudamel: Conducting a Life
- 2011: Extraordinary Moms
- 2011: Miss Representation
- 2011: Tavis Smiley Reports: Too Important to Fail
- 2010: Tavis Smiley Reports: A Call to Conscience
- 2009–2015: Craft in America
- 1999: Soldiers of Peace: A Children's Crusade[1]
- 1998: Warner Bros. 75th Anniversary: No Guts, No Glory
- 1998: Assassinated: The Last Days of King & Kennedy[33]
- 1998: Dying to Tell the Story[1]
- 1997: The Coming Plague[1]
- 1996: The Good, the Bad & the Beautiful
- 1996: Survivors of the Holocaust[1]
- 1995: Anatomy of Love
- 1994: A Century of Women[1]
- 1992: The Home Show
- 1991: Danger: Kids at Work
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h "PBS Establishes Regionally-Based Senior Programming Team". PBS. June 10, 2000. Retrieved August 29, 2020.
- ^ a b c "Jacoba Atlas". Rock's Backpages Library. Retrieved August 29, 2020.
- ^ "Leopold Atlas". Guggenheim Foundation. Retrieved August 29, 2020.
- ^ Navasky, Victor S. (2003). Naming Names. Macmillan. pp. 361–363. ISBN 9780809001835.
- ^ Atlas, Jacoba (August 26, 1967). "Hippies: How? Why? What Does It Mean?". KRLA Beat. Retrieved August 29, 2020. Hosted by Rock's Backpages Library.
- ^ Atlas, Jacoba (January 27, 1968). "Nilsson: An Underground Artist Surfaces". KRLA Beat. Retrieved August 29, 2020. Hosted by Rock's Backpages Library.
- ^ Roby, Steven (2012). Hendrix on Hendrix: Interviews and Encounters with Jimi Hendrix. Chicago Review Press. pp. 147–150. ISBN 9781613743249.
- ^ Glen, Patrick (2018). Youth and Permissive Social Change in British Music Papers, 1967–1983. Springer. p. 68. ISBN 9783319916743.
- ^ Whitall, Susan (2018). Joni on Joni: Interviews and Encounters with Joni Mitchell. Chicago Review Press. pp. 39–40. ISBN 9780914090441.
- ^ Atlas, Jacoba (September 12, 1970). "Laurel Canyon: Hip Street USA". Melody Maker. Retrieved September 7, 2020. Hosted by Rock's Backpages Library.
- ^ Atlas, Jacoba (November 6, 1971). "There Aren't Many Girls In Hard Rock, But A New Day (And Attitude) Is Dawning". Billboard. Retrieved August 29, 2020. Hosted by Rock's Backpages Library.
- ^ Atlas, Jacoba (June 15, 1974). "Cocker Dies a Death". Billboard. Retrieved August 29, 2020. Hosted by Rock's Backpages Library.
- ^ Atlas, Jacoba (March 1969). "Jimi Hendrix #2". Circus. Retrieved August 29, 2020. Hosted by Rock's Backpages Library.
- ^ Atlas, Jacoba (March 25, 1970). "MASH director is non-plussed". Los Angeles Free Press.
- ^ Atlas, Jacoba (September 27, 1974). "The Facts Behind 'Chinatown'", Los Angeles Free Press, p. 23.
- ^ Atlas, Jacoba (March–April 1975). "Mel Brooks interview". Film Comment. Retrieved August 29, 2020.
- ^ Atlas, Jacoba (1994). A Century of Women. TBS Books. ISBN 9781570361425.
- ^ "Team". Pushout Film. September 8, 2019. Retrieved August 29, 2020.
- ^ Carmody, John (September 17, 1990). "The TV Column". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 28, 2020.
- ^ King, Susan (June 5, 1994). "Women Who Made a Difference". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 29, 2020.
- ^ Rosenberg, Howard (June 7, 1994). "A Mostly Positive 'Century' of Women". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 29, 2020.
- ^ "Nominees 1995: A Century of Women". Emmys. Retrieved August 29, 2020.
- ^ Rosenberg, Howard (June 16, 1999). "In Secular Land, Spirituality on Rise". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 7, 2020.
- ^ Everhart, Karen; Behrens, Steve (May 3, 2004). "As cume slips, duo aims to keep PBS 'relevant'". Current. Retrieved August 29, 2020.
- ^ Jensen, Elizabeth (June 14, 2006). "Embracing Digital Era, PBS Hires John Boland of KQED to Fill New Post". The New York Times. Retrieved August 29, 2020.
- ^ "Getting Ahead Production Team". PBS. September 14, 2016. Retrieved August 29, 2020.
- ^ a b "World Premiere of 'PUSHOUT: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools Documentary'". National Black Women's Justice Institute. September 9, 2019. Retrieved August 29, 2020.
- ^ "Survivors of the Holocaust". Peabody Awards. Retrieved August 29, 2020.
- ^ "Jacoba Atlas". Emmys. Retrieved August 29, 2020.
- ^ Roberts, Kimberly C. (October 7, 2016). "'Getting Ahead with Tavis Smiley' comes to WHYY". The Philadelphia Tribune. Retrieved September 7, 2020.
- ^ "Tavis Smiley Examines An Educational System Under Arrest". PR Newswire (Press release). TS Media. March 5, 2013. Retrieved September 7, 2020.
- ^ Lowe, Justin (October 31, 2014). "'Walking the Camino: Six Ways to Santiago': Film Review". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 7, 2020.
- ^ Linden, Sheri (April 2, 1998). "Assassinated: The Last Days of King & Kennedy". Variety. Retrieved September 7, 2020.
External links
[edit]- Jacoba Atlas at IMDb
- Jacoba Atlas at BFI.org
- Living people
- 20th-century American non-fiction writers
- 20th-century American women writers
- American business executives
- American documentary film directors
- American documentary film producers
- American people of German-Jewish descent
- American television news producers
- CableACE Award winners
- Film producers from California
- Journalists from California
- Television producers from California
- American women documentary filmmakers
- American women television producers
- Peabody Award winners
- Primetime Emmy Award winners
- UCLA Film School alumni
- University of California, Berkeley alumni
- Rock critics
- American music critics
- American film critics
- American women film critics
- 21st-century American women writers
- American women music critics
- 21st-century American businesswomen