Robert Greene (filmmaker)

Greene at 2016 Montclair Film Festival

Robert Greene (born May 25, 1976) is an American documentary filmmaker, editor and writer, born in Charlotte, NC. His nonfiction documentary films include, Actress, Kati With an I, and Fake it So Real. He was named one of the 10 Filmmakers to Watch in 2014 by The Independent,^[1] and is “filmmaker-in-chief” at the Murray Center for Documentary Journalism at the University of Missouri, beginning in 2015.^[2]

Life and career

Greene is from Charlotte, NC. He received his bachelor's degree from North Carolina State University in 2000, majoring in communication and multidisciplinary film studies. He received his M.F.A. at City College of New York in media arts studies. In New York, he also worked at Kim’s Video. In 2002, Greene began working at 4th Row Films, starting as freelance editor. By 2004 he was full-time as a post-production supervisor. During this time, he worked with producers Douglas Tirola and Susan Bedusa on films including All In: The Poker Movie (2008), Making the Boys (2011), and An Omar Broadway Film (2008). While he was at 4th Row, Greene directed and [?] produced Owning the Weather (2011) and Kati with an I (2010).

In 2012, Greene left 4th Row Films to work on independent projects. He has worked with Sean Price Williams and Alex Ross Perry, having edited Perry’s feature film Listen Up Philip,^[3] as well as Amanda Rose Wilder’s Approaching the Elephant,^[4] and Nick Berardini’s Tom Swift and His Electric Rifle.^[5] In 2015 Greene was appointed filmmaker-in-chief at the new Murray Institute for Documentary Journalism at the University of Missouri in Columbia, MO. He is also an assistant professor in their Journalism and Film Studies programs.

He is also a writer, critic and reviewer, having appeared in many print and online publications, including Filmmaker Magazine,^[6] Criterion,^[7] and Criticwire. Present Tense: Notes on American Nonfiction Cinema 1998-2013, his first book, is slated for release by The Critical Press for July 2015.^[8]

Influences

Greene cites a variety of filmmakers and directors as influences for his work, including Frederick Wiseman, Albert and David Maysles, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Jean-Luc Godard, John Cassavetes, and Kon Ichikawa. Greene has called Peter Watkins’ “Edvard Munch (film)” his favorite film of all time.^[9]

For Actress, Greene was interested in Wiseman and Douglas Sirk for their mastery of visuals and definitive style, on how their influence could be incorporated in telling Burre’s story.^[10]

Filmography

Kate Plays Christine (2016) – director
Actress (2014) – director
Fake It So Real (2011) – director
Goodbye Engineer (2011) – director
Kati With an I (2010) – director
Owning the Weather (2009) – director

Edited films

Tom Swift and His Electric Rifle (2015) – editor
Queen of Earth (2015) – editor
Listen Up Philip (2014) – editor
Christmas, Again (2014) – editor
Approaching the Elephant (2014) – producer, editor
If You Take This (2014) – producer, editor
The Vanquishing of the Witch Baba Yaga (2014) – additional editing
Hellaware (2013) – additional editing
Hey Bartender (2013) – co-editor
Lenny Cooke (2013) – additional editing
All In: The Poker Movie (2012) – producer, editor
Making the Boys (2011) – editor
An Omar Broadway Film (2008) – producer, editor

References