Maggie Greenwald

Directing · b. 1955 · New York City, New York, USA

Maggie Greenwald (born June 23, 1955) is an American filmmaker who began her career as a picture and sound editor. Her first film, Home Remedy, screened at the Munich, London and Torino Film Festivals before opening at the prestigious Film Forum in New York. Her next film, in 1987, The Kill-Off, a noir thriller based on a novel by Jim Thompson, appeared at film festivals around the world including Sundance (in Dramatic Competition), Munich (opening night, American Independent section), London, Florence, Deauville, Toronto and Edinburgh before winning the Best Director Award at the Torino Film Festival. The film is acknowledged by the British Film Institute as one of the "100 Best American Independents."

Full biography

Greenwald's acclaimed, groundbreaking Western, The Ballad of Little Jo, was released worldwide by Fine Line Features and Polygram Filmed Entertainment in 1993. It won an Independent Spirit Award. Inspired by early country ballads, Greenwald subsequently wrote and directed her music-based drama, Songcatcher. The film premiered in Dramatic Competition at Sundance 2000 where it garnered a Special Jury Award for Ensemble Performance. The film was the opening night selection of the Hamptons Film Festival and received the first Sloan Foundation Award, Deauville Film Festival Audience Award, two Independent Spirit Award nominations and a GLAAD Award nomination. In 2013 Greenwald directed the teen film The Last Keepers, starring Zosia Mamet, Aidan Quinn, Virginia Madsen and Olympia Dukakis. In 2002 Greenwald was awarded the Dorothy Arzner Award from the Director's View Film Festival. For television, Greenwald has directed the GLAAD Award-winning film What Makes A Family (starring Brooke Shields, Whoopi Goldberg and Cherry Jones - 2000), Tempted (starring Virginia Madsen - 2002 ) and Comfort and Joy (starring Dixie Carter - 2003) for Lifetime Television. Get A Clue, (starring Lindsay Lohan and Brenda Song- 2001) for Disney Channel. Good Morning, Killer (starring Catherine Bell - 2011) for TNT. Episodic work includes The Adventures of Pete & Pete (Cable ACE Award), The Mystery Files Of Shelby Woo and Wildfire.