Robert Greenwald and Judith Browne Dianis

Robert Greenwald is a producer, director, political activist, and the Brave New Films + Brave New Foundation founder and president. He is currently focused on the WAR COSTS (WarCosts.com) investigative campaign to challenge runaway, wasteful war spending – particularly in relation to job creation; KOCH BROTHERS EXPOSED (KochBrothersExposed.com) to illustrate the Kochs’ effort to buy democracy and control public policy from every direction; and CUENTAME (MyCuentame.org), which is at the forefront of investigating corruption at private prisons. He has also produced and distributed short viral videos and campaigns like RETHINK AFHANISTAN (2009, RethinkAfghanistan.com), SICK FOR PROFIT (SickForProfit.com), FOX ATTACKS (FoxAttacks.com) and THE REAL MCCAIN (TheRealMcCain.com), which were seen by almost a million people in a matter of days.

Greenwald is also the director/producer of IRAQ FOR SALE: THE WAR PROFITEERS (2006), a documentary that exposes what happens when corporations go to war and WAL-MART: THE HIGH COST OF LOW PRICE (2005), a documentary that uncovers the retail giant's assault on families and American values and OUTFOXED: RUPERT MURDOCH'S WAR ON JOURNALISM (2004). He also executive produced a trilogy of political documentaries: UNPRECEDENTED: THE 2000 ELECTION; UNCOVERED: THE WAR ON IRAQ (2003), which Greenwald also directed; and UNCONSTITUTIONAL (2004).

BRAVE NEW FILMS (BraveNewFilms.org), Greenwald's new media company, uses film to tell stories that build movements and influence debate about the most important issues of the day. Brave New Films released the THE BIG BUY: TOM DELAY'S STOLEN CONGRESS in May 2006 and recently produced two TV series: ACLU FREEDOM FILES and THE SIERRA CLUB CHRONICLES – which can be seen on Link TV, Court TV (ACLU) and via the internet.

In addition to his documentary work, Greenwald has produced and/or directed more than 50 television movies, miniseries and feature films, including: The Book of Ruth (2004), based on the best selling book by Jane Hamilton; The Crooked E: The Unshredded Truth About Enron (2003); The Burning Bed, starring Farrah Fawcett as an abused housewife; Shattered Spirits, starring Martin Sheen, about alcoholism; and Forgotten Prisoners, about the work of Amnesty International.

Greenwald also produced and directed the feature film, Steal This Movie, starring Vincent D'Onofrio as 60's radical Abbie Hoffman, as well as Breaking Up, starring Russell Crowe and Salma Hayek.

Greenwald's films have garnered 25 Emmy nominations, four cable ACE Award nominations, two Golden Globe nominations, the Peabody Award, the Robert Wood Johnson Award, and eight Awards of Excellence from the Film Advisory Board. He was awarded the 2002 Producer of the Year Award by the American Film Institute. Greenwald has been honored for his activism by the ACLU Foundation of Southern California; the L.A. chapter of the National Lawyers Guild; Physicians for Social Responsibility; New Roads School, Consumer Attorney's Association of Los Angeles, Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy and the Office of the Americas. Greenwald has lectured at Harvard University for the Nieman Fellows Foundation for Journalism and speaks frequently across the country about his work.


Follow Robert Greenwald on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/robertgreenwald

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Judith Browne Dianis, Co-Director of Advancement Project, has an extensive background in civil rights litigation and advocacy in the areas of voting, education, housing, and employment. Judith has worked tirelessly to protect survivors of Hurricane Katrina, filing critical litigation on behalf of displaced survivors and working to stop the exploitation of immigrant reconstruction workers.

Dianis’ efforts to protect voters of color spans years of dedication. In 1996, she filed pioneering litigation against the State Maryland for failure to enforce the “Motor Voter” law and represented the NAACP and African-American Floridians disenfranchised in 2000. Judith helped stop Florida’s use of an erroneous felon purge list in 2004, and served as counsel against the RNC, stopping challenges against voters of color based upon an illegal voter caging program. In 2008, Dianis represented the Virginia NAACP in litigation to eliminate racial disparities in the allocation of voting machines. Currently, Advancement Project is on the frontlines in fighting against a rash of legislative initiatives such as restrictions on early voting, state photo ID requirements, limits on voter registration and other laws designed to suppress the voting rights of people of color, the elderly, youth and the disabled.

Under Dianis’ leadership, Advancement Project has been dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline since 1999. Dianis has authored groundbreaking reports including: Derailed: The Schoolhouse to Jailhouse Track, and has partnered with grassroots organizations, leading to significant declines of unnecessary arrests and suspensions of students. Dianis is on the Board of the 21st Century Foundation, FairTest and is a Convener of the Forum for Education and Democracy.

Judith joined Advancement Project at its inception in 1999, after serving as the Managing Attorney in the Washington, D.C. office of the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc. Judith is a graduate of Columbia University School of Law, served as a Tobias Simon Eminent Scholar at Florida State University Law School and is currently an Adjunct Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center. She was named one of the “Thirty Women to Watch” by Essence Magazine and has written and commented extensively in the media about race issues.