Bill Jersey

Movies

American Reds: The Failed Revolution
Producer
The documentary AMERICAN REDS provides a historical overview of 20th century Communism and the growth, decline and contemporary relevance of the Communist Party, USA (CPUSA). Since its founding in 1919, the CPUSA has championed the struggles for democracy, labor rights, women’s equality, and racial justice. During its heyday in the 1930s and 1940s, it attracted millions of Americans to support its causes and almost 100,000 men and women to enlist in its ranks. The film begins with the Party's emergence as a small militant sect in the 1920s and documents its rise to the foremost radical group in the United States during the Great Depression, fighting against racism, sexism and fascism, as well as for the rights of workers to organize. It ends with the decline of the Party during the Cold War under the assaults of the FBI and anti- communist crusades.
Eames: The Architect and the Painter
Director
The husband-and-wife team of Charles and Ray Eames were America's most influential and important industrial designers. Admired for their creations and fascinating as individuals, they have risen to iconic status in American culture. Eames: The Architect and the Painter draws from a treasure trove of archival material, as well as new interviews with friends, colleague, and experts to capture the personal story of Charles and Ray while placing them firmly in the context of their fascinating times.
The Making of 'Amadeus'
Director
This riveting film takes a look behind the scenes at one of the 20th century's cinema classics and at one of contemporary cinema's most maddeningly brilliant directors, Milos Forman.
Cowboy Poets
Producer
American cowboys have been writing poetry for more than a century. This little-known literary tradition both belies the macho image of the Western Heroes and serves as an imaginative form of oral history.Cowboy Poets travels to the big sky country of Nevada, Montana, and Arizona to explore the tradition and to introduce three working cowboys and the poetry they write about the lifestyle and land they love. Cowboy Poets profiles three cowboy reciters, Waddie Mitchell, Slim Kite and Wally McRae, representing three different aspects of the cowboy-poetry tradition.
A Time for Burning
Director
Explores the attempts of the minister of the Augustana Lutheran Church in Omaha, Nebraska, to persuade his all-white congregation to reach out to "negro" Lutherans in the city's north side.
Season's Change
Director
A cinema-verite classic set in Chicago, 1968. America's youth demonstrates and agitates. Mayor Daly and the Chicago police react. Violence ensues. A personal story told by those who lived through it. Broadcast nationally on PBS in 1968.