GOOD TALK WITH TOM SHEPARD

For over 20 years, filmmaker Tom Shepard has produced, directed and edited documentary films.  Five of his feature projects — Scout’s Honor, Knocking, Whiz Kids, The Grove and UNSETTLED — have aired nationally on PBS (including the programs POV, Independent Lens, PBS Plus and Doc World). Coverage of his work has been featured prominently in U.S. and foreign press including reviews of four of his films in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle and Boston Globe among others.  Shepard’s films have played in hundreds of film festivals worldwide including Full Frame, the San Francisco International Film Festival, Silver Docs and the Sundance Film Festival where he has won two top awards.
               
Shepard has received funding from the Independent Television Service (four times) and support from California Humanities, the Enterprise Fund, the Jonathan Logan Family Foundation among others.  He is the former Chairman of New Day Films and in 2013, founded the Youth Documentary Academy in Colorado where he directs and teaches regularly.  Prior to becoming an independent filmmaker, Shepard worked for Linda Wertheimer as her editorial assistant at National Public Radio. He graduated from Stanford University where he studied human biology and film.