Documentary producers Keith McQuirter and Nick Stuart join by phone to discuss their film Milwaukee 53206, documentary as a tool for social justice, and how they have taken their projects directly to communities in what Nick describes as “documentaries from below.”
About Keith McQuirter
Keith McQuirter is an award-winning producer and director with credits in TV documentary, new media and commercials. His documentary MILWAUKEE 53206 won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Feature Documentary at the 2017 Urbanworld Film Festival and won the National Council on Crime and Delinquency’s 2017 Media for a Just Society Award. Keith also co-produced the five-part Peabody Award winning and Prime Time Emmy nominated docu-series Brick City for the Sundance Channel. Having worked a number of years as an executive producer in advertising, Keith produced commercials for some of the biggest brands in entertainment, apparel, beauty, food and consumer products.
Keith studied film and television production at New York University Tisch School of the Arts where he was awarded the Martin Scorsese Young Filmmaker Award. He also studied directing at the National Theater Institute. His production company Decoder Media is based in New York City.
About Nick Stuart
Nick came over from the UK in 2009 after 20 years in broadcasting as a reporter, presenter and then director/producer, specializing in current affairs and also religion and its impact on the front page issues dominating our world.
Created Transform Films Inc. to produce documentaries, both shot form and long form, to highlight social justice issues - concentrating on strong character-led programs with deep access to communities , whether they be a Zip code, a town or a State Penitentiary. Always aiming to humanize issues in an attempt to break through the politicalization of justice issues and get to the real impact and consequences in people’s lives.
The films drive the impact campaigns to work with “the change-makers”, organizations and individuals already working for justice and supporting those whose lives have been hit by the issues each film highlights. The campaigns are run by the 501 (c ) 3 organization, Odyssey Impact.
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