Sheila Nevins facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Sheila Nevins
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Nevins in 2014
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| Born | April 6, 1939 Manhattan, New York U.S.
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| Nationality | American |
| Education | Little Red School House High School of Performing Arts |
| Alma mater | Barnard College Yale School of Drama |
| Occupation | Television producer documentary filmmaker author |
| Years active | 1960–present |
| Known for | President of HBO Documentary Films |
Sheila Nevins (born April 6, 1939) is a famous American television producer. She used to lead the documentary film division at MTV Entertainment Studios. Before that, she was the president of HBO Documentary Films.
Sheila Nevins has produced over 1,000 documentary films for HBO. She is known as one of the most important people in making documentaries. Her work has won many awards, including 35 News and Documentary Emmy Awards, 42 Peabody Awards, and 26 Academy Awards. Sheila Nevins herself has won 31 individual Primetime Emmy Awards, which is more than anyone else. She is also on the board of directors for the Peabody Awards.
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Early Life and Education
Sheila Nevins was born in Manhattan, New York. Her parents were Stella Nevins, a chemist, and Benjamin Nevins, who worked at a post office. Her family was not wealthy. Her mother had serious health conditions that affected her limbs. Sheila has a younger sister who became a doctor.
Thanks to her uncle, who was a rich inventor, Sheila went to private schools. She attended the Little Red School House and the High School of Performing Arts in New York City.
She earned a bachelor's degree in English from Barnard College in 1960. In 1963, she received a master's degree in directing from the Yale School of Drama. She was one of only two women in the directing program there.
Sheila Nevins' Career
In the 1960s, Sheila Nevins started her career at the United States Information Agency (USIA) in Washington, D.C. She was hired to act as a secretary in a TV show called Adventures in English. This show helped teach English words to people in other countries.
After that, Nevins worked as a researcher at the Library of Congress. She helped organize old film footage about World War II. This work made her want to focus on real-life stories in films, instead of fictional theater.
Early TV Work
From 1970 to 1973, Sheila Nevins worked with director Don Mischer and producer Bob Squire in New York. She then became a researcher for the TV show The Great American Dream Machine on Channel 13. She eventually started creating parts of the show and doing interviews with people on the street. She also worked as a director.
In 1973, Nevins was a Field Producer for The Reasoner Report on ABC News. From 1973 to 1975, she wrote for Time-Life Films. She also worked briefly for the TV show 20/20.
In 1975, she began working as a writer and producer for the Children's Television Workshop. She also helped make audio recordings of books for people who are blind. From 1978 to 1979, Nevins was a producer for the CBS News show Who's Who.
Time at HBO
In 1979, Sheila Nevins was hired by HBO to direct their documentary programs. She stayed in this role until 1982.
From 1983 to 1985, Nevins had her own production company called Spinning Reels. She created an animated educational show called Braingames.
In 1986, Nevins returned to HBO as the vice president of documentary programming. In 1995, she became the senior vice president of original programming. She was known for producing many documentaries, including the America Undercover series.
From 1999 to 2003, Nevins was the executive vice president of original programming at HBO. In 1998, she mentioned that she produced about 12 documentaries a year for HBO. Since 2004, Nevins was HBO's President of Documentary and Family Programming. She retired from HBO in March 2018.
Writing Books
In 2007, Sheila Nevins wrote the introduction for a book called Addiction: Why Can't They Just Stop?. This book was based on an HBO documentary series.
In 2017, Nevins published her own book, a memoir called You Don't Look Your Age... and Other Fairy Tales. In this book, she shares her thoughts on growing older and her experiences. The book includes short stories and poems. Many famous people, like Kathy Bates and Meryl Streep, contributed their voices to the audio version of the book.
Personal Life
In 1963, Sheila Nevins married a lawyer. She wanted to work in theater, but her husband preferred her to be home in the evenings. This led her to find a daytime job. Their marriage later ended in divorce.
In 1972, Nevins married investment banker Sidney Koch. They had a home in Litchfield, Connecticut, and an apartment in Manhattan. They have one son, David Koch, who was born in 1980. Sheila Nevins has spoken about her son's health challenges and how she managed being a working mother.
Nevins produced an HBO documentary about the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. This was a tragic event where many factory workers died in a fire. Sheila Nevins found out she had a personal connection to this event: her great-aunt, Celia Gittlin, who was 17 and an immigrant from Russia, died in that fire.
Honors and Awards
Sheila Nevins has received many honors and awards for her work:
- 2000: Inducted into the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame
- 2008: Gotham Awards, Tribute Award
- 2011: Directors Guild of America, Power 100
- 2013: Women's Project Theater, Woman of Achievement Award
- 2013: International Festival of Arts & Ideas, Visionary Leadership Award
Academy Awards
- 2024: Nominated for Best Documentary Short Film for The ABCs of Book Banning
Peabody Awards
- 1981: Peabody Award for She's Nobody's Baby: The History of American Women in the 20th Century
- 1999: Peabody Award, Personal Award
- 2006: Peabody Award for Baghdad ER
- 2013: Peabody Award for Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God and for Life According to Sam
Primetime Emmy Awards
Sheila Nevins has won many Primetime Emmy Awards, including:
- 1995: Outstanding Informational Special for One Survivor Remembers
- 1995: Outstanding Children's Program for Going, Going, Almost Gone! Animals in Danger
- 1997: Outstanding Informational Special for Without Pity: A Film About Abilities
- 1997: Outstanding Children's Program for How Do You Spell God?
- 2000: Outstanding Children's Program for Goodnight Moon & Other Sleepytime Tales
- 2003: Outstanding Children's Program for Through a Child's Eyes: September 11, 2001
- 2005: Lifetime Achievement Award
- 2005: Outstanding Children's Program for Classical Baby
- 2006: Outstanding Children's Program for I Have Tourette's but Tourette's Doesn't Have Me
- 2007: Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking for When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts
- 2009: Governor's Award for the Creative Arts Emmy Awards
- 2009: Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking for The Alzheimer's Project: The Memory Loss Tapes
- 2013: Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special for Manhunt: The Search for Bin Laden
- 2014: Outstanding Children's Program for One Last Hug: Three Days at Grief Camp
- 2015: Outstanding Children's Program for Alan Alda and the Actor Within You: A YoungArts Masterclass
- 2015: Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special for Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief
- 2018: Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special for The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling
Selected Films and Shows
Here are some of the films and shows Sheila Nevins has worked on:
- 1981: She's Nobody's Baby: The History of American Women in the 20th Century
- 1983–1985: Braingames – she created and was an executive producer
- 1991–2005: America Undercover – executive producer
- 1995: One Survivor Remembers – senior producer
- 1997: 4 Little Girls – executive producer
- 2001: Living Dolls: The Making of a Child Beauty Queen – executive producer
