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 very important American television producer. She used to lead the MTV Documentary Films division. Before that, she was the President of HBO Documentary Films. She has made over 1,000 documentary films for HBO. Many people see her as one of the most influential 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 also helps choose winners for the Peabody Awards.
Contents
Early Life and Learning
Sheila Nevins was born in Manhattan, New York City. Her family was not wealthy. Her mother was a chemist, and her father worked for the post office.
Thanks to a kind uncle, Sheila went to private schools. She attended the Little Red School House and the High School of Performing Arts in New York City. These schools helped her learn and grow.
She earned a degree in English from Barnard College in 1960. Later, in 1963, she got 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 Journey
Sheila Nevins started her career in the 1960s. She worked at the United States Information Agency in Washington, D.C. Her first job was playing a secretary in a TV show. This show, called Adventures in English, taught English words to people in other countries.
After that, she worked at the Library of Congress. She researched and organized old film clips about World War II. Sheila said this work made her want to focus on real-life stories. She decided to move from acting to making documentaries.
From 1970 to 1973, Sheila learned from director Don Mischer and producer Bob Squire. Then she got a job as a researcher for a TV show called The Great American Dream Machine. She eventually started making her own parts of the show. She even hired famous filmmakers Albert and David Maysles to help.
In 1973, she worked as a Field Producer for The Reasoner Report on ABC News. She also wrote for Time-Life Films and worked briefly for 20/20.
In 1975, Sheila started working for the Children's Television Workshop. She also helped make audio recordings of books for people who are blind.
Working at HBO
In 1979, Sheila Nevins joined HBO. She started as the Director of Documentary Programming. This was a 13-week contract at first, but she stayed until 1982.
From 1983 to 1985, Sheila had her own company called Spinning Reels. She created an animated educational show called Braingames.
In 1986, Sheila came back to HBO. She became the Vice President of Documentary Programming. By 1995, she was the Senior Vice President of Original Programming.
From 1999 to 2003, she was the Executive Vice President of Original Programming at HBO. Sheila once said that she produced about 12 documentaries a year at HBO.
Sheila Nevins became HBO's President of Documentary and Family Programming in 2004. She retired from HBO in March 2018.
Writing a Book
In 2017, Sheila Nevins wrote a book called You Don't Look Your Age... and Other Fairy Tales. In her book, she shares her thoughts on growing older and what she has learned from life. The book includes short stories and poems. Many famous people, like Kathy Bates and Meryl Streep, read parts of the audio version of her book.
Sheila once said that she didn't have any mentors, which are people who guide you. She joked that "Revenge is a good mentor."
Personal Life
In 1972, Sheila Nevins married Sidney Koch, an investment banker. They had a home in Litchfield, Connecticut and an apartment in New York City. They have one son, David Koch, born in 1980. Sheila has talked about the challenges of being a working mother while her son faced health issues.
Sheila also produced an HBO documentary about the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. This fire was a tragic event in history. She found out she had a personal connection to it: her great-aunt, Celia Gittlin, died in that fire when she was 17.
Awards and Recognitions
Sheila Nevins has received many awards for her amazing work.
- 2000: Inducted into the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame
- 2008: Gotham Awards, Tribute Award
- 2011: Named one of the Power 100 by the Directors Guild of America
- 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 for her work. Here are some of the notable ones:
- 1995: Outstanding Informational Special for One Survivor Remembers
- 1995: Outstanding Informational Special for Taxicab Confessions
- 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?
- 1999: Outstanding Nonfiction Special for Thug Life in D.C.
- 2000: Outstanding Nonfiction Special for Children in War
- 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
- 2004: Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special for Elaine Stritch at Liberty
- 2004: Outstanding Children's Program for Happy to Be Nappy and Other Stories of Me
- 2005: Lifetime Achievement Award
- 2005: Outstanding Children's Program for Classical Baby
- 2005: Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking for Death in Gaza
- 2006: Outstanding Children's Program for I Have Tourette's but Tourette's Doesn't Have Me
- 2006: Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking for Baghdad ER
- 2007: Outstanding Nonfiction Special for Ghosts of Abu Ghraib
- 2007: Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking for When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts
- 2008: Outstanding Children's Program for Classical Baby (I'm Grown Up Now): The Poetry Show
- 2008: Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking for White Light/Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
- 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
- 2009: Outstanding Children's Nonfiction Program for The Alzheimer's Project: Grandpa, Do You Know Who I Am? with Maria Shriver
- 2010: Outstanding Nonfiction Special for Teddy: In His Own Words
- 2011: Outstanding Children's Program for A Child's Garden of Poetry
- 2013: Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special for Manhunt: The Search for Bin Laden
- 2013: Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking for Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God
- 2014: Outstanding Children's Program for One Last Hug: Three Days at Grief Camp
- 2014: Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking for Life According to Sam
- 2015: Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series for The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst
- 2015: Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special for Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief
- 2015: Outstanding Picture Editing For Nonfiction Programming for The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst
- 2016: Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking for Jim: The James Foley Story
- 2018: Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special for The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling
Selected Filmography
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 – for HBO and Ms. magazine
- 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
