American documentary film director, producer and cinematographer
Cynthia Wade
Born Occupation(s) Film Director, Producer, and Cinematographer Years active 1993–present Spouse Matthew Syrett Children 3 daughters Relatives
John Orr Young ,
Ali Benjamin , Whitney Tilson Website
cynthiawade .com
Cynthia Wade is an American television, commercial and
film director ,
producer and
cinematographer based in
New York City . She has directed documentaries on social issues including
Shelter Dogs in 2003 about
animal welfare and
Freeheld in 2007 about
LGBT rights as well as television commercials and web campaigns. She has won over 40
film festival awards, won an
Oscar in 2008, and was nominated for her second Oscar in 2013.
Background
Wade was born and raised in the New York City area and is the great-granddaughter of
John Orr Young , the founder of
Young & Rubicam , an advertising agency in Manhattan.
[1] She attended
Smith College where she received her
Bachelor of Arts degree, and
Stanford University where she received a
master's degree in Documentary Film Production.
[2] During college, Wade attended the
National Theater Institute at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, Connecticut, where she studied directing.
In 1999, she married Matthew Syrett.
[1]
She taught advanced digital cinematography
[3] and film production in the graduate certificate program in Documentary Media Studies
[4] at
The New School and runs a film production company, Cynthia Wade Productions, Inc.
[2]
[5]
Work
lIn 1999, Wade's personal documentary Grist for the Mill aired on Cinemax.
[6]
[7]
In 2003, Wade directed and produced
Shelter Dogs , a documentary about the
animal welfare system in the United States and the
ethics of
animal euthanasia .
[8]
[9]
[10] For this film she won the Grand Prize at the Director's View Film Festival, the Audience Award at the
Newport International Film Festival , the Best of the Fest award at the Northampton Film Festival and the Audience Award at the
Orinda Film Festival .
[11]
[12] It was the 2004 debut special for HBO's series
America Undercover .
[13]
[14]
In 2007, Wade directed and shot
Freeheld , a documentary telling the story of terminally ill
New Jersey police officer
Laurel Hester . Hester came to public attention when she appealed to her local authorities to change the policy that prevented her female
domestic partner from receiving pension benefits upon Hester's death. While filming Freeheld , Wade spent time living with Hester and her partner Stacie Andree in New Jersey.
[5] The film won 16 film awards including the Special Jury Prize in Short Filmmaking at the
2007 Sundance Film Festival , a Special Jury Prize at the
Seattle International Film Festival , the Audience Award at the Boston Independent Film Festival, the Audience Award at
L.A. Outfest .
[15] Wade and Producer
Vanessa Roth won the
Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject) at the
80th Academy Awards for Freeheld in 2008.
[6]
[16]
In 2008 and 2009 Wade directed the documentary Living the Legacy: The Untold Story of Milton Hershey School at
Milton Hershey School in
Hershey, Pennsylvania , one of several films she has made for schools and
non profit organizations .
[8]
[17] It aired on the
Sundance Channel and the
Independent Film Channel .
[8]
In January 2010, Wade's documentary Born Sweet , about a Cambodian boy who is poisoned with
arsenic , had its World Premiere at the
2010 Sundance Film Festival where it was awarded Honorable Mention; it won 14 additional film festival awards, including prizes at Aspen, Palm Springs and the
Hamptons Film Festivals .
[18]
[19]
[20]
[21]
In 2011, Wade was Documentary Director for the Prime Time Emmy-Winning Sesame Street TV special "Growing Hope Against Hunger", about food insecurity in America, as told through four children's eyes in different parts of the country.
[22]
[23]
In 2013, Wade was nominated for her second
Academy Award for her HBO documentary
Mondays at Racine . The documentary won 4 festival awards and an IDA Award Nomination.
[24]
[25]
[26]
In 2014, during an event at the Sundance Film Festival, Wade released her short film "Selfie" in conjunction with
the Sundance Institute and
Dove (soap) dealing with how social media is changing the way women define beauty. "Selfie" is an installment of the '
Dove Campaign for Real Beauty .
[27]
[28] The Selfie project went viral and captured over 7.1 million views worldwide. It was awarded a
Clio in 2014 for Best Short Form Film.
[29]
In 2015, Wade directed and cast #EndMommyWars,
[30] a 7-minute documentary for
Similac as part of their #EndMommyWars campaign. The film followed real new moms over the course of a day, where they talked about how they judged other mothers and felt judged themselves.
[31]
[32]
In 2015, the feature film
Freeheld , based on Wade's 2007 documentary, was released by
Lionsgate . Wade served as a lead producer on this film, which stars
Julianne Moore ,
Elliot Page ,
Steve Carell and
Michael Shannon . It is directed by
Peter Sollett .
Wade co-directed in 2016 the feature documentary Generation Startup detailing six startups in Detroit launched through
Andrew Yang 's
Venture for America (VFA) program.
[33]
Wade co-directed the
PBS POV Documentary in 2019 Grit .
[34] The film is an account of the
Lapindo Mud disaster in
East Java, Indonesia , which premiered at
HotDocs in 2018. In 2021, Wade directed Sproutland .
[35]
In 2022, directed three episodes of the TV Series, Gutsy featuring
Chelsea and
Hillary Clinton .
[36] Wade then co-directed and co-produced
The Flagmakers with
Sharon Liese , a documentary that follows a factory making
American flags whose employees are primarily immigrants.
[37]
Filmography
Director
1983:
America Undercover (TV series)
1995: Out of My Mind (Documentary Short)
1995: Almost Home (Documentary Short)
1999: Grist for the Mill (Documentary)
2003:
Shelter Dogs (Documentary)
2007: Freeheld (Documentary Short)
2007: Freeheld: The Legacy of Laurel Hester (Documentary Short)
2009: Living the Legacy: The Untold Story of Milton Hershey School (TV Movie Documentary)
2010: Born Sweet (Documentary Short)
2011: Growing Hope Against Hunger (TV Movie Documentary)
2012:
Mondays at Racine (Documentary Short)
2012: Wrestling the Monster: Living with Hepatic Encephalopathy (Documentary Short)
2015: Heart Felt (Documentary)
2015: #EndTheMommyWars (Documentary Short)
2016: Generation Startup (Documentary)
2017: Hep C Free (Documentary Short)
2018: Beyond Blue: Barbara's MPN Story (Documentary Short)
2018: Grit (Documentary)
2018: Gravity: Scott & Amy's MPN Story & Role of Caregiving (Documentary Short)
2018: Something So Rare: Four Unique MPN Stories (Documentary Short)
2018: Invisible: Taja's MPN Story (Documentary Short)
2021: Sproutland (Short)
2022: Gutsy (TV Documentary Series)
2022:
The Flagmakers (Documentary Short, co-directed with Sharon Liese)
Producer
1995: Almost Home
1998: Biography (TV Documentary Series)
1999: Grist for the Mill (Documentary)
2003: Shelter Dogs (Documentary)
2003: Buff Brides (TV Series)
2006: Gender Rebel (Documentary)
2007: Freeheld (Documentary Short)
2007: Freeheld: The Legacy of Laurel Hester (Documentary Short)
2009: Living the Legacy: The Untold Story of Milton Hershey School (TV Movie Documentary)
2010: Born Sweet (Documentary Short)
2012: Mondays at Racine (Documentary Short)
2015: The Gnomist (Documentary Short)
2015:
Freeheld (Documentary Short)
2016: Out in Alabama (Documentary Short)
2018: Grit (Documentary)
2022: The Flagmakers (Documentary Short, co-produced with Sharon Liese)
Cinematographer
1995:
Out of My Mind (Documentary Short)
1995: Almost Home (Documentary Short)
1997:
Ancient Mysteries (TV Documentary Series)
1998: Taken In: Lives of America's Foster Children
1999: Grist for the Mill
2000: Parole: Prison Without Bars
2002:
The Collector of Bedford Street
2003: Shelter Dogs
2003:
Risk/Reward
2004: Lookalike
2007: Freeheld
2008:
In the Family
2008: P.O.V. (TV Documentary Series)
2009: Living the Legacy: The Untold Story of Milton Hershey School (TV Movie Documentary)
2010: Born Sweet (Documentary Short)
2010: Forget Me Nots (Documentary Short)
References
^
a
b
"Cynthia Wade and Matthew Syrett" .
The New York Times . September 19, 1999. Archived from
the original on February 24, 2013. Retrieved August 11, 2009 .
^
a
b Cynthia Wade Productions (2007).
"Filmmaker Profile" . Official site. Archived from
the original on December 13, 2009. Retrieved August 11, 2009 .
^
"Cynthia Wade, Bio" . HBO. Archived from
the original on November 19, 2015.
^
"AND THE OSCAR GOES TO..." January 23, 2013. Retrieved January 25, 2013 .
^
a
b
"Oscar nomination for documentary about lesbian cop" .
Pink News . January 23, 2008. Retrieved August 11, 2009 .
^
a
b Finn, Robin (March 7, 2008),
"A Filmmaker Triumphant, A Film About Triumph" ,
The New York Times , archived from
the original on February 10, 2018, retrieved August 11, 2009
^ Wade, Cynthia (July 17, 2012).
"Grist for the Mill - Official Trailer" – via
Vimeo .
^
a
b
c Dunkle, David N. (August 9, 2009),
"A conversation with director Cynthia Wade" ,
The Patriot-News , archived from
the original on September 26, 2009, retrieved August 11, 2009
^ Daniel, Jeff (January 25, 2004), " "SHELTER DOGS" IS MORE ABOUT ETHICS THAN AN EXPOSE",
St. Louis Post-Dispatch , pp. F6
^
Diamond, Wendy (January 20, 2004),
" "SHELTER DOGS": AN UNDERCOVER DOCUMENTARY OF THE UNWANTED" ,
Animal Fair Magazine , pp. F6, archived from
the original on December 8, 2015, retrieved November 29, 2015
^
"Shelter Dogs (2003)" . Movies & TV Dept.
The New York Times . 2015. Archived from
the original on December 10, 2015. Retrieved December 8, 2015 .
^
"Shelter Dogs Awards" . IMDB.com. Retrieved August 11, 2009 .
^ Gorman, James (January 27, 2004),
"Life And Death Decisions About Four Legged Prisoners" ,
The New York Times , archived from
the original on May 28, 2015, retrieved August 11, 2009
^ Parker, James (January 27, 2004),
" 'Shelter Dogs' unleashes painful facts about strays" ,
The Boston Globe , retrieved August 11, 2009
^
"L.A. Outfest" ,
imdb.com , January 23, 2008, retrieved December 7, 2015
^
"Story of lesbian cop's pension struggle wins Oscar" ,
Pink News , February 25, 2008, retrieved August 11, 2009
^ Dunkle, David N. (August 5, 2009),
"Oscar winner directs documentary about Milton Hershey School" ,
The Patriot-News , retrieved August 11, 2009
^
Born Sweet (2010) - Awards ,
www.imdb.com , retrieved January 20, 2014
^ Sondhi, Jason (September 15, 2013),
"Short of the Week" , www.shortoftheweek.com , retrieved January 20, 2014
^ Tehrani, Bijan (March 25, 2010),
"Cynthia Wade Talks About BORN SWEET" , www.cinemawithoutborders.com , archived from
the original on December 8, 2015, retrieved January 20, 2014
^ Koughuell, Ray (September 22, 2014),
Q&A with Cynthia Wade: Death and Fate in a Cambodian Village ,
Voice of America News , retrieved November 29, 2015
^ Aumer, Christy (June 30, 2011),
Sesame Street Films in Vineyard Haven ,
Patch Media , retrieved November 29, 2015
^ Hacker, Pam (October 4, 2011).
"Brad Paisley, Kimberly Williams Paisley and the Sesame Street Muppets help families cope with hunger" (Press release). PBS
Sesame Workshop . Retrieved November 29, 2015 .
^
Cynthia Wade Awards , cynthiawade.com, retrieved December 7, 2015
^
BEST SHORT DOCUMENTARY MONDAY'S AT RACINE (2013) , Irvine Film Festival, archived from
the original on March 4, 2016, retrieved December 7, 2015
^
MONDAYS AT RACINE -American Film Showcase , American Film Showcase, archived from
the original on December 8, 2015, retrieved December 7, 2015
^ Kelly, Samantha Murphy (January 20, 2014),
Dove Short Film Embraces 'Selfies' to Redefine How We Perceive Beauty ,
Mashable , retrieved January 20, 2014
^ Oster, Erik (January 22, 2014),
Recommended Media's 'Selfie' for Dove Leaves Us a Bit Verklempt ,
Media Bistro , retrieved January 22, 2014
^ Oster, Erik (2014),
Clio Awards – Dove Selfie ,
Clio Awards , archived from
the original on December 8, 2015, retrieved December 7, 2015
^ Bolonga, Caroline (October 22, 2015),
If You've Ever Been Judged As A Mom, This Video Is For You ,
Huffington Post , retrieved October 22, 2015
^ Ruiz, Rebecca (October 22, 2015),
This New Ad Will Convince You Never Again To Judge a New Mom ,
Mashable , retrieved October 22, 2015
^ Cullers, Rebecca (October 23, 2015),
Feeling Judged? Judging Others? This Heartfelt Similac Film Hopes To End The Mommy Wars ,
AdWeek , retrieved October 23, 2015
^
"Generation Startup" . Generation Startup documentary film (official website) .
Archived from the original on April 16, 2017. Retrieved February 1, 2017 .
^
"American Documentary" . POV Webpage for GRIT (2019) . Retrieved February 10, 2020 .
^
"The Filmmaking of Sproutland by Cynthia Wade" . indieactivity.com . 27 October 2022.
^ Roeper, Richard (7 September 2022).
""'Gutsy': On Uplifting Apple TV+ Series, Clintons Spotlight Women Who Inspire, from a Conservationist to a Kardashian." " . chicago.suntimes.com . Chicago Sun-Times.
^ Contreras, Russell (January 6, 2023).
"Immigrants take back American flag in new film" .
Axios . Retrieved February 19, 2023 .
External links