Dennis Goulden
Encyclopedia
Film editing
Film editing is part of the creative post-production process of filmmaking. It involves the selection and combining of shots into sequences, and ultimately creating a finished motion picture. It is an art of storytelling...
, writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, executive producer
Executive producer
An executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...
, producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
and director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
on hundreds of films, and has received over a dozen Emmys and hundreds of other awards for his many years of work.
Early years
London, Ontario
London is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, situated along the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. The city has a population of 352,395, and the metropolitan area has a population of 457,720, according to the 2006 Canadian census; the metro population in 2009 was estimated at 489,274. The city...
. As a child he knew he wanted to be a filmmaker, and bought his first camera
Camera
A camera is a device that records and stores images. These images may be still photographs or moving images such as videos or movies. The term camera comes from the camera obscura , an early mechanism for projecting images...
when he was twelve. He graduated from London South Collegiate Institute in 1954, and began working for CFPL-TV
CFPL-TV
CFPL-DT is a television station based in London, Ontario, Canada, owned by Bell Media. Part of the CTV Two television system, the station serves London, Sarnia and much of southwestern Ontario north of London, including Wingham since its former sister station, CKNX-TV which ceased operations and...
in London, Ontario the next year. He served four years in the Royal Canadian Air Force Reserve
Royal Canadian Air Force
The history of the Royal Canadian Air Force begins in 1920, when the air force was created as the Canadian Air Force . In 1924 the CAF was renamed the Royal Canadian Air Force and granted royal sanction by King George V. The RCAF existed as an independent service until 1968...
while beginning his television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
career as "a prop man at CFPL. That meant setting scenery up, and doing any dirty work necessary. Canadian TV
Television in Canada
Television in Canada officially began with the opening of the nation's first television stations in Montreal and Toronto in 1952. As with most media in Canada, the television industry, and the television programming available in that country, are strongly influenced by the American media, perhaps...
was five years behind America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in program development but management at CFPL were incredibly supportive of their creative staff and allowed them to create many first-of types of programs. I got in on the ground floor." By 1959, Dennis was given a mandate to create a documentary unit and he began producing documentaries at CFPL and in 1960 began producing a new documentary series The World Around Us, which won several major Canadian awards. In 1964 he was recruited by then KYW-TV and moved to Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
to produce documentaries for Westinghouse-owned
Westinghouse Broadcasting
The Westinghouse Broadcasting Company, also known as Group W, was the broadcasting division of Westinghouse Electric Corporation. It owned several radio and television stations across the United States and distributed television shows for syndication....
KYW-TV
KYW-TV
KYW-TV, virtual channel 3, is an owned and operated television station of the CBS Television Network, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. KYW-TV shares a studio facility with its sister station, CW flagship WPSG just north of Center City Philadelphia...
. His first documentary was an hour long show on how farmers were losing their land. It was a pivotal experience for him. Then he worked on a Dr. Benjamin Spock documentary named "The Victims" produced in cooperation with the Anti-Defamation League
Anti-Defamation League
The Anti-Defamation League is an international non-governmental organization based in the United States. Describing itself as "the nation's premier civil rights/human relations agency", the ADL states that it "fights anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry, defends democratic ideals and protects...
out of New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
that eventually won a silver medal at the Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
. He worked with Millard Lampell
Millard Lampell
Millard Lampell was an American movie and television screenwriter who first became publicly known as a member of the Almanac Singers in the 1940s....
on that program. Lampell had been victim of "blacklisting" back in the 1950s. Goulden also produced long-form documentaries for a Westinghouse series called Focal Point Poverty with hosts like Carl Stern and Bud Dancy.
Montage
In 1955, NBCNBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
forced Westinghouse to trade its NBC-affiliated Philadelphia WPTZ-TV to NBC in exchange for WNBK-TV in Cleveland. In 1965, NBC was forced to reverse the trade on orders from the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
(FCC) and Justice Department
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
. When NBC regained control of the Cleveland station, it renamed it WKYC-TV
WKYC-TV
WKYC, virtual channel 3 , is an NBC-affiliated television station located in Cleveland, Ohio, owned by the Gannett Company. Its studio is located on the shores of Lake Erie, while its transmitter is located in Parma, Ohio....
and moved several shows from Philadelphia to Cleveland. One of these was the documentary series called Montage
Montage (TV series)
The Montage programs, a filmed history of the 1960s and 1970s with a Cleveland perspective, are composed of more than three hundred documentary films which were shown primarily on WKYC-TV, Cleveland's NBC affiliate, from September 1965 to December 1978...
, and in 1966 Goulden became executive producer of the show on NBC’s recently reacquired owned-and-operated station
Owned-and-operated station
In the broadcasting industry , an owned-and-operated station usually refers to a television station or radio station that is owned by the network with which it is associated...
.
Montage profiled local personalities, such as the musical directors
Music director
A music director may be the director of an orchestra, the director of music for a film, the director of music at a radio station, the head of the music department in a school, the co-ordinator of the musical ensembles in a university or college , the head bandmaster of a military band, the head...
of the Cleveland Orchestra
Cleveland Orchestra
The Cleveland Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Cleveland, Ohio. It is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1918, the orchestra plays most of its concerts at Severance Hall...
Lorin Maazel
Lorin Maazel
Lorin Varencove Maazel is an American conductor, violinist and composer.- Early life :Maazel was born to Jewish-American parents in Neuilly-sur-Seine in France and brought up in the United States, primarily at his parents' home in Pittsburgh's Oakland neighborhood. His father, Lincoln Maazel , was...
and George Szell
George Szell
George Szell , originally György Széll, György Endre Szél, or Georg Szell, was a Hungarian-born American conductor and composer...
, and Cleveland Browns
Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
coach Paul Brown
Paul Brown
Paul Eugene Brown was a coach in American football and a major figure in the development of the National Football League...
, and national ones such as Olympic
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
skater
International figure skating
Figure skating is a sport with participants all round the world. Originally based in European countries, the sport has experienced a major expansion in the countries of East Asia....
Jo Jo Starbuck and Oscar-nominated actor William Gargan
William Gargan
William Gargan, born William Dennis Gargan July 17, 1905 in Brooklyn, New York, USA and died February 17, 1979 aged 73 on a flight between New York and San Diego.He was an American motion picture, television and radio actor...
. The shows were sometimes narrated by celebrities such as Bill Cosby
Bill Cosby
William Henry "Bill" Cosby, Jr. is an American comedian, actor, author, television producer, educator, musician and activist. A veteran stand-up performer, he got his start at various clubs, then landed a starring role in the 1960s action show, I Spy. He later starred in his own series, the...
, Robert Stack
Robert Stack
Robert Stack was an American actor. In addition to acting in more than 40 films, he was the star of the 1959-1963 ABC television series The Untouchables and later served as the host of Unsolved Mysteries.-Early life:...
, and Jose Ferrer
José Ferrer
José Vicente Ferrer de Otero y Cintrón , best known as José Ferrer, was a Puerto Rican actor, as well as a theater and film director...
. It also looked at national issues with a local perspective. Pollution
Pollution
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into a natural environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms. Pollution can take the form of chemical substances or energy, such as noise, heat or light...
, race, homosexuality
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
, drugs
DRUGS
Destroy Rebuild Until God Shows are an American post-hardcore band formed in 2010. They released their debut self-titled album on February 22, 2011.- Formation :...
, crime
Crime
Crime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a conviction...
, housing
House
A house is a building or structure that has the ability to be occupied for dwelling by human beings or other creatures. The term house includes many kinds of different dwellings ranging from rudimentary huts of nomadic tribes to free standing individual structures...
, education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
, medical advancements, the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
, and many other issues were examined. The Montage unit travelled to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, and South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
to pursue stories. These shows were often broadcast
Broadcast
Broadcast or Broadcasting may refer to:* Broadcasting, the transmission of audio and video signals* Broadcast, an individual television program or radio program* Broadcast , an English electronic music band...
on the other NBC owned-and-operated stations, PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
stations, and others.
Goulden held that position until 1978, when Montage was cancelled
Cancellation (television)
In television, cancellation refers to the termination of a program by a network, typically because of low viewership and/or unfavourable critical reviews. Another reason why television programs can be cancelled is to make room for new television programs...
. During that time over 300 episodes were produced. The show won dozens of Emmys and dozens more nominations, and hundreds of other awards that included major film festivals such as New York, Atlanta, the Virgin Islands and was finalists year after year in competitions such as the Columbia-DuPont awards, the Peabodys, the Gabriels and the Ohio State awards. Many of the completed shows, as well as raw footage, audio tapes, scripts, and production notes were given to the library
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
at Cleveland State University
Cleveland State University
Cleveland State University is a public university located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. It was established in 1964 when the state of Ohio assumed control of Fenn College, and it absorbed the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law in 1969...
in 1980.
After Montage
Dennis Goulden continued to work and WKYC as executive producer of their Probe 3 investigative unit until 1980, at which time he began his own production house, "North Coast Productions." He produced shows for the rapidly expanding cable market, including You Asked For ItYou Asked For It
You Asked for It is a popular human-interest show created and hosted by Art Baker. Initially titled The Art Baker Show, the program originally aired on American television between 1950 and 1959...
. Goulden travelled extensively to Australia and West Africa during that period. In 1982 he contracted with WEWS-TV
WEWS-TV
WEWS-TV, virtual channel 5 , is a television station in Cleveland, Ohio. WEWS has been owned by the E. W. Scripps Company since its inception, and is an affiliate of the ABC television network...
, where he became Special Projects Producer. He worked mainly with the news division, tightening up their standards and producing specials. His work at WEWS won him two more Emmys.
WVIZ
In 1984 Goulden became Local Programing Director of WVIZ-TV, the Cleveland PBS station. The station, under the tenure of founder and president Betty Cope, had emphasized production of educational programming for schools. Cope wanted Goulden to apply his skills to the creation of innovative local programming. During the next 4 years came the creation of a number of programs and series. Kovels On Collecting was a showcase for the antique experts Ralph and Terry KovelRalph and Terry Kovel
Ralph and Terry Kovel's passion for collecting antiques started on their Bermuda honeymoon in 1950. They were riding bicycles and passed an antique shop. Prices were low, so the Kovels bought a Meissen figure, English silver open salt dishes, a pair of Jacob Petit bottles, and two large "French"...
. Producers Showcase gave new producers a venue to show their work. MediScene was a medical series hosted by ex-nurse M. R. Berger, and went on to win an Emmy. Dimension was modeled along the lines of CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
' Sunday Morning
CBS News Sunday Morning
CBS News Sunday Morning is an American television news magazine program created by Robert Northshield and original host Charles Kuralt. The program has aired continuously since January 28, 1979 on the CBS Television Network, airing in the Eastern US on Sunday from 9:00 to 10:30 a.m...
and aired monthly. CookSmart was hosted by Susie Heller, and guests included Jacques Pepin
Jacques Pépin
Jacques Pépin is an internationally recognized French chef, television personality, and author working in the United States. Born in Bourg-en-Bresse, Lyon in France, Pepin was raised by a father and mother who jointly owned a restaurant, where he later credited the start of his love for food. He...
and Julia Child
Julia Child
Julia Child was an American chef, author, and television personality. She is recognized for introducing French cuisine to the American public with her debut cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and her subsequent television programs, the most notable of which was The French Chef, which...
. He gave Larry Elder
Larry Elder
Laurence Allen "Larry" Elder is an American radio and television personality. His radio program The Larry Elder Show airs weekdays 9 AM to noon on talk radio 790 KABC in Los Angeles, California...
(now a nationally syndicated radio host) his first show. He also produced specials, such as a Paul Meincke-hosted special on the tenth anniversary of busing
Desegregation busing
Desegregation busing in the United States is the practice of assigning and transporting students to schools in such a manner as to redress prior racial segregation of schools, or to overcome the effects of residential segregation on local school demographics.In 1954, the U.S...
in Cleveland, an hour special on Margaret Bourke White, and many others. He credits Betty Cope with their creation because, Goulden says, she let him experiment.
Later years
After stepping down from his PBS job in mid-1988, Goulden became Director of Programming and Executive Producer of North Coast Cable. While there, he continued to produce shows featuring the Kovels and Larry Elder, who moved to cable with Goulden, and programming for cable stations such as the Discovery ChannelDiscovery Channel
Discovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...
, Bravo, CNBC
CNBC
CNBC is a satellite and cable television business news channel in the U.S., owned and operated by NBCUniversal. The network and its international spinoffs cover business headlines and provide live coverage of financial markets. The combined reach of CNBC and its siblings is 390 million viewers...
and HGTV
HGTV
HGTV , is a cable-television network operating in the United States and Canada, broadcasting a variety of home and garden improvement, maintenance, renovation, craft and remodeling shows...
. In the 1990s Goulden teamed up with Geoff Sindelar, known as The Professor for his encyclopedic knowledge of football trivia and sports collectibles. Eventually the series, Sports 101, was picked up by SportsChannel America and it aired weekly and nationally for four years. Tired of the grind he and Sindelar took the show off the air in 1996 and turned again to PBS (WVIZ) where he did such widely acclaimed specials such as Holy Cleveland, an examination of Cleveland's Sacred Landmarks. He also still produces documentaries for his company (formed in 1988) DBG Communications, Inc., such as documentaries on children and violence and an annual primetime program done in partnership with a child's advocacy group, Voices For Ohio's Children. This series won an Emmy in 2007. He currently produces special projects at WKYC, where he has won Emmys for his work on Dateline
Dateline NBC
Dateline NBC, or Dateline, is a U.S. weekly television newsmagazine broadcast by NBC. It previously was NBC's flagship news magazine, but now focuses on true crime stories. It airs Friday at 9 p.m. EST and after football season on Sunday at 7 p.m. EST.-History:Dateline is historically notable for...
-Cleveland.
Also currently under development is a web-based sports talks show, www.sportstalk101.com, where he has again partnered with Geoff Sindelar. A recent conversation with Goulden revealed he has no plans to slow down or to discontinue creating new programming for new outlets.