Ellen Spiro
Encyclopedia
Ellen Spiro is an American
documentary
filmmaker. Spiro is known for making humorous social issue films for national and international television broadcasts and theatrical release.
In 2010 Spiro directed a nationally broadcast NOW on PBS special Fixing the Future with on-camera host David Brancaccio who visits communities across America using innovative approaches to building prosperity in our new economy.
In 2007 she released Body of War (co-directed and co-produced with Phil Donahue
). Body of War won Best Documentary of 2007 from the National Board of Review and premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival
where it won an audience award. Spiro and Donahue were featured on a one-hour Bill Moyers Journal special discussing the film. Additionally, Ellen Spiro and Phil Donahue received a 2007 nomination for Best Documentary from the Producer's Guild of America.
Spiro's other award-winning films have been shown broadcast on television worldwide on PBS
, HBO, BBC
, CBC
and NHK
and in the art world, including multiple screenings at the Museum of Modern Art
and the Whitney Museum Biennial exhibition.
Spiro has been awarded The Foundation of American Women in Radio and Television’s Gracie Award for Outstanding Director and Outstanding Documentary, and is a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship
, a National Endowment for the Arts
Fellowship, a Jerome Foundation Fellowship, a commendation from the Texas State Legislature (Senate Resolution 545) and is a two-time Rockefeller Fellowship recipient. Her works are housed in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Peabody Collection of The Paley Center for Media and the New York Public Library.
. Seeking the opportunity to search out stories on her own, Spiro left UVA after three years of study to take a job as the photography editor for the local weekly newspaper, the Charlottesville Observer, where she wrote and created photo essays. During this time, Spiro became interested in cinematic storytelling and moved to Buffalo, New York
where she earned her undergraduate degree (Cum Laude and with departmental honors) [2] and graduate degrees from the Center for Media Studies
at the University at Buffalo. At SUNY Buffalo, Spiro also studied Women’s Studies with Michele Wallace
. While in Buffalo, she joined a flourishing community of independent media artists who shared ideas, inspiration and information and became involved with community media though work with Hallwalls
Art Gallery and Squeaky Wheel Media Center. In Buffalo, Spiro made a series of experimental films under the guidance of filmmakers Tony Conrad
and Paul Sharits
. Because of the prohibitive cost of film, Spiro began working in video when Sony 8mm video cameras became readily available.
In 1988 Spiro was awarded a post-graduate fellowship in Manhattan to study art and critical theory in the Whitney Museum Independent Study Program. While in Manhattan, Spiro studied with Hal Foster and Douglas Crimp and was a cinematographer for experimental filmmaker Yvonne Rainer
’s award winning film, Privilege.
While in New York, Spiro became active in the AIDS
activist organization ACT-UP and co-founded DIVA TV (Damned Interfering Video Activist Television). While working with ACT-UP Spiro made her first documentary, Diana’s Hair Ego
, which was the first small format 8mm video to be broadcast on national television.
, the Independent Television Service, for her film Greetings From Out Here
. Filming as a one woman crew, she lived in a van for a year while traveling across the Deep South
to shoot stories of gay and lesbian southerners. Using small Hi-8 video equipment and a converted old van as a mobile living and production unit Spiro immersed herself in her environment allowing her to stay with her subjects for long periods. Greetings From Out Here was the first ITVS program to be broadcast nationally and received an invitation to the Sundance Film Festival
. It was acquired for international broadcasts by BBC
, Channel Four, Canadian Broadcasting Company and others.
In 1994, Spiro took her first full time teaching position at Hampshire College
where she taught video production and Gender Studies
. After teaching for a year she embarked on her second year-long solo road trip (this time in a vintage Airstream
trailer), to make Roam Sweet Home
, funded by Channel Four in the UK and ITVS.
After the national broadcast of Roam Sweet Home on PBS, Spiro moved to Austin, Texas
and became a professor in the Radio-TV-Film Department at the University of Texas.
In 2000 Spiro joined producer Karen Bernstein to start Mobilus Media, a non-profit production company to make social issue documentaries.
. Spiro also created the 10 Under 10 Film Festival
in Austin, TX. The festival is “a celebration of raw creativity, real reality – as opposed to the scripted television kind – and founded on the notion that great ideas can happen on no budget and in little time." As a film professor at the University of Texas, Spiro says she’s watched too many students get caught in the "film school debt romance" [5] and challenges a new generation of filmmakers to make films with "little money but lots of substance and inventiveness" [5].
In 2003 the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health approached Spiro and Bernstein to make a film about the mental health care crisis for children in Texas. The resulting film, Are the Kids Alright?
, won an Emmy Award
and recognition from the Mental Health Association of Texas.
In 2005 Spiro and Bernstein produced Troop 1500
, about a group of Girl Scouts with mothers in prison. Troop 1500 won two Gracie Awards, for Outstanding Director and Outstanding Documentary, from the American Women in Radio and Television.
In 2006, Ellen Spiro was awarded an artist's residency at the Bellagio Center, sponsored by the Rockefeller Foundation, in Bellagio
, Italy
. She also began working with Phil Donahue
on Body of War
, a film about paralyzed Iraq War veteran Tomas Young. Body of War premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival
where it won the People's Choice Award (runner-up) and the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the Hamptons International Film Festival
. In November 2007, Body of War named as one of fifteen films to be considered for nomination for an Academy Award. In December, Body of War was named Best Documentary of 2007 by the National Board of Review. Ellen Spiro and Phil Donahue appeared on Bill Moyers Journal for a one hour special about Body of War.
Renew Media. An Interview with Ellen Spiro. MediaArtists.org. 2007-2. Retrieved on 2007-6-18.
Karnasiewicz, Sarah. Tough Cookies. Salon.com. 2006-3-21. Retrieved on 2007-6-18.
MacDonald, Scott. A Critical Cinema IV: Interviews with Independent Filmmakers. University of California Press. 2005. Retrieved on 2007-6-18.
Johnson, Jerry. Roam Sweet Home. Austin Chronicle. 1997-11-7. Retrieved on 2007-6-18.
MacDonald, Scott. The Garden in the Machine: A Field Guide to Independent Films about Place. University of California Press. 2001. Retrieved on 2007-7-6.
Montegomery, Matt. AIDS Videos Document History of Grass Roots Organization. Emory Report. 1995-12. Retrieved on 2007-6-25.
Scheib, Ronnie. Troop 1500: Girl Scouts Behind Bars. Variety. 2005-3-15. Retrieved on 2007-6-25.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
filmmaker. Spiro is known for making humorous social issue films for national and international television broadcasts and theatrical release.
In 2010 Spiro directed a nationally broadcast NOW on PBS special Fixing the Future with on-camera host David Brancaccio who visits communities across America using innovative approaches to building prosperity in our new economy.
In 2007 she released Body of War (co-directed and co-produced with Phil Donahue
Phil Donahue
Phillip John "Phil" Donahue is an American media personality, writer, and film producer best known as the creator and host of The Phil Donahue Show. The television program, also known as Donahue, was the first to use a talk show format. The show had a 26-year run on U.S...
). Body of War won Best Documentary of 2007 from the National Board of Review and premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival
Toronto International Film Festival
The Toronto International Film Festival is a publicly-attended film festival held each September in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In 2010, 339 films from 59 countries were screened at 32 screens in downtown Toronto venues...
where it won an audience award. Spiro and Donahue were featured on a one-hour Bill Moyers Journal special discussing the film. Additionally, Ellen Spiro and Phil Donahue received a 2007 nomination for Best Documentary from the Producer's Guild of America.
Spiro's other award-winning films have been shown broadcast on television worldwide on 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....
, HBO, BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, CBC
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
and NHK
NHK
NHK is Japan's national public broadcasting organization. NHK, which has always identified itself to its audiences by the English pronunciation of its initials, is a publicly owned corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee....
and in the art world, including multiple screenings at the Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
and the Whitney Museum Biennial exhibition.
Spiro has been awarded The Foundation of American Women in Radio and Television’s Gracie Award for Outstanding Director and Outstanding Documentary, and is a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
, a National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
Fellowship, a Jerome Foundation Fellowship, a commendation from the Texas State Legislature (Senate Resolution 545) and is a two-time Rockefeller Fellowship recipient. Her works are housed in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Peabody Collection of The Paley Center for Media and the New York Public Library.
Style
Like the subjects she choose, Spiro’s style of filmmaking is considered innovative and “off-the-grid” by her peers. Spiro articulates her philosophy of filmmaking in an article for The Independent Film and Video Monthly, "The Medium Is The Missed Age". Spiro argues that key to good video is not the lines of resolution or the number of pixels or the particular camera used, but an inventive and resourceful use of natural lighting, camera movement and composition.Education and early influences (through-1992)
Spiro studied with the artist Holly Wright, who exposed her to fine art photography at the University of VirginiaUniversity of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
. Seeking the opportunity to search out stories on her own, Spiro left UVA after three years of study to take a job as the photography editor for the local weekly newspaper, the Charlottesville Observer, where she wrote and created photo essays. During this time, Spiro became interested in cinematic storytelling and moved to Buffalo, New York
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
where she earned her undergraduate degree (Cum Laude and with departmental honors) [2] and graduate degrees from the Center for Media Studies
Media studies
Media studies is an academic discipline and field of study that deals with the content, history and effects of various media; in particular, the 'mass media'. Media studies may draw on traditions from both the social sciences and the humanities, but mostly from its core disciplines of mass...
at the University at Buffalo. At SUNY Buffalo, Spiro also studied Women’s Studies with Michele Wallace
Michele Wallace
Michele Faith Wallace is a feminist author and daughter of artist Faith Ringgold. She became famous in 1979 when, at age 27, she published Black Macho and The Myth of The Superwoman, a book in which she criticized black nationalism and sexism...
. While in Buffalo, she joined a flourishing community of independent media artists who shared ideas, inspiration and information and became involved with community media though work with Hallwalls
Hallwalls
Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center is a non-profit organization in Buffalo, N.Y. that showcases artists of diverse backgrounds in film, video, literature, music, performance, media and visual arts. Since its inception, Hallwalls has been dedicated to promoting artists from multiple backgrounds and...
Art Gallery and Squeaky Wheel Media Center. In Buffalo, Spiro made a series of experimental films under the guidance of filmmakers Tony Conrad
Tony Conrad
Tony Conrad is an American avant-garde video artist, experimental filmmaker, musician/composer, sound artist, teacher and writer...
and Paul Sharits
Paul Sharits
Paul Jeffrey Sharits Paul Sharits was a visual artist, best known for his work in "experimental" or avant-garde filmmaking, particularly what became known as the Structural film movement, along with artists such as Tony Conrad, Hollis Frampton, and Michael Snow.His film work primarily focused on...
. Because of the prohibitive cost of film, Spiro began working in video when Sony 8mm video cameras became readily available.
In 1988 Spiro was awarded a post-graduate fellowship in Manhattan to study art and critical theory in the Whitney Museum Independent Study Program. While in Manhattan, Spiro studied with Hal Foster and Douglas Crimp and was a cinematographer for experimental filmmaker Yvonne Rainer
Yvonne Rainer
Yvonne Rainer is an American dancer, choreographer and filmmaker, whose work in these disciplines is frequently challenging and experimental. Her work is classified as minimalist art.- Early life :...
’s award winning film, Privilege.
While in New York, Spiro became active in the AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
activist organization ACT-UP and co-founded DIVA TV (Damned Interfering Video Activist Television). While working with ACT-UP Spiro made her first documentary, Diana’s Hair Ego
Diana’s Hair Ego
Diana's Hair Ego is an American documentary film about AIDS and one unconventional woman's efforts to educate her small, Southern community. While documenting an AIDS quarantine controversy in South Carolina with DIVA TV , filmmaker Ellen Spiro met Diana, a local hairdresser who transformed her...
, which was the first small format 8mm video to be broadcast on national television.
Filmmaking on the road and pioneering video format for the mainstream (1993–2002)
In 1993 Spiro was awarded funding from ITVSITVS
Independent Television Service is a service in the United States which funds and presents documentaries and dramas on public television, new media projects on the Internet, and the weekly series Independent Lens and Global Voices on PBS....
, the Independent Television Service, for her film Greetings From Out Here
Greetings from Out Here
Greetings From Out Here is a 1993 road trip documentary film which captures the people, places and politics of gay America in the Deep South.It was the first Independent Television Service program to be broadcast nationally...
. Filming as a one woman crew, she lived in a van for a year while traveling across the Deep South
Deep South
The Deep South is a descriptive category of the cultural and geographic subregions in the American South. Historically, it is differentiated from the "Upper South" as being the states which were most dependent on plantation type agriculture during the pre-Civil War period...
to shoot stories of gay and lesbian southerners. Using small Hi-8 video equipment and a converted old van as a mobile living and production unit Spiro immersed herself in her environment allowing her to stay with her subjects for long periods. Greetings From Out Here was the first ITVS program to be broadcast nationally and received an invitation to the Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
. It was acquired for international broadcasts by BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, Channel Four, Canadian Broadcasting Company and others.
In 1994, Spiro took her first full time teaching position at Hampshire College
Hampshire College
Hampshire College is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1965 as an experiment in alternative education, in association with four other colleges in the Pioneer Valley: Amherst College, Smith College, Mount Holyoke College, and the University of Massachusetts...
where she taught video production and Gender Studies
Gender studies
Gender studies is a field of interdisciplinary study which analyses race, ethnicity, sexuality and location.Gender study has many different forms. One view exposed by the philosopher Simone de Beauvoir said: "One is not born a woman, one becomes one"...
. After teaching for a year she embarked on her second year-long solo road trip (this time in a vintage Airstream
Airstream
Airstream is a brand of luxury recreational vehicle manufactured in Jackson Center, Ohio, USA. It is currently a division of Thor Industries. The company, which now employs fewer than 400, is the oldest in the industry. Airstream trailers are easily recognized for their distinctive rounded...
trailer), to make Roam Sweet Home
Roam Sweet Home
Roam Sweet Home is a road-trip documentary about the lives of retirees who live on the road full-time in trailers, due to economic necessity, pleasure, or both...
, funded by Channel Four in the UK and ITVS.
After the national broadcast of Roam Sweet Home on PBS, Spiro moved to Austin, Texas
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
and became a professor in the Radio-TV-Film Department at the University of Texas.
In 2000 Spiro joined producer Karen Bernstein to start Mobilus Media, a non-profit production company to make social issue documentaries.
2002–2007
In 2002, Spiro and Bernstein produced their first documentary for HBO, Atomic Ed and the Black HoleAtomic Ed and the Black Hole
Atomic Ed and the Black Hole is a documentary released in 2002 by filmmaker, Ellen Spiro.The documentary was made for HBO's Cinemax Reel Life Series. Sheila Nevins served as Executive Producer and Lisa Heller served as Supervising Producer. Karen Bernstein served as Producer...
. Spiro also created the 10 Under 10 Film Festival
10 Under 10 Film Festival
The 10 Under 10 Film Festival was created by independent documentary filmmaker and University of Texas at Austin Associate Professor, Ellen Spiro...
in Austin, TX. The festival is “a celebration of raw creativity, real reality – as opposed to the scripted television kind – and founded on the notion that great ideas can happen on no budget and in little time." As a film professor at the University of Texas, Spiro says she’s watched too many students get caught in the "film school debt romance" [5] and challenges a new generation of filmmakers to make films with "little money but lots of substance and inventiveness" [5].
In 2003 the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health approached Spiro and Bernstein to make a film about the mental health care crisis for children in Texas. The resulting film, Are the Kids Alright?
Are the Kids Alright?
Are the Kids Alright? is a documentary which explores mental health care for children and youths at risk in Texas. Filmmaker, Ellen Spiro, gained unprecedented and unique access to children and their families, as well as the judicial, psychiatric and correctional institutions...
, won an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
and recognition from the Mental Health Association of Texas.
In 2005 Spiro and Bernstein produced Troop 1500
Troop 1500
Troop 1500 is a documentary film about a unique Girl Scouts of the USA troop which unites mothers and daughters monthly behind the bars at the Hilltop Unit, a prison of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, in Gatesville, Texas...
, about a group of Girl Scouts with mothers in prison. Troop 1500 won two Gracie Awards, for Outstanding Director and Outstanding Documentary, from the American Women in Radio and Television.
In 2006, Ellen Spiro was awarded an artist's residency at the Bellagio Center, sponsored by the Rockefeller Foundation, in Bellagio
Bellagio
Bellagio is a comune in the Province of Como in the Italian region Lombardy, located on Lake Como. It has long been famous for its setting at the intersection of the three branches of the Y-shaped lake, which is also known as Lario....
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. She also began working with Phil Donahue
Phil Donahue
Phillip John "Phil" Donahue is an American media personality, writer, and film producer best known as the creator and host of The Phil Donahue Show. The television program, also known as Donahue, was the first to use a talk show format. The show had a 26-year run on U.S...
on Body of War
Body of War
Body of War, directed by Ellen Spiro and Phil Donahue, is a 2007 documentary following Tomas Young, an Iraq War veteran paralyzed from a bullet to the spine, on a physical and emotional journey as he adapts to his new body and begins to question the decision to go to war in Iraq.As Tomas's journey...
, a film about paralyzed Iraq War veteran Tomas Young. Body of War premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival
Toronto International Film Festival
The Toronto International Film Festival is a publicly-attended film festival held each September in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In 2010, 339 films from 59 countries were screened at 32 screens in downtown Toronto venues...
where it won the People's Choice Award (runner-up) and the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the Hamptons International Film Festival
Hamptons International Film Festival
Hamptons International Film Festival was founded to provide a forum for independent filmmakers from around the world to express their vision. The Festival is traditionally held for five days in mid-October in theatre venues from Montauk to Southampton and attracts roughly 15,000 visitors annually...
. In November 2007, Body of War named as one of fifteen films to be considered for nomination for an Academy Award. In December, Body of War was named Best Documentary of 2007 by the National Board of Review. Ellen Spiro and Phil Donahue appeared on Bill Moyers Journal for a one hour special about Body of War.
Films
- Body of WarBody of WarBody of War, directed by Ellen Spiro and Phil Donahue, is a 2007 documentary following Tomas Young, an Iraq War veteran paralyzed from a bullet to the spine, on a physical and emotional journey as he adapts to his new body and begins to question the decision to go to war in Iraq.As Tomas's journey...
(2007) - Troop 1500Troop 1500Troop 1500 is a documentary film about a unique Girl Scouts of the USA troop which unites mothers and daughters monthly behind the bars at the Hilltop Unit, a prison of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, in Gatesville, Texas...
(2005) - Are the Kids Alright?Are the Kids Alright?Are the Kids Alright? is a documentary which explores mental health care for children and youths at risk in Texas. Filmmaker, Ellen Spiro, gained unprecedented and unique access to children and their families, as well as the judicial, psychiatric and correctional institutions...
(2003) - Atomic Ed and the Black HoleAtomic Ed and the Black HoleAtomic Ed and the Black Hole is a documentary released in 2002 by filmmaker, Ellen Spiro.The documentary was made for HBO's Cinemax Reel Life Series. Sheila Nevins served as Executive Producer and Lisa Heller served as Supervising Producer. Karen Bernstein served as Producer...
(2002) - Roam Sweet HomeRoam Sweet HomeRoam Sweet Home is a road-trip documentary about the lives of retirees who live on the road full-time in trailers, due to economic necessity, pleasure, or both...
(1996) - Greetings From Out HereGreetings from Out HereGreetings From Out Here is a 1993 road trip documentary film which captures the people, places and politics of gay America in the Deep South.It was the first Independent Television Service program to be broadcast nationally...
(1993) - Diana’a Hair Ego (1991)
- Women on the Line: The Effect of Deindustrialization on Women in Buffalo (1988)
External links
- Ellen Spiro at the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
- Ellen Spiro in the Video Data Bank
Interviews
Moyers, Bill. Bill Moyers Journal. PBS. 2008-03-21.Renew Media. An Interview with Ellen Spiro. MediaArtists.org. 2007-2. Retrieved on 2007-6-18.
Karnasiewicz, Sarah. Tough Cookies. Salon.com. 2006-3-21. Retrieved on 2007-6-18.
MacDonald, Scott. A Critical Cinema IV: Interviews with Independent Filmmakers. University of California Press. 2005. Retrieved on 2007-6-18.
Johnson, Jerry. Roam Sweet Home. Austin Chronicle. 1997-11-7. Retrieved on 2007-6-18.
Articles
Acosta, Belinda. The Redeemers: Ellen Spiro on 'Troop 1500', Her Story of Girl Scouts and the Incarcerated Mothers Who Love Them. The Austin Chronicle. 2005-3-11. Retrieved on 2007-6-25.MacDonald, Scott. The Garden in the Machine: A Field Guide to Independent Films about Place. University of California Press. 2001. Retrieved on 2007-7-6.
Montegomery, Matt. AIDS Videos Document History of Grass Roots Organization. Emory Report. 1995-12. Retrieved on 2007-6-25.
- Roam Sweet Home: ITVS presents Ellen Spiro's Inside Look at Life on the Road. Independent Television Service. 1997-5-28. Retrieved on 2007-6-25.
Scheib, Ronnie. Troop 1500: Girl Scouts Behind Bars. Variety. 2005-3-15. Retrieved on 2007-6-25.