Robert Lang (producer)
Encyclopedia
Robert Lang, founder and president of Kensington Communications
, is an internationally recognized, award-winning documentary and interactive media producer/director.
In 2009 MIPDOC
awarded Robert Lang with the title of Trailblazer http://www.mipworld.com/RM/RM_Mip/PDF/MIPDOC/ConferencesEvents/mipdoc2009_trailblazers_lang.pdfTrailblazer for his innovative contributions to the documentary genre. Robert's interactive multi-platform projects include Museum Secrets, Gemini Award-nominated City Sonic, Diamond Road and a SacredBalance.com. Documentary films and television series include, as Producer and Co-writer, Raw Opium for TVOntario, Canal D, SCN, SBS; as Executive Producer/director of Museum Secrets for History TV and Historia; as producer/director/writer, Return to Nepal with Bruce Cockburn for the documentary channel and as producer of the 3-part Gemini Award
-winning series Diamond Road for TVOntario, Discovery Times, ZDF/ARTE in Europe and SBS Australia. The 90-minute feature version of Diamond Road was invited to 2007 International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam and won best documentary feature at the 2008 WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival. Kensington’s innovative interactive documentary website Diamond Road Online (diamondroad.tv) has been invited to festivals and new media conferences worldwide and won a Canadian New Media Award. Lang was Co-creator, Executive Producer of 72 Hours: True Crime
, an ongoing doc drama series for CBC, TLC and Canal D, his second foray into the crime genre after five seasons as Co-Producer, Co-Creator and one of the Directors of the groundbreaking, multi-Gemini award-winning series, Exhibit A: Secrets of Forensic Science for TLC in the US and Discovery/CTV in Canada.
From 2000 to 2002, Lang was the Executive Producer and one of the directors of the four-part television series The Sacred Balance, based on the best-selling book
by renowned geneticist and environmentalist, Dr. David Suzuki
. The Sacred Balance received top honours at Houston Worldfest, two awards at Yorkton Short Film and Video Festival
and the Science and Society Prize at the International Television Programme Festival in Paris and many others.
Over the past ten years, Lang has produced and directed many documentary films and performing arts programs, among them: Return to Nepal (producer, director, writer), in which renowned musician Bruce Cockburn
travels to the remote Humla district of Northwestern Nepal (documentary channel); Almost Home: a Sayisi Dene Journey (shared credit), an intimate portrait of a Canadian aboriginal community in transition (CBC), Best Social Political Documentary and Kathleen Shannon Award at Yorkton; River of Sand (producer, director, writer, camera), which explores the ancient culture, popular music and current struggles of the people of Mali, West Africa (TVOntario, Vision TV), Best Canadian Film at Vues d’Afrique; Separate Lives (producer, co-director), the Gemini-winning, Ace-nominated documentary which follows the lives of conjoined twins from Pakistan and the pioneering operation that gave them a chance at a new life (Discovery, BBC and the Learning Channel); The Biggest Little Ticket (co-producer, director), a children’s musical fantasy special which won several awards for best children’s program including from the Alliance for Children and Television (CTV, YTV); and Mariposa: Under a Stormy Sky (co-producer, co-director), a documentary music special for CTV.
Lang’s credits also include producing and directing for a number of high profile television series: the environment series Earth Journal with Richard Leakey
for NBC TV in the U.S.; Britain's Granada series Odyssey; the popular BBC science series Living Proof; and The Nature of Things with David Suzuki for CBC TV. Among his over fifty international awards are Geminis, a Genie and awards from festivals in Berlin, Parma, Paris, Birmingham, Columbus, Houston, Yorkton, New York and Banff.
Kensington Communications
-Background:Kensington Communications is a Toronto-based production company that specializes in documentary films and television series. Founded in 1980 by president Robert Lang, Kensington Communications Inc. has produced over 150 productions from documentary series and films to performing arts...
, is an internationally recognized, award-winning documentary and interactive media producer/director.
In 2009 MIPDOC
MIPDOC
MIPDOC is a prominent international market and annual event for documentary films, screening documentaries from around the world. Taking place ahead of MIPTV, MIPDOC provides a unique digital screening platform for financing, buying and distributing non-fiction programs worldwide...
awarded Robert Lang with the title of Trailblazer http://www.mipworld.com/RM/RM_Mip/PDF/MIPDOC/ConferencesEvents/mipdoc2009_trailblazers_lang.pdfTrailblazer for his innovative contributions to the documentary genre. Robert's interactive multi-platform projects include Museum Secrets, Gemini Award-nominated City Sonic, Diamond Road and a SacredBalance.com. Documentary films and television series include, as Producer and Co-writer, Raw Opium for TVOntario, Canal D, SCN, SBS; as Executive Producer/director of Museum Secrets for History TV and Historia; as producer/director/writer, Return to Nepal with Bruce Cockburn for the documentary channel and as producer of the 3-part Gemini Award
Gemini Award
The Gemini Awards are annual television broadcasting industry awards in Canada.First awarded in 1986, the Geminis celebrate the achievements of TV members of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. Essentially, it presents awards for the best television productions in Canada. Awards are...
-winning series Diamond Road for TVOntario, Discovery Times, ZDF/ARTE in Europe and SBS Australia. The 90-minute feature version of Diamond Road was invited to 2007 International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam and won best documentary feature at the 2008 WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival. Kensington’s innovative interactive documentary website Diamond Road Online (diamondroad.tv) has been invited to festivals and new media conferences worldwide and won a Canadian New Media Award. Lang was Co-creator, Executive Producer of 72 Hours: True Crime
72 Hours: True Crime
72 Hours: True Crime was a television program that was broadcast by CBC Television and produced by Kensington Communications. It focused on crime, specifically on the first 72 hours after a crime is committed, a critical time period for solving it...
, an ongoing doc drama series for CBC, TLC and Canal D, his second foray into the crime genre after five seasons as Co-Producer, Co-Creator and one of the Directors of the groundbreaking, multi-Gemini award-winning series, Exhibit A: Secrets of Forensic Science for TLC in the US and Discovery/CTV in Canada.
From 2000 to 2002, Lang was the Executive Producer and one of the directors of the four-part television series The Sacred Balance, based on the best-selling book
The Sacred Balance
The Sacred Balance is a book by environmentalist David Suzuki, which is in its second edition as of 2007. The book explores human society's impact on the natural world, both for the planet and the people living on it. Suzuki reveals how dependent humankind is upon the planet's water, soil,...
by renowned geneticist and environmentalist, Dr. David Suzuki
David Suzuki
David Suzuki, CC, OBC is a Canadian academic, science broadcaster and environmental activist. Suzuki earned a Ph.D in zoology from the University of Chicago in 1961, and was a professor in the genetics department of the University of British Columbia from 1963 until his retirement in 2001...
. The Sacred Balance received top honours at Houston Worldfest, two awards at Yorkton Short Film and Video Festival
Yorkton Short Film and Video Festival
The Yorkton Film Festival, also known as the Yorkton Short Film and Video Festival, is a film festival in Yorkton, Saskatchewan.It was Canada's first film festival and bills itself the as longest running film festival in North America. It was established in 1947 as the Yorkton Film Council, with...
and the Science and Society Prize at the International Television Programme Festival in Paris and many others.
Over the past ten years, Lang has produced and directed many documentary films and performing arts programs, among them: Return to Nepal (producer, director, writer), in which renowned musician Bruce Cockburn
Bruce Cockburn
Bruce Douglas Cockburn OC is a Canadian folk/rock guitarist and singer-songwriter. His most recent album was released in March 2011. He has written songs in styles ranging from folk to jazz-influenced rock to rock and roll.-Biography:...
travels to the remote Humla district of Northwestern Nepal (documentary channel); Almost Home: a Sayisi Dene Journey (shared credit), an intimate portrait of a Canadian aboriginal community in transition (CBC), Best Social Political Documentary and Kathleen Shannon Award at Yorkton; River of Sand (producer, director, writer, camera), which explores the ancient culture, popular music and current struggles of the people of Mali, West Africa (TVOntario, Vision TV), Best Canadian Film at Vues d’Afrique; Separate Lives (producer, co-director), the Gemini-winning, Ace-nominated documentary which follows the lives of conjoined twins from Pakistan and the pioneering operation that gave them a chance at a new life (Discovery, BBC and the Learning Channel); The Biggest Little Ticket (co-producer, director), a children’s musical fantasy special which won several awards for best children’s program including from the Alliance for Children and Television (CTV, YTV); and Mariposa: Under a Stormy Sky (co-producer, co-director), a documentary music special for CTV.
Lang’s credits also include producing and directing for a number of high profile television series: the environment series Earth Journal with Richard Leakey
Richard Leakey
Richard Erskine Frere Leakey is a politician, paleoanthropologist and conservationist. He is second of the three sons of the archaeologists Louis Leakey and Mary Leakey, and is the younger brother of Colin Leakey...
for NBC TV in the U.S.; Britain's Granada series Odyssey; the popular BBC science series Living Proof; and The Nature of Things with David Suzuki for CBC TV. Among his over fifty international awards are Geminis, a Genie and awards from festivals in Berlin, Parma, Paris, Birmingham, Columbus, Houston, Yorkton, New York and Banff.