It's no surprise that some of the greatest true stories in the world come from the greatest city in the world. The prize for Best New York Documentary is awarded by a jury of notable names from three diverse worlds that New York knows best—film, fashion, and food. Learn more about the jury, which includes Jon Robin Baitz, Mary Boone, Marc Ecko, Douglas Keeve, and Rachael Ray.
Jon Robin Baitz
Jon Robin Baitz is a playwright and screenwriter. Plays include The Film Society, The Substance of Fire, Three Hotels, A Fair Country, Ten Unknowns, and The Paris Letter. Screenplays include The Substance of Fire and People I know. For television, he has written for Alias and The West Wing before creating the hit ABC Drama, Brothers & Sisters. He is currently at work on Angler, a four hour miniseries based on both Bart Gellman's book about Vice President Dick Cheney of the same name and Frontline's Bush's War. He is a Pulitzer Prize finalist, a Guggenheim and NEA fellow, an American Academy of Arts and Letters award winner, and a Humanitas winner for the PBS/American Playhouse version of Three Hotels, which he also directed. Mr. Baitz is on the faculty of The New School's graduate playwrights program.
Photo credit: M. Blash
Mary Boone
Mary Boone, the founder and owner of Mary Boone Gallery, is one of the best-known art dealers in the contemporary art scene. The Gallery, originally located in SoHo and presently on Fifth Avenue and in Chelsea, has for more than 30 years maintained a vital presence for contemporary art in New York, mounting early exhibitions for many influential artists, including Jean-Michel Basquiat, Ross Bleckner, Francesco Clemente, Eric Fischl, Peter Halley, Barbara Kruger, Sherrie Levine, Brice Marden, David Salle, and Julian Schnabel. In 2008, Mary Boone Gallery organized the first major New York exhibitions of contemporary Chinese artists Ai Weiwei and Liu Xiaodong. Boone is the sponsor of Young at Art, an innovative New York City arts education initiative and unique public-private joint venture between Boone, the nonprofit organizations Publicolor and The Fund for Public Schools, and the New York City school system. Through this initiative, a portion of the proceeds from Gallery sales is also being donated to improve arts education in New York City schools.
Photo credit: Dimitrios Kambouris, Wire Image
Marc Ecko
Marc Ecko began his journey in the mid-’80s while he was still a high school student working from a makeshift design studio located in the garage of his parents’ New Jersey home. Armed only with an airbrush and his custom graphic designs, Marc quickly built a loyal fan base and in 1993, at the age of 20, founded *ecko unltd. Since then, the company has grown to include *ecko unltd junior and accessories lines, the contemporary Marc Ecko “Cut & Sew” collection, eckored women’s and accessories lines, Zoo York, Avirex Sportswear, G Unit (a collaboration with the artist 50 Cent), Complex magazine, and a video game and multimedia division. Last year alone, Marc’s company reported global retail sales of more than $1.7 billion. To help those less fortunate, Ecko founded the Tikva Children’s Home, an orphanage in Odessa, Ukraine, as well as Sweat Equity Enterprises, a design and innovation laboratory that aims to redefine vocational education. Marc, 36, is married with three children and resides in Bernardsville, New Jersey.
Douglas Keeve
Douglas Keeve is a renowned photographer whose work has appeared in GQ, Vogue, Esquire, Glamour, and Interview. Keeve’s VH1 documentary Naomi Conquers Africa chronicles supermodel Naomi Campbell’s unprecedented trip to South Africa, including an intimate visit with then-president Nelson Mandela. Keeve set out to capture the spectacle of obsessive dedication, sophistication, and brattiness that is the fashion industry in the documentary Unzipped. The critically acclaimed film went on to win the Audience Award at Sundance. Seamless, a collaboration with Vogue’s Anna Wintour, debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival. It reveals the thrilling, often heartbreaking stories of three hot, emerging fashion designers as they struggle to stay financially afloat and vie for recognition in this very competitive and often cutthroat arena. Keeve’s latest project is a feature documentary on the historically vibrant and tragedy-tinged Gramercy Park Hotel. The film chronicles the birth, decline, and resurrection of this beloved New York landmark. Keeve is currently partnering with Ryan Murphy Television and Fox 21 on a television series set in the fashion world.
In support of Stand Up to Cancer, and in honor of his friend Keith Kotick, Douglas Keeve Stands Up to Cancer. Stand up at su2c.org.
Rachael Ray
Rachael Ray grew up around food. Her first vivid memory was being in the kitchen at an early age, cooking alongside her mother. Rachael has parlayed her upbringing into a wildly successful career as a syndicated television star, an iconic Food Network television personality, bestselling cookbook author, and founder and editorial director of her own lifestyle magazine Every Day with Rachael Ray. Most recently Rachael founded Yum-o!—a nonprofit organization that empowers kids and their families to develop healthy relationships with food and cooking by teaching families to cook, feeding hungry kids, and funding cooking education and scholarships. She also created a line of pet food called Nutrish, from which 100 percent of her profits go to helping animals in need. Rachael calls New York her home, where she makes dinner most nights and watches movies in bed with her husband John and their pit bull Isaboo.
