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Life Itself

Year2014

Runtime118 Minutes

Based on his memoir of the same name, Life Itself recounts the surprising and entertaining life of world-renowned film critic and social commentator Roger Ebert - a story that's by turns personal, wistful, funny, painful, and transcendent.

Based on his memoir of the same name, Life Itself recounts the surprising and entertaining life of world-renowned film critic and social commentator Roger Ebert – a story that’s by turns personal, wistful, funny, painful, and transcendent. A centerpiece of the film is the story of how Ebert and Gene Siskel revolutionized film criticism and became the most recognized, criticized, and powerful movie critics in the world. Part critical biography and personal history, the film’s spine is the last four months of Roger’s life when the filmmakers had exclusive access as he heroically battled – and ultimately failed – to overcome a hip fracture that turned out to be cancer. From this unfolding story, the film will travel through Roger’s past life, his own words as our guide, detailing his precocious start in Urbana, Illinois; his migration to Chicago to start a career at the Chicago Sun Times; his unexpected promotion to movie critic; the creation of the television show that would revolutionize film criticism; and his difficult and inspiring fight with cancer.

The film will dig deeper beyond the public’s perception of Roger as Pulitzer Prize winning film critic and star of Siskel & Ebert. We will reveal his ribald sense of humor, his passions for politics and justice, as well as Russ Meyer and big-breasted women; his wild days at the legendarily rough and tumble O’Rourke’s Pub, where he learned verbal combat but succumbed to alcoholism before joining AA in 1979; his marriage to Chaz which changed his life; and how he championed and befriended such filmmakers as Errol Morris, Werner Herzog, Ramin Bahrani, Gregory Nava, and Martin Scorsese. Roger has been rightly lionized in death. Life Itself will show the real man himself and the rich, complicated, and ultimately inspiring life he led.

Filmmakers

Co-Producer

Emily Hart
Mark Mitten
Josh Schollmeyer

Cinematography

Dana Kupper

Composer

Joshua Abrams

Post-Production Supervisor

Ryan Gleeson

Executive Producers (CNN Films)

Vinnie Malhotra
Amy Entelis

Memoir Voice of Roger

Stephen Scranton

Archival Researcher

Emily Hart

Music Supervisor

Linda Cohen

2nd Camera

Jackson James

Additional camera

Steve James
Nora Ballard
Scott DaHarb
Sam Elliot
Rich Golish
Martin Gradek
Eric Gulliver
Kimman Harmon
Nick Shamblott
Cory Solon

Gaffers

Charlie Rhomberg
Marty Rhomberg
Jesse Goldberg
Helmet R. Luchs
Mark Markley
Mike Moyer
Eric Neason

Location Sound

Zak Piper

Additional Sound

Zak Piper
Drew Levinson
Rich Pooler
Steve Rosenboom

Grip

Rick Compeau
Andre Peloquin

Producer (Boulder Shoot)

Paula Dupre Pesman

Supervising Producers (CNN Films)

Courtney Sexton
Lizzie Kerner

Musicians

Joshua Abrams
Rashida N. Black
Ben Boye
Ari Brown
Hamid Drake
Tony Herrera
Marquis Hill
James Sanders
Joshua J. Sirotiak

Music Producers

Music Recorded by
Joshua Abrams (Parlor One)
Neil Strauch (Soma Electronic Music Studios)

Music Mixer

John McEntire (Soma Electronic Music Studios)

Motion Graphics

Dizzy Giant

Lead Designer

Dan Sharkey

Designer

Jenna Caravello

High Definition Finish

Nolo Digital Film

Digital Colorist

Michael Matusek

Online Edit

Boris Seagraves
Elliot Rudmann

Producer at Nolo Digital Film

Joe Flanagan

Assistant at Nolo Digital Film

Marina Monks

Audio Post Facility

Another Country

Re-­recording Mixer

Drew Weir

Audio Post Supervisor

Tim Konn

Assistant SFX Editors

Louise Rider
Josh Hunnicutt
Mike Regan
Alison Ho

Chief Financial and Operations Officer (Kartemquin Films)

Suzanne Niemoth

Chief Communications and Distribution Officer (Kartemquin Films)

Tim Horsburgh

Bookkeeping (Kartemquin Films)

Maria Galent
Alex Stein
Christine McAlonan

Technical Supervisor

Jim Morrissette

Assistant Editor

Ryan Gleeson

Additional Assistant Editor

Hillary Bachelder

Post-­Production Assistants

Dylan James
Lauren Callaghan
Patrick Lile
Will Thwaites
Philipp Batta

Archival Research Assistants

Rachel Rozycki
David Granskog

Transcription

Melissa Coleman
David Granskog
Biliana Grozdanova
Aniluz Mercedes
Kristen Zelenka

Legal Counsel to Kartemquin Films

Holland & Knight LLP
Robert Labate
Joi Thomas

Fair Use Consultant

Peter Jaszi

Distribution Advisory Services

Cinetic Media

Indiegogo Campaign Supervisor

Alex Skalomenos

PR Assistant (KatLei Productions)

Kristen Allen

Additional Kartemquin Staff

Tamara Fouche
Nora Gully
Alison Hanold
Ian Kibbe
Matt Lauterbach
Leslie Simmer
Beckie Stocchetti

Cinetic Media Staff

John Sloss
Dana O’Keefe
Ross Fremer
Linzee Troubh
Steven Farneth
Pier Harrison
Kate Hurwitz
Vinay Singh
Jesse Kahn
Emily Selinger
Victor Lopez
Anna Barnes

Supervising Producer (Ebert Productions LLC)

Sonia Evans

Personal Assistant to Roger and Chaz Ebert

Carol Iwata

Project Manager (Ebert Company Ltd)

Daniel Jackson

Production Assistants

Andrew Degner
Alex Donnelley
Katie Lannigan
Carl Louis Mohr
Jacob W. Newberry
Brandon Phipps
Kristian Rivera
Virat Sharma

Kartemquin Interns

Arpita Aneja
Andrea Blake
Reid Compton
Alex Cox
Rachel Dickson
Dain Evans
Spenser Gabin
Brian Gersten
Rachel Glass
Kazuko Golden
David Granskog
Marriah Kern
Nushmia Khan
Tracy Ko
Aniluz Mercedes
Stacy Moon
Rachel Rozycki
Ben Schamisso
Alexander Skalomenos
Natalie Stone
Will Thwaites
Cody Wallace
Felix Ofuso Yeboah
Kristen Zelenka

Special Thanks

Special Thanks
Ramin Bahrani
Richard Corliss
Nancy De LosSantos-­Reza
Ava DuVernay
Bruce Elliot
Raven Evans
Thea Flaum
Josh Golden
Werner Herzog
MarleneI glitzen
Rick Kogan
Donna LaPietra
John McHugh
Errol Morris
Howie Movshovitz
William Nack
Gregory Nava
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Martin Scorsese
A.O. Scott
Roger Simon
Edy Williams
57th Street Books
A4 Architecture
Fernando Abadie
Josh Abelon
Carter Adams
David H. Adler
Nathan Adloff
Paul Aken (Platen Press Museum)
Alisa Alexander
Colby Allen
Rocio Almodovar
Lisa Alvarado
Monica Angrand
Mark Ankner
Daniel Aronson
Jerry Aronson
Dave Athey
Pat Aufderheide
Vlad Avesalon
Guilherme Baiardi
Karen Bair
Michael S Banks
Gemma Bauer
Billy “Silver Dollar” Baxter
Christopher Beaubien
Eric Beltmann
D. Joseph Bennett
Kelli Joan Bennett
Craig Bentley
Steven Bentz
Michael Berlind
Nick Bishop
Marcelline Block
Luke Boyce
Ben Boye
Mary Susan Britt
Elizabeth Brown
Stephen Michael Brown
Jane Butcher
Paul Canterna
Sara Chapman
The Cinefamily
Maura Clare
Casey & Jessie Clausen
Stephanie Coats
Dean Codrington
Bill Colaprete
Chico Colvard
Josip Condic
Conference on World Affairs
Mary Kay Cook
Sarah Cooke
Jeremy Coon
Lizi Cosslett
David Courier
Janice Cowart
Patrick Crowley
Brian Cudiamat
Raven De La Croix
Erica DeGlopper
Patrick Degan
Dutch Delaney & Kathy Niewoehner
Barbara Delis
Adam Dick
Jed Dietz
Julio Dottavio & the Russ Meyer Trust
Scott Dummler
Jim Emerson
Eric Engler
Eliot Ephraim
Michael J. Epstein
Víctor Escribano
Carolyn Faber
Anthony R. Faust
Yaseen Fawzi
Steve Fenwick
Mark Ferguson
David Filipi
Filmspotting
Joe Fishel
Larry Fleming
Lisa Frechette
Sam Funt
Judy Galloway
Alejandro J. Garcia
Laura Gardner
Anre Garrett
Justine Gendron
Matt Genné
Ryan J. Gilmer
Alexis Giusfredi
Carlos González-­Salicrup
Scott Griebel
Larry Grobel
David Haedrich
Eshed Halpern
Alison Hanold
Bryan & Pam Hanson
Joshua S. Harris
Ken Harwood
Ted Haycraft
Christie Hefner
Bob Hercules
Matt Holzman
Tom Hootman
Jeremy Hunt
Indiana University Cinema
Corin James
Raj Jawa
Barbara Martinez Jitner
Jeff Johnson
Marsha Jordan
Jon Judy
KaiCarra
Cynthia Kane
Jonathan Kellam
David Kilroy
Kristofor King
Nathan Kinney
Craig Knowles
Nate Kohn
Nate & Steve Kouri
Michael Kutza
Ines Lagos
Jason Lange
Jennifer Lange-­Pomes
Vincent Lasita
Kevin B. Lee
Erik Lehmann
Tom Lehmann
Michael Levenstein
Patrick Lile
Carrie Litkowski
Billy Luther
David Mandelbrot
Kevin Marinier
Jonathan Marlow
Chateau Marmont
Gisela Marquez
Kristin McCracken
Louise McElligott
Mike McKee
Jennifer R. McZier
Jamie Mendonça
Paul Meyer-­Strom
Robert Bryce Milburn
Mike Minetti
Dennis J. Minkel
Rick Minnich
Grace Littlefeather Tydings
Tobin Mitchell
Mike Moran
Alex Murray
John J. Murray
Tony Muscio
Museum of Broadcast Communications
Music Box Theatre
Kevin R. Nash
Bryan New
Steve Norwood
Nick Nylen
Barbara Ann O'Leary
Old Town Ale House
Casey Oliver
Jim Palmer
Susan Pennell
Mary Lou Petty & Walwyn
Trezise Reverend
Carroll Pickett
David Plummer
Andrew Porter
Jeffrey Prawdiuk-­Spurr
Dan & Shenan Prestwich
Melanie Provan
Claire Querée
Cornelia Ravenal
Jude Ray
Teme & Jeff Ring
John Rivera
Sarah Rochelle
Michelle Rodda
Jeff Rodgers
RogerEbert.com
Shae Rohrer
Rooftop Films
John Rotan
Slava Rubin
Jennifer Rudnicke
Kyle Russell
Annette Sanchez
John Saroff
Hank Sartin
Richard Scheckman
Amanda Seip
Barbara Sharres
Andrew James Sheldon
David Sidore
Adam Singer
Jozef Siroka
Victor Skrebneski
Daniel Skubal
Lori Snyder
Morgan Spurlock
Jeff Sotzing
Nancy Stuenkel
Kathy Stumm
David Styburski
K.T. Sullivan & Chris Bing
Man Sung
May & Ted Swan
Table XI Partners
Bank Tangjaitrong
Michelle Tesoro
The Team at TIFF
Emma Tillenger
Darryl Timm
Mitch Tobin
Reverend J. Hollis Tomlinson
John Trigonis
Benjamin Turnbull
Lisa & David Ulm
The University Club
Zac Upstone
John Vance (IFC Film Center)
Jon Vickers
Selah Victor
Anke Voss
Daniel Waterman
Monika Watkins
Charlie Wellock
Anne Wells
Michael Wendt
Ryan Werner
Mike White
Joe Whittman
Jamie Wilkinson
Edy Williams
Frank Williams
Andrew Wimsatt
John K Wozniak
WME Entertainment
WTTW
Pearl Wu
Frank Wuliger
Justin John Zarian
Tom Zimmermann
Nathan Zoebl

Archival Stills and Footage Courtesy

Kevin Horan
Archival Playboy Materials. Copyright © 1965, 1967, 1971 and 1991 by Playboy.
Used with permission. All rights reserved.
Archive Photos/GettyImages
Associated Press
Ramin Bahrani
Billy Baxter Presents Diary of the Cannes Film Festival
Myles Beeson
Bettmann/CORBIS
Bison Archives/Hollywood Historic Photos
Neal Boenzi/The New York Times/Redux
Boulder Daily Camera
Carson Entertainment Group
Casey A. Cass/University of Colorado
Gwendolyn Cates
Champaign County Historical Archives (The Urbana Free Library, Urbana, IL)
Champaign-­Urbana Courier
The Chez Paree
The Jack Schatz Family
Chicago Film Archives
Chicago Tribune/Landov
Conference on World Affairs
Mary Corliss
Criterion Collection
Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times/Redux
Nancy De Los Santos-­Reza
Dan Dennehy for Walker Art Center
Denver Post/Getty Images
Disney ABC Television Group/Getty Images
Scott Dummler/Bob Long
Ava DuVernay
Roger and Chaz Ebert
Eva Everything
Framepool
Getty Images Entertainment
Getty Images Sport
Anne Glasgow
Mark Godfrey/The Image Works
Grand Central Publishing
James Hamilton
HARPO Productions Inc.
Hugh M. Hefner
David Henry
Hal Holmes
Mark Hubert
Allison Horne
Marlene Iglitzen
Andy Ihnatko
Internet Archive
Patrick Kelley/ University of Colorado Boulder
Jack Lane
Sandra Leidholdt
Mike Lien/The New York Times/Redux
Brian Linehan Charitable Foundation
Grace Littlefeather Tydings
Media Burn
MLIVE.COM/Landov
Russ Meyer Trust
Sandria Miller
Michael Moore
Roland Mösl
Greg Nava
NBC Universal Archives
NBCUniversal/Getty Images
The News-­Gazette Inc.
Kathryn Scott Osler/Denver Post/Getty Images
Playboy Enterprises
Prelinger Archives
Jon Randolph
Robert Abbott Sengstacke/Archive Photos/Getty Images
Art Shay
Shatterglass Studio
Tarmo Soodla
John Sotomayor/The New York Times/Redux
Simon Staho
Streamline Films Inc.
Sun-­Times Media
John Sunderland/Denver Post/Getty Images
TED Conferences
The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images
John Titchen
© University of Illinois Alumni Association University of Illinois Archives (University of Illinois, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences)
Victor Skrebneski

Media

Awards and Distinctions

Emmy Awards

Winner

Best Editing

2016

Cine Gold Eagle Awards

Winner

Best Nonfiction Feature: Historical Events and Biographies

2015

Critics Choice Awards

Winner

Best Documentary Feature

2015

Grierson Awards

Nominee

Best Cinema Documentary

2015

The Academy Awards

Shortlisted

Best Documentary Feature

2015

AFI Docs

Official Selection

Closing Night Film

2014

African-American Film Critics Association

Winner

Best Documentary

2014

Alliance of Women in Film Journalists

Nominee

Best Documentary

2014

American Film Festival (Poland)

Winner

Best Documentary

2014

Bergen International Film Festival

Official Selection

2014

Biografilm Festival (Italy)

Official Selection

2014

Boston Online Film Critics

Winner

Best Documentary

2014

Broadcast Film Critics Association

Winner

Critic's Choice

2014

Cannes Film Festival

Official Selection

2014

Central Ohio Film Critics Association

Nominee

Best Documentary

2014

Chicago Film Critics Association

Winner

Best Documentary

2014

CInema Eye Honors

Nominee

Outstanding Achievement in Direction; Audience Choice; Outstanding Achievement in Editing; Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Feature; Outstanding Achievement in Original Music

2014

Cork International Film Festival

Official Selection

2014

Critics Choice Movies Awards

Nominee

Best Documentary

2014

Dallas-Forth Worth Film Critics Association

Finalist

Best Documentary

2014

Deauville American Film Festival

Official Selection

2014

Denver Film Critics Society

Nominee

Best Documentary

2014

Detroit Film Critics Society

Nominee

Best Documentary

2014

Documentary Edge Festival (New Zealand)

Official Selection

2014

Documentary Edge Festival (New Zealand)

Winner

Jury Award

2014

Dokufest Kosovo

Official Selection

2014

Dorian Awards

Nominee

Best Documentary

2014

Durban International Film Festival

Official Selection

2014

Ebert Fest

Official Selection

2014

Film Club's The Lost Weekend

Winner

Best Film

2014

Film Fest Gent

Official Selection

2014

Florida Film Critics Circle

Winner

Best Documentary

2014

Georgia Film Critics Association

Nominee

Best Original Score

2014

Georgia Film Critics Association

Winner

Best Documentary

2014

Gotham Independent Film Awards

Nominee

Best Documentary

2014

Hamptons International Film Festival SummerDocs Series

Official Selection

Opening Night Film

2014

Houston Film Critics Society

Nominee

Best Documentary

2014

IFI Dublin Film Festival

Official Selection

2014

Indiana Film Journalists Association

Nominee

Best Picture; Best Director

2014

Indiana Film Journalists Association

Winner

Best Documentary

2014

Indpanda International Film Festival (Hong Kong)

Official Selection

2014

Iowa Film Critics Awards

Finalist

Best Picture

2014

Jerusalem International Film Festival

Official Selection

2014

Karlovy Vary International Film Festival

Official Selection

2014

Los Angeles Film Critics

Finalist

Best Documentary

2014

Los Cabos Film Festival

Official Selection

2014

Melbourne International Film Festival

Official Selection

2014

Moscow International Film Festival

Official Selection

2014

Nantucket Film Festival

Official Selection

2014

National Board of Review

Winner

Best Documentary Feature

2014

New York Online Film Critics

Winner

Best Documentary

2014

North Texas Film Critics Assocation

Winner

Best Documentary

2014

Oklahoma Film Critics Circle

Winner

Best Documentary

2014

Online Frilm Critics Association

Winner

Best Documentary

2014

Phoenix Film Critics

Nominee

Best Documentary

2014

Producer's Guild of America

Nominee

Outstanding Producer of Documentary Theatrical Motion Pictures

2014

Rio De Janeiro International Film Festival

Official Selection

2014

Rotten Tomatoes "Golden Tomato Awards"

Winner

Best Reviewed Documentary of the Year

2014

San Diego Film Critics Society

Nominee

Best Documentary

2014

San Francisco Film Critics

Nominee

Best Documentary

2014

Sheffield Doc/Fest

Nominee

Special Jury Award

2014

Sheffield Doc/Fest

Official Selection

2014

Sofia Independent Film Festival

Official Selection

2014

St.Louis Film Critics

Nominee

Best Documentary

2014

Sundance Film Festival

Official Selection

World Premiere

2014

Sydney Film Festival

Official Selection

2014

Traverse City Film Festival

Winner

Founder's Prize

2014

Washington DC Area Film Critics

Winner

Best Documentary

2014

Women Film Critics Circle Association

Winner

Best Equality of the Sexes

2014

Zurich Film Festival

Official Selection

2014