31 Facts About Barbara Kopple

Barbara Kopple was born on July 30,1946 and is an American film director known primarily for her documentary work.

Barbara Kopple is credited with pioneering a renaissance of cinema verite, and bringing the historic French style to a modern American audience.

Barbara Kopple received a Primetime Emmy Award for Fallen Champ: The Untold Story of Mike Tyson, and directed episodes of television drama series such as the NBC police drama series Homicide: Life on the Street and the HBO prison drama series Oz, winning a Directors Guild of America award for the former.

Barbara Kopple received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences on September 28,2023.

Barbara Kopple was born in New York City, and grew up on a vegetable farm in Scarsdale, New York, the daughter of a textile executive.

Barbara Kopple's uncle, Murray Burnett, was a co-author of Everybody Comes to Rick's, an unproduced play, that was the basis for the film, Casablanca.

Barbara Kopple assisted them on their documentary Salesman, and then did camera work for their film on the Rolling Stones, titled Gimme Shelter.

Barbara Kopple subsequently worked as an editor, camera operator, and sound operator on numerous documentaries and then started production on Harlan County, USA in 1972.

Barbara Kopple created a production company in 1972, Cabin Creek Films, through which she would continue to direct and produce features and television projects, in addition to documentaries.

Barbara Kopple first became aware of the plights of the Appalachia miners while studying at Northeastern University.

In 1972, Barbara Kopple started her own production company, Cabin Creek Films.

When Tony Boyle was ousted from the union leadership and miners began striking for union recognition, Barbara Kopple moved to Harlan with a crew of five and a loan of $12,000.

Barbara Kopple, Kevin Keating, Richard Warner, and I flew to Knoxville, loaded into a station wagon with all the 16 mm gear, and drove across 2 lane roads to the picket line.

Barbara Kopple instead took her political focus on unions to television, directing the 90-minute television drama Keeping On.

Barbara Kopple was first turned onto the subject matter in the early 1980s while working on starting a different documentary project.

American Dream proved to be even more difficult for Barbara Kopple to produce than Harlan County, USA, despite her previous documentary's success.

Budget for the film was tight, and Barbara Kopple found it difficult to obtain funding due to its subject matter.

Barbara Kopple continued to exclusively make documentaries for nearly the next decade and a half, exploring new subject matters such as crime procedurals and the lives of celebrities.

Barbara Kopple was on tour with the Dixie Chicks when lead singer Natalie Maines criticized the Iraq War.

Barbara Kopple's style is evident in use of candid clips of the performers discussing the fallout combined with a focus on what their daily lives look like.

Barbara Kopple has recently ventured into advertising work that includes documentary-style commercials for Target Stores.

Barbara Kopple was among the 19 filmmakers who worked together anonymously to produce the film Winter Soldier, an anti-war documentary about the Winter Soldier Investigation.

Barbara Kopple has done films for The Working Group, directing the 30-minute short documentary Locked Out in America: Voices From Ravenswood for the We Do the Work series.

When beginning to make the film Harlan County, USA, Barbara Kopple was promised a $9,000 grant, then later was denied.

The moving image collection of Barbara Kopple is held at the Academy Film Archive, which preserved Harlan County, USA.

Barbara Kopple has noted her major influence to be director Lucy Jarvis, for her both her approach to life and prolificness.

Barbara Kopple has made several films on US labor issues, as well as worker's unions, and has been a longtime advocate for the American labor movement.

Barbara Kopple has partnered with studios such as ABC, NBC, Lifetime Television, Disney Channel and The Weinstein Company.

Barbara Kopple responds to criticism surrounding lack of authenticity in commissioned films citing the conventions of cinema verite and direct cinema that she followed in her first films.

Barbara Kopple relies on a neutral outlook when approaching the subject matter of her films, some of whom were controversial figures such as Woody Allen and Mike Tyson.

Barbara Kopple actively participates in organizations that address social issues and support independent filmmaking.