Gayle Kirschenbaum Biography

Gayle Kirschenbaum is an American filmmaker and TV producer. Her work is predominantly non-fiction and includes the film festival favorite My Nose and critically praised film A Dog's Life: A Dogamentary which premiered on HBO. She has collaborated with the documentary filmmaker Albert Maysles. She is represented at N.S. Bienstock by Katie Maloney. She is a member of the Producer's Guild of America.

Early career

Gayle Kirschenbaum started her career as a freelance graphic designer in advertising and promotion in New York. In less than a year, she became a producer/director of award winning multimedia shows both in the U.S. and abroad. Soon afterwards, she formed her own company, Kirschenbaum Productions, producing national television commercials for such clients as Pepsi, General Foods, Pampers, Coleco and Mattel.

Film & Television
Combining her talents as a writer, producer and director, Kirschenbaum gravitated towards documentary filmmaking, producing her first film on homeless women and children, Hestia House, which garnered an award at the Chicago Film Festival. Her second film, which she wrote, produced and directed for PBS, Doumani House, was about Carol and Roy Doumani's house in Venice, California, designed by sculptor Robert Graham, and it won an Emmy Award. Her third documentary, the intimate portrayal of a woman novelist, Octavia Butler, earned an Emmy nomination. More recently, Gayle is an Executive Producer for 2010 TLC series OUR LITTLE LIFE.

Kirschenbaum wrote, directed and produced documentaries for several cable network series including Arts & Entertainment's Ancient Mysteries and Mysteries of the Bible, Lifetime Television's Intimate Portrait and New Attitudes series. She wrote and produced for Court TV, the Food Network, The Rosie O'Donnell Show, and America's Most Wanted. Her producing credits include reality shows for NBC, CBS, TLC and Discovery Channel. She also co-created a pilot for a new series called Judgement Day: Should The Guilty Go Free, which aired on HBO's American Undercover.

In addition, Kirshenbaum wrote screenplays and developed dramatic films and other non-fiction television series, several of which were optioned by various producers and production companies such as David Wolper, Robert Greenwald, Dick Clark, Craig Anderson, Grosso/Jacobson, Brave Street, Hearst Television, Steve White and Lee Rich.

Recent Works (2001-present)

A Dog's Life: A Dogamentary, is a personal documentary about the positive effects of the bond between dogs and humans. It follows her and her dog, Chelsea through the streets of Manhattan, and showcases Chelsea's healing force as a therapy dog capable of bringing people out of comas. Kirschenbaum produced, directed and edited the film, it played the festival circuit, and then premiered on HBO/Cinemax. She and Chelsea were featured in the New York Times and Ladies' Home Journal, and appeared on The Today Show and Fox TV. The DVD, produced and marketed by Kirschenbaum, was widely distributed by Borders Bookstores, Best Buy, Blockbuster Inc., Netflix, as well as Petsmart.

The acclaimed, personal, and humorous documentary, My Nose, is a brief portrayal of Kirschenbaum's experience with her mother, who had been insisting that her daughter get a nose job since she was 15 years old. Kirschenbaum and her mother visit various plastic surgeons in a comedic adventure where the only augmentation is in the personal relationship between mother and daughter. My Nose was featured at the Independent Feature Project's IFP Film Market and other festivals worldwide. The film was covered widely in the press, including The Washington Post.

Current Projects

Kirschenbaum is in production on several projects including a feature-length documentary called My Nose: The Bigger Version and television series: Little People, Big Pregnancy (which premiered in June 2009 on Discovery Channel). Gayle also worked on the follow-up of "Little People, Big Pregnancy" called "Little Parents, First Baby,"(also premiered in 2009). These shows had such success they were adapted into a TLC series known as "OUR LITTLE LIFE" (which premiered Monday, March 1, 2010 at 8:00pm) and Gayle continued her involvement as an Executive Producer. Other projects Gayle is working on are "The Little Kings" (sold to Discovery Channel), Animal Intervention, Body Parts, X-Lovers.com, Love Report, and Melting Pot.

Look Who's Ticking, a feature film screenplay written by Gayle Kirschenbaum was a winner of the AIVF Screenwriter's Mentorship Program and is in development.

Kirschenbaum recently broadcast on Blip TV, YouTube, iTunes and Vimeo a new video podcast series, "On the Trail with Gayle." This series takes you up close and personal and into the life of Gayle Kirschenbaum. and into the lives of the many people she encounters.

Personal life

Gayle Kirschenbaum is also a published author and artist. Her short stories, essays and articles have appeared in literary journals, magazines and newspapers. She is the founder of the NY Writers Group, and is a member of Docuclub, IFP, Women in Production, Women in Publishing and Delta Society.

Kirschenbaum currently resides in New York City.

Filmography

On the Trail with Gayle (2009) Podcast aired on Blip TV, YouTube, iTunes and Vimeo
The Little Kings (in production)... (Discovery Channel) (producer)
Little Parents, Big Pregnancy (2009)... (Discovery Channel) (executive producer)
My Nose (2007)... (director, writer, cinematographer, co-star, producer)
A Dog's Life: A Dogamentary (2004)... (director, writer, co-star, producer)
Judgment Day: Should the Guilty Go Free (2003)... (HBO) (co-creator)
Intimate Portrait (Lifetime Television) (field producer)
Mugshots (Court TV) (producer)
- Ed Kemper (2001)... episode
- Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher (1998)... episode
Ancient Mysteries (A&E Television Networks) (producer)
- Curse of the Goddess Pele (1997)... episode
- Teotihuacán (1997)... episode
- Palenque (1996)... episode
America's Most Wanted: America Fights Back (1996-) (Fox) (field producer)
The Rosie O'Donnell Show (field producer)
- Rosie's High School Reunion (1996)... episode
Mysteries of the Bible ...(A&E Television Networks) (field producer)
- Cain and Abel: A Murder Mystery (1997)... episode
- Joshua at the Wall of Jerico (1996)... eipsode
- Scarlet Women of the Bible (1996)... episode
- Prophets: Soul Catchers (1996)... episode
- Queen Esther: Far Away and Long Ago (1994)... episode
Take Five: Arts & Culture (KCET) (director, cinematographer)
- Octavia Butler (1990)... segment
- Doumani House (1990)... episode ***won LA Area Emmy Award

Appearances:
Good Day New York - 1 episode (6 September 2002) (TV)
The Today Show - 1 episode (7 May 2002) (TV)