Kirk Simon and Karen Goodman
Producers/Directors/Writers, "Buckminster Fuller: Thinking Out Loud"

As partners in the Simon & Goodman Picture Company, independent filmmakers Kirk Simon and Karen Goodman are recipients of three Academy Award nominations and three Emmy Awards. The company is based in New York, and works in film and television production.

Simon & Goodman received an Oscar nomination and an Emmy Award for Best Documentary for the HBO special, "Chimps: So Like Us." Their exploration of the role of women in Egypt, "Cairo Unveiled", was broadcast as the season premiere of National Geographic Explorer series in 1992. They produced and directed "Backstage at Masterpiece Theater: A 20th Anniversary Special", which was broadcast nationally on PBS and nominated for an Emmy Award. They have produced a number of projects for Lincoln Center's Dance Film Archive, documenting the works of choreographers Paul Taylor, Alvin Ailey, Robert Joffrey, Jerome Robbins, and George Balanchine. Other joint projects include commercials, corporate and promotional videos, and political spots.

Karen Goodman was nominated for an Oscar for "Children's Storefront", a portrait of an extraordinary educational oasis in Harlem. Her film "No Applause, Just Throw Money" was first seen at New Directors/New Films; following its broadcast on the PBS documentary showcase P.O.V., it won an Emmy and numerous festival awards, including the Silver Prize at the Leningrad International Film Festival. Ms. Goodman's first film, "Light of Many Masks", was televised in the U.K. and the U.S.

Kirk Simon was nominated for an Oscar for "Isaac In America", a co-production with AMERICAN MASTERS about the Nobel laureate writer Isaac Bashevis Singer, which premiered at the New York Film Festival. Mr. Simon produced a dramatic adaptation of a Singer short story, "The Cafeteria", for American Playhouse. He directed the PBS special, "Carnegie Hall", and the PBS children's series, "Eat Well, Be Well."

Both Simon and Goodman are members of the National Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and served as judges for the International and National Emmy Awards, the Ace Awards and the Media Program for the National Endowment for the Humanities. Simon & Goodman are currently in production on a documentary for PBS's American Experience chronicling the early history of the telephone.

Susan Lacy
Executive Producer, AMERICAN MASTERS

Susan Lacy has been a producer of primetime programs on public television for 16 years. As creator and executive producer of AMERICAN MASTERS, Ms. Lacy has been responsible for the production and national broadcast of 66 documentary biographies on artistic giants who have impacted American culture. Now celebrating its 10th anniversary on PBS and distributed throughout the world, AMERICAN MASTERS has been recognized by television critics as "the best biographical series ever to appear on American television."

Ms. Lacy is the recipient of Emmy Awards for "Lillian Gish: The Actor's Life For Me"; "Broadway's Dreamers: The Legacy of The Group Theatre"; and "Edward R. Murrow: This Reporter"; as well as Peabody Awards for "Paul Simon: Born at the Right Time" and "John Hammond: From Bessie Smith to Bruce Springsteen"; and seven Cine Golden Eagles. In addition to "Buckminster Fuller: Thinking Out Loud", other recent specials for AMERICAN MASTERS include "Richard Avedon: Darkness and Light"; "Rod Serling: Submitted for Your Approval", which marked Ms. Lacy's directorial debut; "Rediscovering Will Rogers"; "Tennessee Williams: Orpheus of the American Stage"; "Edgar Allan Poe: Terror of the Soul"; and "Placido Domingo: A Musical Life." Ms. Lacy is currently overseeing the production for upcoming documentary profiles of the comedy team of Nichols and May, and the life of Lena Horne. She is also beginning the research and development for a three-part definitive biography of Leonard Bernstein, which she will produce and direct.

As Deputy Director of Performance Programs at Thirteen/WNET from 1978-1984, Ms. Lacy was the Senior Program Executive for the award-winning GREAT PERFORMANCES series and worked with the AMERICAN PLAYHOUSE series as an original founding member and Director of Program Development. Ms. Lacy headed the East Coast office of the Sundance Institute from 1984 to 1987, and has run programs for both the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Ms. Lacy is a member of the Television Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Directors Guild of America, the Independent Features Project, and New York Women in Film.

American Masters

During the past decade, AMERICAN MASTERS, presented by Thirteen/WNET on public television, has drawn huge national and international audiences to its profiles of the lives and achievements of important figures in American arts and culture, transcending traditional biography to explore its subjects' invaluable contributions to the American landscape. This series has won Peabodys, Emmys and numerous other awards, and has received wide critical acclaim for the kind of in-depth, thorough and insightful explorations that viewers have come to expect from public television.

"AMERICAN MASTERS is a testament to the role great artists and creative movements have played in this nation's history and cultural identity. It is also a testament to the brilliant and diverse mosaic of the American character, as reflected by 10 years of programs featuring individuals from a wide variety of backgrounds and disciplines."
--Susan Lacy, Executive Producer

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