Rob Epstein

For other people named Robert Epstein, see Robert Epstein (disambiguation).

Robert P. Epstein (born April 6, 1955), is an American director, producer, writer, and editor. He is known for directing numerous documentaries, several of them focusing on the LGBTQ community and has won two Academy Awards, two Emmy Awards, and a Grammy Award.

Rob Epstein
Epstein in 2013
Born	Robert P. Epstein (1955-04-06) April 6, 1955 (age 70)[1] New Brunswick, New Jersey, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Film director and producer
Years active	1978–present

Epstein won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature twice for the films The Times of Harvey Milk (1984) and Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt (1989).^[2][3] He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Film for End Game (2018). He also directed the documentaries Word Is Out: Stories of Some of Our Lives (1977), The AIDS Show (1986), The Celluloid Closet (1996), and Paragraph 175 (2000). He made his narrative directorial film debut with the historical drama Howl (2010) followed by Lovelace (2013).

Career

In 1987, Epstein and his filmmaking partner Jeffrey Friedman founded Telling Pictures, a production company that focused on feature documentaries.^[4] Epstein's works also include scripted narratives such as Howl, his award-winning film about Allen Ginsberg's controversial poem by the same name (starring James Franco), and Lovelace, the story about the life and trials of pornographic superstar Linda Lovelace (starring Amanda Seyfried).

Personal life

Epstein is the co-chair of the Film Program at California College of the Arts^[2] in San Francisco and Oakland, California. He is gay.^[5]

Filmography

Narrative films

Year	Title	Director	Producer	Write	Notes
2010	Howl	Yes	Yes	Yes
2013	Lovelace	Yes	No	No

Documentaries

Year	Title	Director	Producer	Editor	Notes
1977	Word Is Out: Stories of Some of Our Lives	Yes	Yes	Yes
1984	The Times of Harvey Milk	Yes	Yes	Yes
1986	The AIDS Show	Yes	Yes	No
1989	Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt	Yes	Yes	Yes
1989	Where Are We? Our Trip Through America	Yes	Yes	No
1995	The Celluloid Closet	Yes	Yes	No
2000	Paragraph 175	Yes	Yes	No
2005	An Evening with Eddie Gomez	Yes	No	No
2014	And the Oscar Goes to...[6]	Yes	Yes	Yes
2018	End Game	Yes	Yes	Yes	Short film
2019	State of Pride	Yes	No	No
2019	Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice	Yes	Yes	No
2023	Taylor Mac's A 24-Decade History of Popular Music	Yes	No	No

Television

Year	Title	Notes	Ref.
2002	Underground Zero	Segment: "Isiah's Rap"
2002-2004	Crime & Punishment	TV series
2006	10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America	Episode: "Gold Rush"

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref.
1984	Academy Award	Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature	The Times of Harvey Milk	Won
	News & Documentary Emmy Awards	Interview/Interviewer - Programs		Won
1989	Academy Award	Best Documentary Feature	Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt	Won
1995	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Informational Special	The Celluloid Closet	Nominated
	News & Documentary Emmy Awards	Outstanding Individual Achievement in a Craft: Directors		Won
2000	News & Documentary Emmy Awards	Outstanding Individual Achievement in a Craft: Direction	Paragraph 175	Nominated
		Outstanding Historical Documentary - Long Form		Nominated
2001	GLAAD Media Award	Davidson/Valentini Award	Himself	Won
2018	Academy Award	Best Documentary Short Film	End Game	Nominated
2019	Grammy Award	Best Music Film	Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice	Won