Sheila Nevins

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Sheila Nevins

Born: 6-Apr-1939 [1]
Birthplace: Manhattan, NY

Gender: Female
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Film/TV Producer

Nationality: United States
Executive summary: President, HBO Documentary and Family

Described by the Paley Center for Media as "the most powerful executive in the documentary community."

"Slowly I began to believe that sexual freedom and First Amendment issues are very tied because the more I read about sex and the more I read sex in literature, I realized the freedom of literature and the restrictions of television, and then since HBO, you could select when you wanted… A kid didn't have to watch sex. I mean they had burning bodies at 7:00 on network news but you couldn't have two people, especially if they were black and white, hugging each other at night or being naked, so I came to be sort of a sexual zealot."[2]

[1] Year verified in Thomas A. Mascaro, "Documentaries: Form and Function", in The Essential HBO Reader (2008), page 240. Exact birthdate was obtained from the Paley Center for Media, as part of background information provided for a seminar she and MT&R President Robert Batscha gave at the Museum of Television & Radio, 2002.

[2] Inteview with Steve Nelson, Hauser Oral and Video History Collection, 31 July 2001.

Father: Benjamin Nevins
Mother: Stella
Husband: Sidney Koch (investment banker, m. 1972, one son)
Son: David Andrew Koch

High School: High School of the Performing Arts, New York, NY
University: BA English, Barnard College (1960)
University: MFA, Yale University (1963)

Time Warner President, HBO Documentary and Family (2004-)
Time Warner EVP Original Programming, HBO/Cinemax (1999-2004)
Time Warner Senior VP Original Programming, HBO (1998-99)
Time Warner VP Documentary Programming, HBO (1986-99)
Time Warner Director of Documentary Programming (1979-82)
Children's Television Workshop (1975-76)
US Information Agency Television and Film Service
Friends of Hillary
John Edwards for President
Producers Guild of America
Women's Action Alliance Board of Directors
Writers Guild of America
Lifetime Achievement Award, International Documentary Association 1998
Broadcasting and Cable Hall of Fame 2000
Emmy 18 times
Peabody 20 times

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