Robert Carl Cohen
Robert Carl Cohen, born 1930, has been a writer, public lecturer, foreign correspondent, and film and TV producer. His interest in addressing issues of racism, ideology, etc. is reflected in his television work and his books.
1930: Born Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1939: Moved to Los Angeles, California
HIGHER EDUCATION:
1952: BA Art, UCLA
1954: MA Theater Arts, Mot. Pic. Div.,UCLA THE COLOR OF MAN (Thesis Film)
1956-57: Doctorate de Universite (Incomplete) Soc. Psych. University of Paris, Sorbonne
"Analysis Of Film As A Means Of Communication"
1960-61: Ph.D. (Incomplete), Motion Pictures, USC
1980: Ph.D. (Incomplete): Annenberg School of Communication, USC
"Reconciliation Models For International Conflict Involving Direct Broadcast Satellite Policies"
MILITARY SERVICE:
1954: US Army Signal Corps, Writer, Producer, Director, WFM-TV, Ft. Monmouth, New Jersey
1955: Cameraman, NATO, Supreme HQ Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) Paris
1956: Special Services, Bremerhaven Port of Embarkation (BPOE), Germany
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE, PRODUCTIONS, HONORS:
1954: ADVENTURE SHOW: Researcher, Writer, "Random Genetic Drift," CBS-TV
1955-57: THE COLOR OF MAN:
International Educators Conference, Lycee de Sevres, France
Fifth Annual Film Festival, Film Council of Greater Boston
One of Year's Ten Best (Filmstrip), Scholastic Teachers Magazine
International Animated Film Festival, Cannes, France
Karlovy Vary Film Festival, Czechoslovakia
Moscow Film Institute, Sixth World Youth Festival, USSR
1956-57: MISTER WISTER THE TIME TWISTER: Writer, Designer, Les Films Jean Image, Paris
Prix du Qualite, France
World Animated Cartoon Festival, National Film Theater, London
1957: Special Correspondent, NBC-TV:
Travels across Siberia to film China in defiance of US State Dept. travel ban
Interviews Hungarian Premier Janos Kadar aboard Tu-104 over Mongolia
Films reactions of Russians to launch of Sputnik
1957: INSIDE RED CHINA (Film Lecture): US universities, civic groups, TV
1959: INSIDE EAST GERMANY (Film Lecture):
First American to film throughout the "German Democratic Republic"
1960: INSIDE RED CHINA (TV): Walter Reade-Sterling SPECIAL OF THE WEEK
1960: NO MORE WAR (Documentary): Dr. Linus Pauling & Ava Helen Pauling
1961: THE COLOR OF MAN: British Assoc. For Advancement Of Science
1962: COMMITTEE ON UNAMERICAN ACTIVITIES:
First film by a US citizen criticizing a US Government committee
1963: IWO JIMA: Writer, Editor, Assoc. Prod., pilot for "Battleline" TV series
1963: PREMIERE: Co-Writer, Producer, Director, Cameraman & Editor
1963: INSIDE CASTRO'S CUBA (Film Lecture):
First US citizen authorized by US State Dept. & Cuban Foreign Ministry to film in Cuba after 1961 break in diplomatic relations
1958 -1965: Public Lecturer, universities, civic groups & TV, USA & Canada
INSIDE RED CHINA
INSIDE EAST GERMANY
INSIDE CASTRO'S CUBA
CAPITAL CITIES OF COMMUNISM
1963: PREMIERE (Documentary): Co-Writer, Co-Producer, Co-Director, Co-Editor, Hollywood premiere of "Cleopatra"
1964: Returns to Cuba for additional material for National Educ. TV (NET) special
1965: THREE FACES OF CUBA: Shown nationwide on NET stations.
Cuban exile organizations protest; CIA pressure; investigations by FCC, Congress. NET refuses distribution
1966: THREE CUBANS: (formerly THREE FACES OF CUBA) distributed independently.
1965-67: MONDO HOLLYWOOD (Feature length documentary):
Julie Andrews, Paul Newman, Sean Connery, Bridgit Bardot, Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, Alfred Hitchcock, LSD guru Dr. Richard Alpert, Frank Zappa, Manson Gang victim hair stylist Jay Sebring & Manson Gang member Bobby Beausoliel, actor-politician Ronald Reagan. Midnight screening, opening of 1967 Mannheim Film Festival.
Invited to open 1968 Avignon Festival & Venice Film Festival Paris worldpremiere. Canceled due to:"Interdiction Totale," by French Ministry of Information as: "A danger to mental health.")
1968: THE COLOR OF MAN (Book): (Based on MA Thesis film) popular science book explaining the genetic-environmental basis for different skin colors, relationship to health, intelligence, etc. Published by Random House
The Horn Book's Honor List
Select Book List of the National Council of Christians & Jews
Smithsonian Institute Traveling Exhibit - tours USA
1968: Commissioned by Bantam Books, travels to Dar es Salaam to interview Robert Franklin Williams, FBI hunted advocate of armed self defense
1971: Although FBI & CIA files later acquired under the Freedom of Information Act describe MONDO HOLLYWOOD (along with Cohen's other films &
books) as "pro-communist," when show at the Brno, Czechoslovakia Film Forum, while engaging in shoving matches to get into six
separate screenings, all Communist area film buyers reject it as "Glamorizing capitalism - too many cars & swimming pools"
1971: French Ministry of Culture rescinds MONDO HOLLYWOOD "InterdictionTotale" Issued by Ministry of Information (itself eliminated following
1968 French civil unrest) citing "profound changes in original version," authorizes exhibition to "general public."
1972: THE COLOR OF MAN: Paperback edition published by Bantam Books
1972: BLACK CRUSADER: Biography of Robert Franklin Williams, Lyle Stuart
1973: THE COLOR OF MAN: (50,000 copy printing) Calif. State Dept. of Education
1975: INNER TRIP: Documentary, film history of Reiyukai, Buddhist sect, Japan
1975: Training Director, Depts. of Labor & H.E.W. funded Audio-Visual Training Program - Minorities, MGM Studios.
Places 28 minority editors, sound recordists, makeup & wardrobe graduates in Film & TV Industries.
1975: RALLY TO REOPEN THE ROSENBERG CASE: Writer, Producer, rally with Henry Fonda, Lee Grant, Martin Sheen, Roscoe Lee Browne,etc.
1975: Telethon Producer, KVST-TV, Hollywood public service channel, programs include:
CAN THE ROSENBERG CASE BE REOPENED?
WHO IS THE AMERICAN CONNECTION?
DEATH OF THE UNAMERICANS?, which included interviews with blacklisted screenwriter Abe Polonsky & HUAC critic Frank Wilkinson, is lauded as a "Best Bet" by LA Times TV Editor. But, while under consideration by the Corp. For Public Broadcasting (CPB), the video master is "lost" by that organization
1978: MONDO HOLLYWOOD Music Director Mike Curb: Risen to prominence in the Republican Party, runs for office. Opponent, incumbent Calif. Lt. Gov. Dymally (D) who's not seen it, charges the film is "pornographic" & that Curb: "Sang falsetto in a bath tub scene with two lesbians." Cohen affirms Curb's electronically "falsettoed" off-screen voice was used & defends Curb's work in the film. Curb wins the election
1978: Returns to China to film changed conditions since 1957
1983: Consultant, Nationwide Catholic TV Network, Santa Fe Communications
1986: MONDO HOLLYWOOD Music Director Mike Curb: Narrowly defeated in 1982 California Republican Gubernatorial Primary; in 1986 once again runs for office of Lt. Gov. but now denies his voice was used in MONDO HOLLYWOOD. Cohen reaffirms that Curb's voice was used.
Curb loses election.
1988: Founder & Chairperson, "Citizens Committee To Preserve Beverly Hills Landmarks." Sues Beverly Hills to block demolition of abandoned Municipal
Waterworks; leading to it's rehabilitation as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences "Center For Motion Picture Study"
1997: ROCKY MOUNTAIN WRITERS: Writer, Producer, Interviewer, 12 Interviews for Boulder, Colorado, Community Access TV
2000: Visits Moscow during the first PEN World Congress permitted in Russia.
Produces PEN WORLD CONGRESS - MOSCOW 2000.
2004: Produces THE NEW AMERICAN REVOLUTION - Eight Voices of Dissent.
2007: Produces THE INVESTIGATION OF WILLIAM MANDEL BY SENATOR JOSEPH MCCARTHY
2007: Produces HOLLYWOOD AGAINST WAR
2007: Produces DENVER AGAINST WAR
2008: Publishes BLACK CRUSADER, Illustrated Revised Edition
2009: Produces USA-CHINA, Past-Present-Future, Robert Carl Cohen Interviews Ambassador James R. Lilley
2009: Produces Forbidden Journey, Part One, AMERICA-MOSCOW
ORGANIZATIONS & AFFILIATIONS:
Writers Guild of America - West (WGAW)
Dramatists Guild
California Governor's Advisory Council for Employment of the Handicapped:
(Develops guidelines for WGAW re Depiction of the Disabled in films & TV programs)
Los Angeles Mayor's Advisory Council for Employment of the Handicapped
LA Center For Independent Living: Develops programs for Employment of the Disabled in Films & TV
Beverly Hills, California, Cable TV Advisory Committee
Boulder, Colorado, Cable TV Task Force
Univ. of Colorado Theater & Dance Departments Advisory Council
PRODUCTIONS (Partial List):
MISTER WISTER THE TIME TWISTER (1957) 7 min., Color: Cartoon Jean Image Films, Paris, Writer, Designer
INSIDE RED CHINA (1957) 45 min., B&W: Walter Reade-Sterling "Special of the Week" Series, Writer, Producer, Director, Cameraman, Editor, Narrator
INSIDE EAST GERMANY (1959) 45 min., B&W: Film Lecture, Writer, Producer, Director, Cameraman, Editor, Narrator
NO MORE WAR (1960) 15 min., B&W: Writer, Producer, Director, Cameraman, Editor
COMMITTEE ON UNAMERICAN ACTIVITIES (1962) 45 min., B&W: Writer, Producer, Director, Cameraman, Editor
IWO JIMA (1963) 22 min., B&W: Pilot, Official Films 39 Episode "Battle Line" TV Series, Assoc. Producer, Writer, Editor
PREMIERE (1963) 10 min., B&W: The Hollywood premiere of "Cleopatra" Co-Writer, Co
Producer, Co-Director, Co-Editor
THREE CUBANS (1963-64) 56 min., Color: Writer, Producer, Director, Cameraman, Editor
MONDO HOLLYWOOD (1965-67) 90 min., Color: Omega-Cyrano Prods., Writer, Producer, Director, Cameraman, Editor, Lyricist
INNER TRIP (1975) 45 min., Color: The Reiyukai Buddhist Sect, Japan, Co-Producer, Co-Director, Writer, Co-Narrator, Editor
KVST TELETHON (1975) Week-Long TV Fund Raiser, Writer, Producer
CAN THE ROSENBERG CASE BE REOPENED? (1975) 90 min., Color: Producer, Writer, Interviewer
WHO IS THE AMERICAN CONNECTION? (1975) 90 min., Color: Producer, Writer, Interviewer
DEATH OF THE UNAMERICANS? (1975) 90 min., Color: Producer, Writer, Interviewer (Original "lost" by CPB)
ROCKY MOUNTAIN WRITERS (1997) 30 min. each, Color: CATV-Boulder, Colorado, Series of 12 TV Interviews, Producer, Writer, Interviewer
PEN WORLD CONGRESS MOSCOW 2000 (2002) 50 min. color: Producer, Writer, Interviewer
LET IT BURN - The Coming Destruction of the USA? (2002) 60 min. color: Producer, Writer, Interviewer
THE NEW AMERICAN REVOLUTION - Eight Voices of Dissent (2005) 30 min. color: Writer, Producer, Director, Cameraman, Editor
THE INVESTIGATION OF WILLIAM MANDEL BY SENATOR JOSEPH MCCARTHY (2007) 30 min. color: Writer, Producer, Director, Editor
HOLLYWOOD AGAINST WAR (2007) 22 min. color. Writer, Producer, Director, Cameraman, Editor
DENVER AGAINST WAR (2007) 10 mjn. color. Writer, Producer, Director, Cameraman, Editor
BLACK CRUSADER (2008) Illustrated Revised Edition Book - 498 pages. B&W Photos. Writer, Photographer, Publisher
USA-CHINA, Past-Present-Future, Robert Carl Cohen Interviews Ambassador James R. Lilley (2009) 56 min. color. Producer, Writer, Director,
Interviewer, Editor
Forbidden Journey, Part One, AMERICA-MOSCOW (2009) 15 min., b&w & color; Writer, Photographer, Director, Editor