Shane Boris, (born 1981, Denver, Colorado) is an Academy Award and BAFTA Award-winning film producer and writer. He is the founder of Cottage M, an independent production house.[1][2] Boris was nominated for Best Documentary Feature for The Edge of Democracy at the 92nd Academy Awards in 2020. In 2022, Boris produced two acclaimed documentaries, Fire of Love and Navalny, which both secured Oscar nominations, and made him the first producer since Walt Disney to be nominated for two Academy Awards for Best Documentary Feature in the same year.[3][4][5]

Shane Boris
Born1981 (age 42–43)
Alma materOberlin College (BA) Jawaharlal Nehru University (MA)
OccupationFilm producer
Years active2004–present

Career

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Boris was born in Denver, Colorado.[6] After graduating from Colorado Academy in 2000, he pursued studies in religion and politics at Oberlin College, followed by a master's degree in international relations from Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, India.[7]

Boris started work as a film producer with "You're Looking at Me Like I Live Here and I Don't" in 2010, which was featured on multiple seasons of PBS's Independent Lens.[8] His second feature, "Fuck For Forest" (2013) screened at various festivals including SXSW, winning Best Documentary at the Warsaw International Film Festival. In 2016, "All These Sleepless Nights," premiered at Sundance, earning Best Directing in the International Documentary Competition.[9]

In 2019, two major themes emerged as focuses for Boris' film work: the sentience of non-human nature as well as anti-authoritarianism.[10] With long time collaborator Sara Dosa, he produced "The Seer and The Unseen", a magic realist documentary set in Iceland about invisible elves, financial collapse and the surprising power of belief. In 2020, "Stray" a creative nonfiction film that follows the lives of stray dogs in the streets of Istanbul - had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival and went on to win several awards as well as an Indie Spirit nomination.[11]

Boris achieved significant recognition with the Oscar Nominated The Edge of Democracy, a film that explored the complexities of democracy in Brazil.[12] Boris received multiple nominations for The Last Cruise, an HBO documentary short chronicling the first outbreak of the coronavirus outside of China on the Diamond Princess cruise liner.[13]

In 2023, Boris garnered dual Oscar nominations at the 95th Academy Awards."Fire of Love" was acquired by National Geographic Films at the Sundance Film Festival and went on to screen in theaters all over the world, as well as in partnership with museums including The Louvre and MoMA.[14] Simultaneously, "Navalny", which was commissioned by CNN Films, won Best Documentary at the BAFTAs and at the 95th Academy Awards.

In addition to sharing producing and writing credits on "Fire of Love", Boris was also a producer and contributing writer on "King Coal," a documentary set in Appalachia. The film made its debut at Sundance and received nominations at the IDA[15] and the 17th Cinema Eye Honors. Also in 2023, Boris wrote and produced Hollywoodgate, a documentary based in Berlin, which had its World Premiere[16] at the Venice Film Festival and then one day later its North American premiere at the Telluride Film Festival.[17]

Aside from producing, Boris has received an IDA award and Critics Choice nomination for writing, and has been a guest speaker at universities such as the Harvard Kennedy School and Columbia School of the Arts.[18] Boris is also co-founder of Joon, a multidisciplinary incubator, and has worked as a strategist for non-profits, as a writing consultant for authors, and a song lyricist for musicians.[19]

Filmography

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Producer

  • Independent Lens, 1 episode - 2010
  • Elementary Cool - 2009
  • You're Looking at Me Like I Live Here and I Don't - 2010
  • Fuck For Forest - 2013
  • Olmo and the Seagull - 2015
  • All These Sleepless Nights - 2016
  • Break - 2016
  • Walden: Life in the Woods - 2017
  • The Seer and the Unseen - 2019
  • The Edge of Democracy - 2019
  • Silent Rose - 2020
  • Stray - 2020
  • The Last Cruise - 2021
  • Fire of Love - 2022
  • Navalny - 2022
  • King Coal - 2023
  • Hollywoodgate - 2023

Executive Producer

  • Band - 2022

Awards and nominations

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Year Category Organization Film Result
2020 Documentary Peabody awards The Edge of Democracy Won[20]
2020 Documentary Feature 92nd Academy Awards The Edge of Democracy Nominated
2023 Best Documentary British Academy Film Awards Fire of Love Nominated
2023 Best Documentary British Academy Film Awards Navalny Won[21]
2023 Outstanding Nonfiction Feature Cinema Eye Honors Fire of Love Nominated
2023 Documentary Feature 95th Academy Awards Fire of Love Nominated
2023 Documentary Feature 95th Academy Awards Navalny Won[22]
2023 Outstanding Producer of Documentary Theatrical Motion Pictures 34th Producers Guild of America Awards Navalny Won[23]
2023 Documentary Peabody awards Fire of Love Won [24]

References

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  1. ^ "ABOUT". Cottage M.
  2. ^ "Shane Boris". IMDb.
  3. ^ Jill Goldsmith. "'Fire Of Love' To Pass $1 Million At Global Box Office, Becoming Year's Top-Grossing Documentary". Deadline.
  4. ^ Etan Vlessing. "Neon, Nat Geo to Release Sundance Opener 'Fire of Love'". The Hollywood Reporter.
  5. ^ [email protected], John Moore, Senior Arts Journalist. "On 'Fire': Denver filmmaker nominated for two documentaries at Academy Awards". Denver Gazette.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ Casey, Michael J. (2022-08-04). "Shane Boris on FIRE OF LOVE". Michael J. Cinema. Retrieved 2024-03-02.
  7. ^ "Shane Boris '00". Colorado Academy.
  8. ^ "You're Looking at Me Like I Live Here and I Don't | Alzheimer's | Independent Lens | PBS". Independent Lens. Retrieved 2024-03-14.
  9. ^ "Shane Boris".
  10. ^ "SIGNPOST PICTURES". SIGNPOST PICTURES. Retrieved 2024-03-14.
  11. ^ Laffly, Tomris (2020-04-27). "'Stray': Film Review". Variety. Retrieved 2024-03-14.
  12. ^ Scott, A. O. (2019-06-18). "Review: 'Edge of Democracy' Looks at Brazil With Outrage and Heartbreak". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-03-14.
  13. ^ Horton, Adrian (2021-03-30). "'It was like a horror film': inside the terror of the Covid cruise ship". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-03-14.
  14. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (2022-01-23). "National Geographic Documentary Films Breaks Sundance Deal Logjam With Mid-7 Figure WW Pact For Hot Docu 'Fire Of Love'". Deadline. Retrieved 2024-03-14.
  15. ^ "IDA Documentary Awards 2023 Winners & Nominees". International Documentary Association. Retrieved 2024-03-14.
  16. ^ "Biennale Cinema 2023 | Hollywoodgate". La Biennale di Venezia. 2023-07-18. Retrieved 2024-03-14.
  17. ^ Goodfellow, Melanie (2023-08-31). "'Hollywoodgate' Clip: Watch Taliban Explore Abandoned U.S. Base In Afghanistan; Doc Plays At Venice & Telluride". Deadline. Retrieved 2024-03-14.
  18. ^ "NAVALNY: Political Opposition in Russia and the Power of Documentary | The Institute of Politics at Harvard University". iop.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2024-03-14.
  19. ^ "Joon". Joon. Retrieved 2024-03-14.
  20. ^ "Peabody 30 Winners". August 24, 2020.
  21. ^ film, Guardian (February 19, 2023). "Baftas 2023: the complete list of winners" – via The Guardian.
  22. ^ https://edition.cnn.com/2023/03/12/entertainment/oscar-winners-2023/index.html
  23. ^ "Producers Guild Awards Winners List 2023". February 25, 2023.
  24. ^ Voyles, Blake (September 12, 2023). "83rd Peabody Award Winners". Retrieved September 12, 2023.
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