butler films a documentary film + production company

Jeanine has over eighteen years of experience writing and producing documentary and educational films for a variety of clients including PBS, The Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, TLC - The Learning Channel, National Science Foundation, and The National Geographic Channel.

Her recent credits for National Geographic include “Plague Hunters” for the Riddles of the Dead series and “Apache Maidens” for the Taboo Series.

Jeanine is currently developing, writing and producing a one-hour documentary special with the PBS affiliate, SC ETV, on the photographs commissioned by the Farm Security Administration (FSA) in the 1930s and 40s. Documenting The Face Of America has been Nominated for an EMMY® AWARDS for OUTSTANDING HISTORICAL PROGRAMMING IN THE 30th ANNUAL NEWS & DOCUMENTARY -

Other credits include the 1998 Emmy-nominated special “The Science of HIV/AIDS” for the National Science Teachers Association.

RECENT CREDITS:

Into The Pride

Post Producer

Animal Planet

Discovery Studios, 2008-2009

Animal Planet’s large predator expert Dave Salmoni heads deep into the African bush on a double mission – to return to his wild roots and to save a rogue pride of lions from elimination. Big cats, and especially lions, have long been his passion, but recently, Dave has been spending most of his time in the urban jungle as a television producer and host. Now, all his toughness, training and focus are put to the test. Can he survive six months in the Namibian bush on a life or death quest?

Building Bridges

Producer / Writer

Win with Women - The National Democratic Institute for International Affairs

A butlerfilms/Park Productions, 2005 - 2006

In this powerful short documentary, “Building Bridges” shares inspiring first person accounts of a small group of remarkable Bosnian women who are working together reclaim the peace after years of devastating warfare.

Narrated by former U.S. Secretary of State Madeline Albright, “Bridges” recounts the story of the women behind the Mostar Women’s Citizen Initiative, and how their disciplined and sustained advocacy efforts produced a new law protecting women and families.

Through friendship, courage and common purpose, the women find they are changing an entire community, discovering their own inner strength and protecting a future that they came so close to losing. This 10-minute short premiered at the 2006 Madeleine K. Albright “Win with Women” Awards Luncheon, and was featured at the 2006 Sarajevo and Prague Film Festivals, and on Current TV’s online “Seeds of Tolerance” website.

Some Assembly Required

Series Producer

Discovery Channel

Halfyard Productions, 2006-2008

A new seven hour reality series for the Discovery Channel on how things work premiers in 2008. Join hosts Brian Unger and Lou Bloomfield as they explore the manufacturing process of everything from cheddar cheese to Gibson guitars. Some Assembly Required will give you a new appreciation of everyday items and the people who build them. Some Assembly Required is currently showing on the Discovery Channel.

Voices Rising: Women of the Middle East & North Africa Working for Change

Executive Producer

Win with Women - The National Democratic Institute for International Affairs

A butlerfilms Productions, 2006

Refusing to be silenced by cultural and political obstacles, women across the Middle East and North Africa are becoming a force for positive change in their communities. This 10-minute DVD, produced in English, French and Arabic, highlights the determination and courage of women across the region coming together to learn leadership skills, and features the historic 2006 Kuwaiti election, where women finally won the right to vote and run for political office.

Documenting America: Roy Stryker and The FSA Photographers

Director / Writer

A butlerfilms Productions, 2001-2006

It was a time of crisis and possibility. A time when Americans saw

each other’s faces for the first time and saw the what life was like

across the nation – north, south, east and west,

rich and poor -- during the 1930s and 40s.

Giving hope to a nation in despair, President Roosevelt’s New Deal

programs were also responsible for giving some of America’s greatest

photographers the opportunity to travel the country to create the

largest documentary project in history.

This one hour PBS special features the compelling – and often

surprising -- stories from those who were behind the lens, including

such legendary photographers as Gordon Parks, Dorothea Lange, Ben

Shahn, Marion Post Wolcott, Walker Evans, Louise Rosskam and others. A

short version of the show was featured in the 2002 Sundance On-Line

Film Festival. Program support includes PBS affiliate SC-ETV and the

Southern Humanities Media Fund.

Modern Alchemy: The Material World

Senior Producer / Writer

WETA - PBS

Summer Productions , 2006

This one-hour pilot about the scientific world of “the stuff of life” was produced for Summer Productions in cooperation with CalTech University. The presenting station for the pilot is WETA.

A Life in Photography: Louise Rosskam and the Documentary Tradition

Co-Editor

The Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University

A butlerfilms/Park Productions, 2005 - 2006

A fifteen minute retrospective to accompany Center for Documentary Studies exhibition on the work of F.S.A. documentary photographer Louise Rosskam.

Urban Explorer: Milwaukee

Producer / Writer

The Discovery Channel's Urban Explorer Series

Hoggard Films, 2004

A new series for Discovery Channel airing in Spring 2005, profiling urban explorers and their quest to uncover the hidden side of Milwaukee. A shadowy figure stands on the edge of blackness inside a cavernous industrial shell lit only by a tiny headlamp. Somewhere in the darkness ahead lies a secret entrance to a forgotten tunnel system, burrowed deep beneath the city. It's rumored to be a place of homeless 'mole' people, graffiti masterpieces and unknown danger. Follow our team as they discover urban landscapes that only the fearless would dare to explore.

Riddles of the Dead: Hitler's Skull

Producer / Writer

National Geographic Channels International

Hoggard Films, 2003

In Hitler's Skull, we tell the story of Adolf's bizarre after death journey and examine the dental records, photographs, human remains and recollections that lead most forensic experts to believe that the Fuhrer and his lover died by their own hands in 1945.

Riddles of the Dead: Plague Hunters -

The Search for the 1918 Influenza Pandemic

Producer / Writer

National Geographic Channels International

Hoggard Films, 2002

A one-hour television documentary for the National Geographic’s Riddles of the Dead Series profiling the search to resurrect the deadly strain of the influenza virus that killed over 40 million people in 1918. In Plague Hunters, we join two teams of scientists as they race to find, identify, and reconstruct the DNA of history's most lethal plague. Only by reconstructing the virus can scientists hope to create a vaccine to combat it.

2002 CINE Golden Eagle Award

A New Calling

Producer/Writer

National Geographic’s Mission Rescue Series

A butlerfilms Productions, 2003

This half-hour documentary profiles life aboard the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Diligence.

Apache Maidens

Senior Producer/Writer

National Geographic Channels International

A butlerfilms Productions, 2002

As its name suggests, Taboo crosses the boundary into worlds rarely seen, and showcases the wide range of human lifestyles. A fifteen-minute segment documenting a sacred and seldom seen puberty ceremony practiced by the Apache Indians in Mescalero, New Mexico.

Seismic Sleuths: Understanding Earthquakes

Producer/Writer

Summer Productions , 1999–2000

This award-winning documentary stars the living Earth, and the powerful

unpredictability of earthquakes. We follow the parallel stories of two

similar fault lines – the San Andreas in California, and Turkey’s North

Anatolian, where we accompany a team of geologists responding to the

major 1999 tremor.

Weaving together science, history and the challenges faced by

scientists, emergency responders and public officials, this half-hour

profiles the wide variety of experts working to understand and minimize

future natural disasters.

Broadcast on The Discovery Channel’s “Assignment Discovery,” the

Learning Channel and the National Geographic Channel. Recipient of the

2001 CINE Golden Eagle Award.

Rage in the Streets: Why Riots Happen

Producer/Writer

Hoggard Films/Discovery Channel, 1999

Many of the "voices" featured on film include those from L.A.’s South

Central neighborhoods still grappling with the legacy of the 1992

riots, from the gang members to the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department

and local businessmen from the Korean community.

In this half-hour, we also investigate the psychology of mob rage with

scientists, psychologists, historians and authors such as Bill Buford,

who’s book “Among the Thugs” present a searing account of young British

men who turn soccer matches into battlegrounds, and what motivates

their behavior.

The Science of HIV/Aids

Producer/Writer

Summer Productions/The Learning Channel, 1997

Nominated for a Daytime Emmy in 1998, this poignant half-hour film

features the intimate stories of a small group of teenagers living with

HIV/AIDs.

1998 Emmy Award Nomination, The Monitor Award's Best Achievement; Cine Golden Eagle; New York International Film Festival Silver Award; Houston International Film Festival Gold Award, WIFV Peer Award; Festival of Science Film and Video for Young People 's Most Inspiring Award

Miami SWAT

Producer/Writer

Discovery Channels Inside Series

Hoggard Films, 1998