Jeremy Paul Kagan (born December 14, 1945) is an American film and television director, screenwriter, and television producer.
Early life Kagan, the son of a rabbi, was born into a Jewish family in Mount Vernon, New York. He received his B.A. from Harvard University in 1967. He went on to attend the newly formed New York University Graduate Institute of Film & Television and was in the first class at the AFI Conservatory.
Film and television career Kagan's feature film credits include the box-office hit Heroes (1977); The Big Fix (1978), a political comedy-thriller starring Richard Dreyfuss; The Chosen (1981), from the book of the same name by Chaim Potok; The Journey of Natty Gann (1985), the first American movie ever to win the Gold Prize at the Moscow International Film Festival; the underground comedy Big Man on Campus (1989); the cult classic fencing film By The Sword (1991); and the hybrid film Golda's Balcony (2006), from the hit play of the same name. His 2017 feature Shot focuses on the consequences of gun violence and depicts how the lives of multiple individuals are affected by a single shooting incident.
He has also been a prolific television director, starting already in 1972 at the age of 26, directing "The Most Crucial Game", an episode in the second Columbo season. In 1996, Kagan won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for the Chicago Hope episode "Leave of Absence". Other credits include the television movie Katherine: The Making of an American Revolutionary, which he also wrote, and Conspiracy: The Trial of the Chicago 8 for which he won the CableACE Award for Best Dramatic Special. Kagan also directed Roswell: The UFO Conspiracy, which garnered a Golden Globe Award nomination.
Other television films include The Ballad of Lucy Whipple, Courage with Sophia Loren, Scott Joplin, Descending Angel for HBO and for Showtime Color of Justice, Bobbie's Girl, and Crown Heights, about the riots in 1991 which won the Humanitas Award in 2004 for "affirming the dignity of every person." This film also received an NAACP Image Award and the Directors Guild nomination for best family film. Kagan also directed a movie episode of Steven Spielberg's Emmy-winning miniseries Taken. He has worked on several other series shows including The West Wing, The Guardian, Resurrection Blvd., Picket Fences, Boomtown and more. His recent animation films have been shown on JLTV and film festivals.
In 2026, Kagan completed Imaging Torah, a 25-minute animated film based on paintings and drawings he had created over several decades in response to the weekly Torah portions and haftarot. The work draws on traditional interpretations from the Talmud, Mishnah and Zohar.
Kagan produced and directed the ten-part series The ACLU Freedom Files in 2006 and 2007 which received a number of awards and was shown on Link TV, Court TV and PBS. Kagan has made a number of short documentaries and advocacy dramatic films for NGOs including The Doe Fund which works with the homeless and formerly incarcerated, and The Democracy School a movement developing local governance, and Bioneers which advances achievements in environmental and social justice.
Other ventures Kagan is a full tenured professor at the University of Southern California where he teaches the graduate courses in directing and has recently created the Center for Change Making Media which is a hub for research and training in advocacy cinematic genres. His production company ACTransformative Media has made numerous shorts including three for VaccinateLA.
He has served as artistic director at the Robert Redford's Sundance Institute and is on a National Board Member of the Directors Guild of America and chairperson of its Special Projects Committee which provides cultural and educational programs for the 19,000 members. In 2004 he was honored with the Robert Aldrich Award for "extraordinary service to the guild."
In his capacity with the Directors Guild of America, Kagan also moderates the group's annual roundtable discussion featuring that year's five nominees for Outstanding Directing – Feature Film.
Kagan is also the author of three books Directors Close Up and a "living" eTextbook Keys to Directing.
Personal life Kagan was previously married to Elaine Goren in 1974. His daughter from that marriage, Eve Kagan, is an actress and licensed professional counselor; she holds an Ed.M. from Harvard Graduate School of Education and an M.A. from Northwestern University.
Kagan's wife, Anneke Campbell, is a Dutch-born author, editor, and filmmaker. She co-wrote the script for his film Shot and co-produced the series The ACLU Freedom Files.
Filmography Film Year TitleDirectorWriterProducer 1972 The Love Song of Charles Farberman 1977 Scott Joplin Heroes 1978 The Big Fix 1981 The Chosen 1983 The Sting II 1985 The Journey of Natty Gann 1989 Big Man on Campus 1991 By the Sword 2007 Golda's Balcony 2017 Shot Television Year TitleDirectorWriterProducer Notes1972 Nichols Episode "All in the Family" The Bold Ones: The New Doctors Episode "A Very Strange Triangle" Columbo Episode "The Most Crucial Game" 1973 ABC Afterschool Special Episode "My Dad Lives in a Downtown Hotel"1974 Unwed Father Television film Judge Dee and the Monastery Murders 1975 Katherine 1983 Faerie Tale Theatre Episode "Sleeping Beauty" 1986 Courage Television film 1987 Conspiracy: The Trial of the Chicago 8 1990 Descending Angel 1992-1995 Picket Fences Three episodes 1993 Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman Episode "Pilot" 1994 Roswell Television film 1994-1995 Chicago Hope Two episodes1997 Color of Justice Television film The Hired Heart 1998 Ally McBeal Episode "Forbidden Fruits" 2000 Resurrection Blvd. Three episodes 2000-2002 The West Wing Two episodes2001 The Ballad of Lucy Whipple Television film Family Law Episode "Liar's Club: Part 1" 2001-2003 The Guardian Three episodes2002 Bobbie's Girl Television film Boomtown Episode "Crash" Taken Episode "God's Equation"2003 Karen Sisco Episode "Dumb Bunnies" The Handler Two episodes 2004 Crown Heights Television film 2005 Blind Justice Episode "Marlon's Brando" 2005-2007 The ACLU Freedom Films Documentary series
Awards and nominations Year Award Result Category Film or series1981Montreal World Film FestivalPrize of the Ecumenical Jury - Special MentionThe ChosenGrand Prix des Amériques1987Paris Film FestivalSpecial Jury Prize1988CableACE AwardsDirecting a Theatrical or Dramatic SpecialConspiracy: The Trial of the Chicago 8Dramatic Special1996Primetime Emmy AwardOutstanding Directing for a Drama SeriesChicago Hope(For the episode "Leave of Absence")2004Directors Guild of America AwardRobert B. Aldrich Achievement Award2005Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Children's ProgramsCrown Heights
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