User:Ehenricks/sandbox

Personal life
Weisenborn was born in Chicago to Rudolph and Fritzie Weisenborn. Weisenborn's father was a Chicago Modernist painter. His mother, Fritizie, was an art critic for the Chicago Sunday Times. Weisenborn attended the University of Chicago. The Weisenborns had a good friendship with John Grierson who was known as the father of documentary. At the age of 19, Gordon Weisenborn was taken along to work with Grierson as his assistant in Canada. Under Grierson's wing, Weisenborn got to work at the National Film Board. Weisenborn married Selma Revsin who occasionally participated in the making of some of his films including Facing Up to Vandalism, Water is Wet, Girls are Better than Ever, etc. The pair did not have children together. Weisenborn died at Michael Reese Hospital and Medical Center, at 64 years of age. Before his death, Weisenborn gave the rights to his films to Jack Behrend, an industrial filmmaker who he was good friends with. The rights to both Weisenborn's films and Behrend's films are currently held by the Chicago Film Archives.

Career
Throughout his career, Gordon Weisenborn tried his hand as director, cinematographer, editor, writer, and producer, in creating films that were highly influenced by his father's works. A large portion of Weisenborn's films were educational or sponsored pieces. The young filmmaker had a significant friendship with John Barnes. Together they created several films, the most notable being People Along the Mississippi and The Living City, which was nominated for an Academy award. Weisenborn and Barnes ended up splitting ways after a while of working together. The split directed Weisenborn towards the path of sponsored films as well as industrial ones. Weisenborn began teaching at Columbia College Chicago in the 1960s. In 1970, Weisenborn started his own production company, Gordon Weisenborn Productions, Inc. Under his company, Weisenborn continued to produce sponsored and educational films.

Feeling All Right (1948)
Sponsored by the Mississippi Board of Health and the United States Public Health Service as part of a multimedia campaign, Weisenborn filmed Feeling All Right, an award winning film that was intended to promote public health within the African American community. The film specifically educated the community about syphilis and its prevention, and it was incorporated into mobile testing units to drive testing for and treatment of the condition. Weisenborn was cinematographer for the work.

People Along the Mississippi
Weisenborn worked alongside John Barnes in the creation of several films. One of these films, People Along the Mississippi, was considered the first educational film to present children of diverse races interacting with each other.