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Sandy McLeod (Filmmaker)
Sandy McLeod is an Academy Award nominated independent filmmaker, with experience in most of the major areas of film production.

Career
Born in Pontiac, Michigan, she was raised in Alabama during the Civil Rights Movement. In her late teens, she moved to New York City and eventually began her filmmaking career.

She learned her craft by doing continuity for over 15 years on feature films and working with directors as diverse as Gerald Diamiano, Richard Attenborough, Karel Reisz, Paul Schrader, Jonathan Demme, and Taylor Hackford. While working behind the camera, doing continuity, she also acted in Jonathan Demme’s film, “Last Embrace”. This was the beginning of a brief acting career.

Starring in an independently produced film noir “Variety,” which was invited to the Director’s Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival in 1984, she gave a critically acclaimed performance. Joe Gelmis of Newsday wrote, “The best thing about ‘Variety’ is Sandy McLeod’s perfect blend of intelligence and intelligent watchfulness. She makes thought visible.” This stint in front of the camera later proved to be invaluable in working with actors. She later had roles in “Melvin and Howard,” “Tootsie.” “Something Wild,” and “City of Hope.”

For a short stretch of time, McLeod worked as a production designer on a series of projects that included PBS’s “Trying Times” written by Beth Henley, and directed by Jonathan Demme, starring Roseanna Arquette. Also, on “Mountainview”, a dance film directed by John Sayles and choreographed by Marta Renzi for “Alive From Off Center” She collaborated with Demme as the production designer on “Swimming to Cambodia.”

She teamed up with Jordan Cronenweth and Jonathan Demme to establish the innovative textural elements for the landmark film, “Stop Making Sense.” She also worked with Demme on a documentary for Channel 4 titled, “Haiti, Dreams of Democracy.” McLeod also contributed as the second unit director to John Sayles’ films “Limbo” and “Silver City.”

Her producing and directing career began with the formation of Working Pictures, a production company for feature film directors who wanted to try their hand at music videos–a new concept at that time. She worked with many industry leaders including: UB40, Bruce Springsteen, Chrissy Hynde, Whitney Huston and Roy Orbison.

This experience led to McLeod’s directorial debut in music videos. She directed a series for VH1 called “The Sixties.” Her next film was “Doll Day Afternoon”, a short she directed for Saturday Night Live. The film was censored by the network because of legal issues with Mattel, the company that made Barbie dolls. But the film had a life of its own and went on to be shown in museums nationwide, including the Boston Museum of Fine Art, the Walker Art Center, and the Dallas Museum of Fine Art. It is in the permanent collection of MOMA.

Sandy conceptualized, produced and directed several Talking Heads’ music videos. “Nothing but Flowers” was featured at the New York Film Festival. She produced, directed and co-wrote segments of an AIDS awareness project aired by CBS titled Red, Hot + Blue. She co-directed a music video with Erasure and a series of interstitials with Bill Irwin. These were used as early educational tools for AIDS awareness. The project was an international collaboration that included musicians and artists from all over the world including Wim Wenders, Jim Jarmusch, Tom Waits, Annie Lennox, U2, Iggy Pop, Debbie Harry, the Neville Brothers, and Sinead O’Connor. That venture led to an MTV special called “Ain’t Nothin but a She Thang.” McLeod created segments promoting women’s awareness.

McLeod directed an Academy Award-nominated short documentary, “Asylum”–a film about a Ghanaian woman who sought political asylum in the United States to escape female genital mutilation in her home country. The film won a Gracie, and was nominated for an Emmy.

Her first feature-length documentary, “The Seeds of Time” premiered at South by Southwest Film Festival, and has played in numerous film festivals all over the world. “Seeds of Time” traces the story of Cary Fowler and his single-handed effort to successfully establish the Svalbard Seed Bank that is now the repository of seed samples from around the world. The film stresses the importance of agricultural diversity, especially given the dire implications of climate change. It has won several awards internationally, including the Audience Award at the San Francisco Green Film Festival, Best Film at the Portland Eco Film Festival , and Best Cinematography at Costa Rica International Film Festival. It was aired on [[PBS].

McLeod served on a grants panel for Independent Television Service that provides funding to independent producers for alternative programming, and on a judging panel for UNESCO that awards prizes for the best documentary of the year. She is a member of the Directors Guild of America.

Filmography (selection)
Second Unit Director Silver City Limbo

Visual consultant: Stop Making sense

Director

 * 2013: Seeds of Time (Feature Length Documentary)
 * 2003: Asylum (Documentary Short)
 * 1998: “John Szarkowski: A Life in Photography” (Full-length Documentary)
 * 1990: Red Hot and Blue - Erasure - music video
 * 1988: The 60s (Producer, Director, and Writer for VH-1 special)
 * 1988: Nothing But Flowers - Talking Heads (Music Video)
 * 1987: Doll Day Afternoon (short film for Saturday Night Live)

Producer/Production

 * 2013: “Seeds of Time” (feature-length documentary)
 * 1998: “John Szarkowski”: A Life in Photography” (Documentary)
 * 1988: “(Haiti: Dreams of Democracy)” (documentary with Jonathan Demme)


 * 1988: The 60s (Producer, Director, and Writer for VH-1 special)
 * 1985: UB40 and Chrissie Hynde: I Got You Babe (Music Video)
 * 1985: Luther Vandross music video (music video)
 * 1985: Roy Orbison (music video)
 * 1985: UB40 and Chrissy Hynde “I Got You Babe”(music video)
 * 1985: Talking Heads: Stay up Late (music video short)

Script Supervisor

 * 1999: “Limbo” (script supervisor)
 * 1992: “Used People” (script supervisor)
 * 1992: “Light Sleeper” (script supervisor)
 * 1991: “City of Hope” (script supervisor)
 * 1990: “Everybody Wins” (script supervisor)
 * 1987: “Eddie Murphy Raw” (script supervisor)
 * 1987: “Chuck Berry Hail! Hail! Rock ’n’ Roll” (script supervisor)
 * 1986: “Soap Dish” (second unit script supervisor)
 * 1986 “Something Wild” (script supervisor)
 * 1984: “Romancing the Stone (script supervisor)
 * 1980: “Times Square” (script supervisor)
 * 1979: “Rich Kids” (script supervisor)
 * 1979: “The HItter” (script supervisor)
 * 1978: “Last Embrace” script supervisor)
 * 1978: “The Seduction of Joe Tynan” (script supervisor)
 * 1978: “Rockers” (script supervisor)
 * 1977 Magic (second unit script supervisor)

Miscelaneous Crew

 * 1980: “Melvin and Howard (production consultant)
 * 1978: “The Wiz” (Production Assistant)

Acting
*1983: “Variety”
 * 1991: “City of Hope''
 * 1986: Something Wild
 * 1984: “Swing Shift”
 * 1982: “Tootsie”
 * 1980 “Melvin and Howard”
 * 1979: Last Embrace
 * 1978: “Rockers”