John Reilly and Julie Gustafson

Biography

The pioneering documentary team of John Reilly and Julie Gustafson produced a collaborative body of work from 1972 until 1986. Utilizing a video-verité approach and a literary narrative technique, they scrutinized trenchant political and social issues in American society. Their portraits of people coping with cultural and political change analyze what it means to be American, and explore the universality of human experience.

From 1972 to 1986, Reilly and Gustafson were co-directors of Global Village, one of the foremost centers for the production of independent documentary film and video. They received numerous awards, including grants from the Rockefeller Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting; as well as commissions from the United States Information Service and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Reilly and Gustafson are co-authors, with Ann Diggs, of The Global Village Handbook for Independent Producers and Public Television (1982).