Michael Kantor

Composer, record, TV and film producer, arranger, instrumentalist, magazine founder and multi-media entrepreneur - Quincy Jones has done it all. In his 50-year career, he has won 26 Grammy awards and an Emmy, earned seven Oscar nominations and helped ignite the career of megastar Michael Jackson. American Masters takes an all-access look at this remarkable star of the world stage. Narrated by Harry Belafonte, Quincy Jones: In the Pocket features interviews with friends and contemporaries such as former President Bill Clinton, Maya Angelou and Sidney Poitier. This candid profile also includes behind-the-scenes footage of the historic "We Are the World" all-star recording session, in-studio clips of Frank Sinatra and other exclusive visual materials.

Is it true what they say in Spamalot (“You won’t make it on Broadway if you don’t have any Jews”)? Tracing Broadway’s Yiddish roots, and exploring back-stories behind many landmark shows from Showboat to Wicked, filmmaker Michael Kantor chronicles the unique role of Jewish musicians in the creation of the modern American musical. This joyful and intelligent documentary features interviews with many theatre artists, rare archival footage and recordings from original Broadway productions, and unforgettable anecdotes (hearing about Ethel Merman’s irreverent behavior at a Passover Seder during the rehearsals for Gypsy will leave you in hysterics).

The Good LIfe is based on the best-selling book by Drs. Robert Waldinger and Marc Schulz, directors of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, colloquially known as the “Harvard Happiness Study.” It’s the world’s longest running scientific study of happiness, initiated in 1938. The film follows five characters - Sabih Mir, a doorman who is just confronting retirement; Chris Taylor, a young dancer with the Alvin Ailey company, who is trying to understand what it means to age when your body is your livelihood and identity; D'yan Forest, a 91 yr old comedian, the world's oldest according to the Guiness book of records; Sally Quinn - journalist, novelist, and wife of the legendary Washington Post editor, Ben Bradlee; and John and Jay, two men in their 60s who have just adopted a young boy. All of them are trying to understand what it means to get older, or as we see it, to grow up. Featuring appearances by Rita Moreno, Susie Essman, Bernie Williams and Neil de Grasse Tyson.

Composer, record, TV and film producer, arranger, instrumentalist, magazine founder and multi-media entrepreneur - Quincy Jones has done it all. In his 50-year career, he has won 26 Grammy awards and an Emmy, earned seven Oscar nominations and helped ignite the career of megastar Michael Jackson. American Masters takes an all-access look at this remarkable star of the world stage. Narrated by Harry Belafonte, Quincy Jones: In the Pocket features interviews with friends and contemporaries such as former President Bill Clinton, Maya Angelou and Sidney Poitier. This candid profile also includes behind-the-scenes footage of the historic "We Are the World" all-star recording session, in-studio clips of Frank Sinatra and other exclusive visual materials.

Composer, record, TV and film producer, arranger, instrumentalist, magazine founder and multi-media entrepreneur - Quincy Jones has done it all. In his 50-year career, he has won 26 Grammy awards and an Emmy, earned seven Oscar nominations and helped ignite the career of megastar Michael Jackson. American Masters takes an all-access look at this remarkable star of the world stage. Narrated by Harry Belafonte, Quincy Jones: In the Pocket features interviews with friends and contemporaries such as former President Bill Clinton, Maya Angelou and Sidney Poitier. This candid profile also includes behind-the-scenes footage of the historic "We Are the World" all-star recording session, in-studio clips of Frank Sinatra and other exclusive visual materials.

Composer, record, TV and film producer, arranger, instrumentalist, magazine founder and multi-media entrepreneur - Quincy Jones has done it all. In his 50-year career, he has won 26 Grammy awards and an Emmy, earned seven Oscar nominations and helped ignite the career of megastar Michael Jackson. American Masters takes an all-access look at this remarkable star of the world stage. Narrated by Harry Belafonte, Quincy Jones: In the Pocket features interviews with friends and contemporaries such as former President Bill Clinton, Maya Angelou and Sidney Poitier. This candid profile also includes behind-the-scenes footage of the historic "We Are the World" all-star recording session, in-studio clips of Frank Sinatra and other exclusive visual materials.

Is it true what they say in Spamalot (“You won’t make it on Broadway if you don’t have any Jews”)? Tracing Broadway’s Yiddish roots, and exploring back-stories behind many landmark shows from Showboat to Wicked, filmmaker Michael Kantor chronicles the unique role of Jewish musicians in the creation of the modern American musical. This joyful and intelligent documentary features interviews with many theatre artists, rare archival footage and recordings from original Broadway productions, and unforgettable anecdotes (hearing about Ethel Merman’s irreverent behavior at a Passover Seder during the rehearsals for Gypsy will leave you in hysterics).

The Good LIfe is based on the best-selling book by Drs. Robert Waldinger and Marc Schulz, directors of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, colloquially known as the “Harvard Happiness Study.” It’s the world’s longest running scientific study of happiness, initiated in 1938. The film follows five characters - Sabih Mir, a doorman who is just confronting retirement; Chris Taylor, a young dancer with the Alvin Ailey company, who is trying to understand what it means to age when your body is your livelihood and identity; D'yan Forest, a 91 yr old comedian, the world's oldest according to the Guiness book of records; Sally Quinn - journalist, novelist, and wife of the legendary Washington Post editor, Ben Bradlee; and John and Jay, two men in their 60s who have just adopted a young boy. All of them are trying to understand what it means to get older, or as we see it, to grow up. Featuring appearances by Rita Moreno, Susie Essman, Bernie Williams and Neil de Grasse Tyson.