Greg Jacobs
National Fellow, 2016
Greg Jacobs spent his fellowship year co-directing No Small Matter, a feature-length documentary film on the power and potential impact of high-quality early childhood education. His latest film, The Here Now Project, weaves together raw, self-shot footage—no narration, no talking heads—to create a visceral, immersive, and deeply human portrait of the impact climate change is already having on ordinary people around the globe. Prior to that, he co-directed The Road Up, which follows four participants in a Chicago job-training program as they search for stable employment and a pathway out of poverty. Jacobs is the co-founder of Chicago-based Siskel/Jacobs Productions, which produced the Emmy-winning documentaries 102 Minutes That Changed America (History) and Witness: Katrina (National Geographic Channel). He also co-directed the acclaimed documentary feature Louder Than a Bomb, and is the author of Getting Around Brown, a history of school desegregation in his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.
Selected Work
- t: A feature-length documentary chronicling the impact of climate change in 2021 through thousands of hours of raw, in-the-moment footage from ordinary people around the world, built entirely without narration or talking heads.
- : A documentary following four participants in a Chicago-based job-training program as they search for stable employment and a pathway out of poverty, guided by an impassioned mentor whose own complicated past compels him to help others find hope.
- : An acclaimed documentary feature following four Chicago high school teams as they prepare for and compete in the world’s largest youth poetry slam.
Fellowships
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