
Alison Ellwood
Directing
Biography
Alison Ellwood’s feature film directing credits include Let the Canary Sing, Laurel Canyon, The Go-Go’s, American Jihad, History of the Eagles, Spring Broke and Magic Trip: Ken Kesey’s Search for a Kool Place. Her television directing credits include Women of Troy for HBO Sports, The Osbournes: The Price of Reality for the A&E series Culture Shock, Locked In: The Victoria Arlen Story for ESPN’s 30 for 30 Shorts, CNN’s Death Row Stories, No Limits for ESPN’s Nine for IX series, The Human Behavior Experiments, the Emmy Award-winning series American High, The Travelers, and Sixteen. She has produced and edited several feature documentary films including Oscar-nominated Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, Catching Hell, Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, My Trip to Al Qaeda, and Casino Jack and the United States of Money. She was co-producer for the feature documentary Finding Fela and for HBO’s Brett Killed Mom: A Sister’s Diary. She was consulting producer for the Sundance series Brick City and two feature documentaries The September Issue and Food Chains. She was supervising producer for The Residents and 30 Days. She has edited for Bill Moyers Specials, the Discovery Channel, Sundance Channel, Showtime, and HBO’s America Undercover series.
Known For

In 1988, renegade filmmaker Robert Altman and Pulitzer Prize–winning Doonesbury cartoonist Garry Trudeau created a presidential candidate, ran him alongside the other hopefuls during the primary season, and presented their media campaign as a cross between a soap opera and TV news. The result was the groundbreaking Tanner ’88, a piercing satire of media-age American politics.
Tanner '88

The Eisen Hour is a weekly hour-long, six-episode series featuring Emmy nominated broadcaster, Rich Eisen. Each week, Eisen will sit down with some of the most dynamic personalities from the world of sports and entertainment. True to his style, Rich will unearth unique stories and opinions using his total recall of all things movies and pop culture. Each week highlights a joyful, engaging, and oftentimes hilarious look at the world of entertainment through the lens of Eisen’s uncanny interviewing style.
The Eisen Hour

Featuring all-new, original interviews with Jackson Browne, Don Henley, Michelle Phillips, Graham Nash, Linda Ronstadt, Bonnie Raitt, Roger McGuinn and more, this uniquely immersive and experiential two-part docuseries takes us back in time to a place where a rustic canyon in the heart of Los Angeles became a musical petri dish.
Laurel Canyon

True Life is a documentary series running on MTV since March 24, 1998. Each episode follows a particular topic, such as heroin addiction as in the first episode, "Fatal Dose." The show is created by following a series of subjects by a camera crew through a certain part of their lives.
True Life

Author Michael Pollan leads the way in this docuseries exploring the history and uses of psychedelics, including LSD, psilocybin, MDMA and mescaline.
How to Change Your Mind

Alison Ellwood’s intimate, meticulously crafted patchwork of rare archival material, concert footage, and unseen home movies explores the evolution and enduring popularity of one of America’s truly defining bands. This exceptional two-disc set includes History of the Eagles Part One and History of the Eagles Part Two, as well as Eagles Live At The Capital Centre - March 1977, featuring never-before-released performances from the Eagles’ two-night stand at Washington, D.C.’s Capital Center Arena during the legendary Hotel California tour.
History of the Eagles

American High is an American documentary television show about the lives of fourteen students at Highland Park High School, located in the city of Highland Park, Illinois. The series originally aired on Fox and was canceled after four episodes. It was later picked up by PBS and aired in its entirety. The series was created by R. J. Cutler, an award winning documentary filmmaker. The show received the 2001 Emmy Award for Outstanding Non-Fiction Program. The theme song "American High", was written and performed by Bouncing Souls. An earlier Fox Network documentary series from 1991, Yearbook also covered the lives of suburban Chicago high school students.
American High

This two-part docuseries celebrates the musical and artistic renaissance that exploded in the Bay Area from the mid-sixties into the mid-seventies. Featuring the music of Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, the Grateful Dead, Steve Miller, and many more.
San Francisco Sounds: A Place in Time

Michael Connelly takes viewers on a wild journey into the twisted story of the massacre at Wonderland Avenue on July 1, 1981 – one of Hollywood's most famous murder cases that has fascinated people for more than 40 years.
The Wonderland Massacre & the Secret History of Hollywood

Fueled by a raging libido, Wild Turkey, and superhuman doses of drugs, Thompson was a true "free lance, " goring sacred cows with impunity, hilarity, and a steel-eyed conviction for writing wrongs. Focusing on the good doctor's heyday, 1965 to 1975, the film includes clips of never-before-seen (nor heard) home movies, audiotapes, and passages from unpublished manuscripts.
Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson

This documentary puts a spotlight on the White House’s failed response to the global pandemic and how it could have been prevented. Featuring damning testimony from public health officials and hard investigative reporting, director Alex Gibney reveals a system-wide collapse caused by a profound dereliction of presidential leadership.
Totally Under Control

As the first all-female band to play their instruments, write their songs and have a No. 1 album, The Go-Go’s made history. Underpinned by candid testimonies, this film chronicles the meteoric rise to fame of a band born in the LA punk scene who became a pop phenomenon.
The Go-Go's

A chronicle of Cyndi Lauper's meteoric ascent to stardom and her profound impact on generations through her music, ever-evolving punk style, unwavering feminism and tireless advocacy. This documentary takes the audience on an engaging exploration of a renowned and pioneering artist who has left a remarkable legacy with her art.
Let the Canary Sing

A probing investigation into the lies, greed and corruption surrounding D.C. super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his cronies.
Casino Jack and the United States of Money

From 1978 to 1985 Alan Lomax traveled the American South and Southwest with a television crew to document regional folklore with deep historical roots. From the resulting 400 hours of footage came the five-program series American Patchwork, which aired on PBS in 1991.
American Patchwork: Songs and Stories of America

Docudrama about the debate surrounding New York State's ratification of the United States Constitution. Historical figures wear modern dress and use familiar language to help today's audience understand firsthand the forces that shaped this country two hundred years ago. The argument, characters, passions and debating points are historically accurate, but the language and the medium of the debate is modern in form. Present day newscasters and commentators play themselves, reporting on the events of the 1780s as though they were occurring now.
An Empire of Reason

One in five Americans is taking a psychiatric drug, including millions of children. Pharmaceutical companies have over-hyped the benefits of these drugs, while hiding the risks and severe side effects including physiological dependence. "Medicating Normal" explores what happens when for- profit medicine intersects with human beings in distress.
Medicating Normal

Set against the backdrop of 1980s Britain, four young men – Boy George, Roy Hay, Mikey Craig, and Jon Moss – formed a multi-racial, ethnically diverse, and sexually liberated band with a style and sound that challenged the status quo during the era of New Romantics and Margaret Thatcher’s Britain.
Boy George & Culture Club

Influenza 1918 is the story of the worst epidemic the United States has ever known. Before it was over, the flu would kill more than 600,000 Americans - more than all the combat deaths of this century combined.
Influenza 1918

Documentary charting the raucous history of the infamous spring vacation revelries in Daytona, which started in the early 60s, and by the 1980s led to the arrival of tens of thousands of college students, lured by lust, booze, fun in the sun and eventually, the hope to make it onto MTV.