Bill Jersey
Directing
Known For

PBS' premier science series helps viewers of all ages explore the science behind the headlines. Along the way, NOVA demystifies science and technology, and highlights the people involved in scientific pursuits.
NOVA

A drive-in favorite, this sci-fi classic follows teenagers Steve and his best girl, Jane, as they try to protect their hometown from a gelatinous alien life form that engulfs everything it touches. The first to discover the substance and live to tell about it, Steve and Jane witness the blob destroying an elderly man, then it growing to a terrifying size. But no one else has seen the goo, and policeman Dave refuses to believe the kids without proof.
The Blob

Documentary on the film "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"
Making of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Six documentaries that portray American family life.
Six American Families

A landmark four-part series exploring segregation from the end of the civil war to the dawn of the modern civil rights movement. Lynchings and beatings by night. Demeaning treatment by day. And a life of crushing subordination for Southern blacks that was maintained by white supremacist laws and customs known as "Jim Crow." It was a brutal and oppressive era in American history, but during this time, large numbers of African Americans and a corps of influential black leaders bravely fought against the status quo, amazingly acquiring for African Americans the opportunities of education, business, land ownership, and a true spirit of community.
The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow
This film dramatizes the problems facing ordinary American soldiers during the Revolutionary War, explaining why most ultimately chose to stay and fight.
The Other Side of Victory

Interviews with the junior designers swept into the 24-7 world of "The Eamery" are the heart of this complex picture of a husband-and-wife creative team that define the era of Mid-Century Modernism. Narrated by James Franco, the film draws from a trove of archival material, primarily the stunning films and photographs produced in mind-boggling volume by Charles, Ray, and their staff during the hyper-creative forty years of the Eames Office.
Eames: The Architect and the Painter

This riveting film takes a look behind the scenes at one of the 20th century's cinema classics and at one of contemporary cinema's most maddeningly brilliant directors, Milos Forman.
The Making of 'Amadeus'

This historic documentary only aired once on July 25th 1994 on FOX. A special on organized crime as told by the people who lived it, as well as historical footage, newsreels and government surveillance tapes.
Loyalty & Betrayal: The Story of the American Mob
A documentary portrait of the late Earl Warren, the Chief Justice who presided over the Supreme Court during some of its most turbulent years from 1953 to 1969.
Super Chief: The Life and Legacy of Earl Warren
A cinema-verite classic set in Chicago, 1968. America's youth demonstrates and agitates. Mayor Daly and the Chicago police react. Violence ensues. A personal story told by those who lived through it. Broadcast nationally on PBS in 1968.
Season's Change

Explores the attempts of the minister of the Augustana Lutheran Church in Omaha, Nebraska, to persuade his all-white congregation to reach out to "negro" Lutherans in the city's north side.
A Time for Burning

Determined to understand the repeating patterns he was finding in nature, French mathematician Benoit Mandelbrot used an early form of computer imagery to produce his own versions, coining the recurring shapes fractals. This installment of the PBS series "Nova" examines the rules of these self-similar patterns and explores the ways these fascinating geometric configurations can be applied in the fields of science, medicine and the arts.
Fractals: Hunting the Hidden Dimension

Faces of the Enemy follows social psychologist Sam Keen as he investigates how people dehumanize their enemies. Based on the book of the same name.
Faces of the Enemy: Justifying the Inhumanity of War

The documentary AMERICAN REDS provides a historical overview of 20th century Communism and the growth, decline and contemporary relevance of the Communist Party, USA (CPUSA). Since its founding in 1919, the CPUSA has championed the struggles for democracy, labor rights, women’s equality, and racial justice. During its heyday in the 1930s and 1940s, it attracted millions of Americans to support its causes and almost 100,000 men and women to enlist in its ranks. The film begins with the Party's emergence as a small militant sect in the 1920s and documents its rise to the foremost radical group in the United States during the Great Depression, fighting against racism, sexism and fascism, as well as for the rights of workers to organize. It ends with the decline of the Party during the Cold War under the assaults of the FBI and anti- communist crusades.
American Reds: The Failed Revolution

American cowboys have been writing poetry for over a century. This little-known literary tradition both belies the macho image of the Western heroes and serves as an imaginative form of oral history. Cowboy Poets travels to the big sky country of Nevada, Montana, and Arizona to explore the tradition and to introduce three working cowboys, and the poetry they write about the lifestyle and land they love: Waddie Mitchell, Slim Kite, and Wally McRae.
Cowboy Poets

A glimpse into the lives of Chicano gang members and their families in Oakland, California. Filmed in cinema verite style and focusing on four teenage brothers and their mother, this film attempts to provide an understanding of how these young males remain trapped in a cycle of violence.
Children of Violence

"This film shows the agricultural revolution taking place in the villages of East Pakistan, with the help of American advisors (including Ben Ferguson) who assist the farmers to identify and solve their problems, both individually and with community effort. The film was presented by the Agency for International Development, produced by Amram Nowak, and directed by William Jersey" (US National Archives). The film was distributed by the US Information Agency.
A Simple Cup of Tea
Moved by the growing desperation of thousands of laid-off steel workers, a group of ministers in Pittsburgh begins to confront the city's government and powerful corporations. Their passionate, controversial and unorthodox actions lead to profound soul-searching, Church rejection and imprisonment.