Nina Seavey

Nina Gilden Seavey is an Emmy Award-winning documentarian with a 30-year career in the non-fiction world.  Her media projects can be seen in theaters, on television, in digital and ancillary media, and in museum exhibitions across the globe. 

Seavey served the Founding Director of The Documentary Center in the School of Media and Public Affairs at The George Washington University from 1990-2020.  She concurrently served as the Co-Director of the Center for Innovative Media.  She currently holds the academic rank of Research Professor of History and Media and Public Affairs with appointments in both the Department of History and in the School of Media and Public Affairs in the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences. In addition to her academic appointment at GW, Seavey was a Visiting Research Scholar at the Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism at Brandeis University from 2017-2019. She is the President of Seavey Media (seaveymedia.com). 

Seavey most recent production is an 8-part podcast, My Fugitive, produced by Pineapple Street Studios. Her previous works include: A Paralyzing Fear: The Story of Polio in America, The Ballad of Bering Strait, The Matador, A Short History of Sweet Potato Pie and How It Became a Flying Saucer, The War at Home, 4^th and Goal, and Parables of War.

In 2002, Seavey became the Founding Director of SILVERDOCS: AFI/Discovery Channel Documentary Festival (now AFI Docs). She continued with the festival as Executive Producer, strand programmer, and senior member of the management team until 2009. Under her stewardship, the festival became the largest documentary festival in the US. 

Seavey’s works have won numerous awards including five National Emmy nominations (one statue awarded), the Erik Barnouw Prize for Best Historical Film of the Year, The Golden Hugo, Cine Special Jury Prize, The Telly Award, The Italian National Olympic Cup for Best Sports Film, The Peter C Rollins Prize for Best Film in American Culture, among many others.

Seavey has received many professional accolades including being named one of the top 50 professors of journalism in the U.S. in 2012. In 2004 she received a commendation for “Outstanding Service to the Industry” by Discovery Communications, and in 2006 she was named a “Woman of Vision” by Women in Film and Video.

Seavey regularly serves as panelist and advisor to many projects including efforts on behalf of the International Documentary Association, the Duke Ellington School for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Endowment for the Arts, The John Heinz Family Foundation, the Independent Feature Project (IFP), the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and the Southern Humanities Media Fund.

Prior to becoming a non-fiction storyteller, Seavey had a career in politics from 1972 until 1980. She served on the Missouri campaign staff for the presidential campaigns of George McGovern and Morris Udall and for the senatorial campaign for Thomas Eagleton (D-MO). Seavey moved to Washington and served as foreign and military policy advisor to Congresswoman Patricia Schroeder (D-CO) and in 1979 became a political appointee in the Office of the Secretary of Defense during the Carter Administration.