Biography
Named to Variety’s “10 Documakers to Watch” list in 2015, Brad Barber is an Emmy-nominated documentary filmmaker and the creator of multiple public television documentary shorts series, producing over 90 episodes to date. His feature directing debut, PEACE OFFICER, which he directed, produced, and shot with Scott Christopherson, won the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award at the 2015 South by Southwest Film Festival, among other festival honors. Peace Officer went on to a nationwide theatrical release in 34 cities with Gravitas Ventures and Submarine Deluxe. The film then showed at community centers in 75 cities leading up to its broadcast on PBS’s documentary series Independent Lens in 2016.
In 2009, Brad was nominated for an Emmy for his work as an editor on the HBO documentary RESOLVED, for which he also served as an associate producer and cinematographer. He has been awarded 5 regional Emmys for his documentary series BEEHIVE STORIES (2009-2018), which he made with his students, and is a recipient of the AFI Docs/NBC Universal Impact Grant for social outreach. He has also served as a Jury Member for the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival and on selection committees for the International Documentary Association Awards and the Slamdance Film Festival.
Immediately after completing his undergraduate work in non-fiction film and journalism in 2001, Brad got his start professionally as a cinematographer on a documentary filmed across five continents. After returning to the states he attended USC where he earned an MFA in Cinema-Television Production. He then worked in Los Angeles as an editor, cinematographer, and director/producer, with a variety of credits on Showtime, ESPN, Discovery Channel, and others. He began teaching at BYU in 2007.
Professor Barber primarily teaches non-fiction production in the Media Arts Studies program, and works with students in a professional mentoring environment to make documentary work. His most recent project is STATES OF AMERICA, an ongoing series featuring one person in each of the 50 United States. Another collaboration with his students, the series is presented by KQED and streams at PBS.org, the PBS app, and the WORLD Channel. He is married to artist and frequent collaborator Susan Krueger-Barber, and together they have two amazing sons.