Nancy Schwartzman is an American director, producer and media strategist. Schwartzman's first film was a short documentary called The Line. It was used by the White House for a campaign around sexuality. Her follow-up, xoxosms, aired on PBS/POV and BBC. Schwartzman's feature debut, Roll Red Roll, explored the intersections of rape culture and social media in the Steubenville High School rape case. It premiered in 2018 at the Tribeca Film Festival and Hot Docs. Roll Red Roll won seven documentary feature awards and was nominated for the Cinema Eye Honors Spotlight Award. It is now streaming on Netflix. Schwartzman created Circle of 6, an award-winning mobile app designed to reduce violence against women and girls, with Thomas Cabus, Christine Moran, and Deb Levine, and serves now as its CEO. Schwartzman is a human rights activist. She graduated from Columbia University in New York City.
Before becoming a documentary filmmaker, Schwartzman worked as a production assistant for Killer Films and received credit for Todd Solondz's Happiness and Todd Haynes' Velvet Goldmine. Schwartzman also worked on the social media advertising campaigns for the documentary filmsThe Invisible War and Girl Model.
''The Line'' (2009)
Schwartzman "explores the issue of consent, the burden of blame and the trouble society has defining the two" in her first film, The Line. The short documentary was used by a White House campaign and its impact campaign was supported by partnerships with Men Can Stop Rape, Hollaback, Planned Parenthood NYC, The Pixel Project, National Sexual Violence Resource Center, and AEquitas.
''xoxosms'' (2011)
Schwartzman's second documentary, xoxosms, followed the life and loves of two modern young people, and explored the digital intimacy that comes with new social networking technology, seeing it less as harm than something that fosters open communication. xoxosms was produced by Cinereach and premiered on PBS POV in July 2013. It was also featured on the BBC Radio 4 Digital Human series.
''Roll Red Roll'' (2018)
Roll Red Roll, Schwartzman's first feature-length documentary, examined the cultural factors at play behind the notorious Steubenville, Ohio high school rape case. It premiered in 2018 at the Tribeca Film Festival and Hot Docs. Roll Red Roll won seven documentary feature awards and was nominated for the Cinema Eye Honors Spotlight Award. It is now streaming on Netflix. Roll Red Roll‘s impact campaign was supported by the Fledgling Fund, Bertha Foundation, Perspective and the Ford Foundation. "Steubenville is just like your town or school," Schwartzman wrote in her director's statement for PBS. "Watching and studying the police interviews, the story shows clearly that rapists and bystanders are not “monsters”, they are us—our sons our fathers, our coaches, our friends. When we turn them into 'monsters'—it makes rape hard to “see” and eradicate. We as individuals and communities have to take responsibility and teach accountability to our children so that they understand this is wrong. And that speaking up and intervening is the right thing to do, even if no one else is doing it. I am hopeful that audiences take these lessons to heart and will move forward in creating safe, loving and caring communities for our future generations."
"Anonymous Comes to Town" (2019)
Schwartzman also released a companion short film to Roll Red Roll, "Anonymous Comes To Town," co-produced with the Tribeca Film Institute and Gucci’s Chime for Change, with the Guardian.
''Angeline (2019)''
Schwartzman directed the short documentary Angeline, which tells the story of a woman who found out, at the age of 30, that she had been lied to about her genetic identity after taking a 23andMe DNA test. The company released the documentary in 2019.
Tech + Media
In response to a spike in street violence in NYC, Schwartzman founded NYC – Safestreets.org. The initiative was noted in the New York Times, New York Daily News, Village Voice, and others. Schwartzman was also a founding editor and Creative Director of the print edition of Heeb magazine.
Circle of 6 App
In 2011, Schwartzman created the app "Circle of 6," which now has over 350,000 users in 36 countries. The free anti-violence app won the 2011 White House Apps Against Abuse Contest, with Vice President Joe Biden calling it "a new line of defense against violence" for young people.
