International award winning filmmaker Jeremy Kagan studied at The Institute of Film and Television at New York University after having graduating magna cum laude from Harvard University in Russian studies.

Mr. Kagan's first feature was the box office hit HEROES, starring Henry Winkler, Sally Field and Harrison Ford. This was one of the first American films to deal with Vietnam veterans. His second feature, THE BIG FIX, starring Richard Dreyfuss, was a "witty" political detective thriller that received international critical praise, including the Grand Prix at the Rouen Festival.

His next film, THE CHOSEN, based on Chaim Potok's famous novel, starred Rod Steiger, Maxmillian Schell, and Robbie Benson, and had an exceptional run in New York and Los Angeles for almost a year before national distribution. The picture won the Grand Prix at the Montreal World Film Festival, and the Christopher Award in 1982.

He garnered an ACE Award for writing, directing and producing the 1988 Best Dramatic Special, CONSPIRACY: THE TRIAL OF CHICAGO 8, for Home Box Office.

Mr. Kagan's filmmaking began with animated (ONCE UPON A LINE - First Prize, ASIFA East) and experimental films (MATE-GAME - 4 film festival honors), and he developed a comic quasi-documentary style with two shorts: HOW DO YOU SEDUCE A MAN? and THE "WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE MOVIE?", both of which were distributed theatrically. Moving from New York to Los Angeles, he became one of the first fellows at the American Film Institute, where his work varied from a prize-winning independent feature, THE LOVE SONG TO CHARLES FABERMAN, to a multi-media holographic show entitled NO MORE MONDAYS, made for the White House Conference on Youth and Education.

His first professional directing assignments were episodes of the television series: NICHOLS (starring James Garner), COLUMBO (starring Peter Falk), and THE BOLD ONES. These led to an Emmy Nomination for the After-School Special about a child's view of his parent's divorce, MY DAD LIVES IN A DOWNTOWN HOTEL (starring Beau Bridges).

Next came four highly acclaimed movies made for television: UNWED FATHER (starring Joseph Bottoms) about a seventeen year old attempting to get custody of his child; JUDGE DEE, a seventh century Chinese detective thriller; KATHERINE, a biography he wrote and directed about the radicalization of an American girl from 1964 to 1972 (starring Sissy Spacek and Art Carney) which was one of the first television movies to be honored at a film festival; and SCOTT JOPLIN (starring Billy Dee Williams) about the life of the black composer. This last film was distributed as a feature, as well, and shown at the Cannes and London Film Festivals.

Mr. Kagan's creative work has extended into many forms of the media: music videos, including Sly Stone's EVERYDAY PEOPLE; the cable faerie tale, SLEEPING BEAUTY; the feature film, THE STING 2; and the 3-hour television special, COURAGE, starring Sophia Loren in the true story of a mother-turned-undercover agent to avenge her child's destruction by drugs.

His highly acclaimed Walt Disney feature film, THE JOURNEY OF NATTY GANN (starring Meredith Salenger and John Cusack) won Best Film at the Academy of Family Films, and the Gold Prize at the Moscow Film Festival. BY THE SWORD, starring F. Murray Abraham, Eric Roberts, and Diane Lane, was shown at numerous film festivals, and was voted Most Popular Film at the Vancouver Film Festival. Before that he directed the HBO movie DESCENDING ANGEL, with George C. Scott, Diane Lane and Eric Roberts. He also directed a two hour movie starring Jane Seymour entitled DR. QUINN: MEDICINE WOMAN, which received the highest ratings of any previous CBS pilot, and has become a hit series.

As a producer/director, his Viacom/Showtime film ROSWELL, about the investigation of the UFO phenomenon (starring Kyle MacLahlan and Martin Sheen), was the second highest rated Showtime movie, and was nominated for a Golden Globe as the Best Television Film of 1994.

He is currently in preproduction on the Showtime movie, THE COLOR OF JUSTICE (starring F. Murray Abraham, Gregory Hines, and Judd Hirsch), and is signed to direct the feature film ME AND MY SHADOW for Paramount Pictures.

Mr. Kagan has served as a lecturer for the Phi Beta Kappa Society, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and The Directors Guild where he is on the national board. He teaches at USC, UCLA and the American Film Institute; and serves as an artistic director at Robert Redford's Sundance Institute.