Martha Cotton
Martha Cotton broke in as an investigative producer at the NBC affiliate in Miami, covering the drug wars, the influx of Cuban and Haitian refugees, and the conflicts in Central America. Martha won several Emmys as well as a Columbia DuPont Award and the Robert F. Kennedy Foundation Award during her time in Florida.
NBC News hired Martha and brought her to work in the Los Angeles bureau, where she worked for NBC Nightly News and the Today Show. Her work took her around the world covering wars, disasters, politics and the Olympics continuing to earn the praise of her colleagues with yet another Columbia DuPont, a Chicago Film Festival Award, and several Emmy nominations.
As either a network staff or freelance documentary producer/director, Martha has worked in such far-flung places as Pakistan and Afghanistan, Cambodia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique, and the Philippines. She transitioned to the world of drama as a consultant on Up Close and Personal, a movie set in the world of TV news. That film led to Volcano, where Martha produced, wrote, cast and directed all the news elements in the film. She served as either a first unit video producer/director or consultant on other films, such as Deep Impact, Enemy of the State, and The Negotiator, as well as an NBC pilot about the TV news business.
Martha was selected as one of eight participants in the American Film Institute's prestigious Directing Workshop for Women. The short film she directed, Glory Girl (produced with generous support from Dreamworks), won her critical recognition, including an award for creative excellence at Telluride Indiefest.
She was recently hand-picked as one of 12 promising minority director fellows by the Directors Guild of America Single Camera Directors Program, in cooperation with the ABC, NBC, and CBS and Fox entertainment divisions.
Martha is currently part of the development team at the Plymouth Rock Studios.
martha@plymouthrockstudios.com
