Sharon Oreck

Sharon Oreck
Born (1955-04-10) April 10, 1955 (age 69)
Los Angeles, California
OccupationFilm producer
Years active1972–present
SpouseBill Pope
Children2

Sharon Oreck is an American film, music video and commercial producer. She has Oscar and Grammy nominations in addition to other awards. She is credited with coining the term populence. Oreck has been married to cinematographer Bill Pope since the 1980s. She was a cinema student at Los Angeles City College in Los Angeles.[1]

Career as a producer

Oreck began her production career in 1972, working on low budget genre movies, until she line produced the evacuation of Phnom Penh for The Killing Fields. From 1984 until 2000, she was the owner-operator of O Pictures, which produced many music videos, commercials, short films and documentaries.[2]

Since 1984, she has produced over 600 music videos for performers in different genres including Tony Bennett, Rosanne Cash, Eurythmics, Ice-T, Michael Jackson, Mick Jagger, Madonna, Metallica, Bette Midler, Sting and U2.[2]

Oreck is the producer of the 2007 film 14 Women, a documentary that tells the story of 14 women in the United States Senate. The film premiered at the Silverdocs festival in June 2007.[3]

She has written the memoir Video Slut: How I Shoved Madonna Off an Olympic High Dive, Got Prince into a Pair of Tiny Purple Woolen Underpants, Ran Away from Michael Jackson's Dad, and Got a Waterfall to Flow Backward So I Could Bring Rock Videos to the Masses which was published by Faber and Faber in May 2010.[4]

Filmography

  • 14 Women – ( Producer / 2007 / Released / )
  • Skipped Parts – ( Producer / 2001 / Released / )
  • Mugshot – ( Producer / 1996 / Released / )
  • Below the Belt – ( Production Assistant / 1980 / Released / Atlantic Releasing Corporation )

TV credits

  • Coca-Cola Pop Music "Backstage Pass to Summer" ( 1991 / Released ): Segment Producer
  • Imagining America ( 1989 / Released ): Producer

Selected music videos

Year Title Artist
1984 "When Doves Cry" Prince
"The Glamorous Life" Sheila E.
"Like a Virgin" Madonna
1985 "Material Girl" Madonna
"Would I Lie to You?" Eurythmics
"Sister Fate" Sheila E.
1986 "Nasty" Janet Jackson
"Papa Don't Preach" Madonna
"Open Your Heart" Madonna
"Control" Janet Jackson
1987 "Be Still My Beating Heart" Sting
"La Isla Bonita" Madonna
"We'll Be Together" Sting
"Luka" Suzanne Vega
1988 "In Your Room" The Bangles
1989 "One" Metallica
"Like a Prayer" Madonna
"Cherish" Madonna
"Opposites Attract" Paula Abdul
1990 "Without You" Mötley Crüe
"Don't Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)" Mötley Crüe
"Love Will Never Do (Without You)" Janet Jackson
1991 "Wicked Game" Chris Isaak
1992 "In the Closet" Michael Jackson
"Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses" U2

Awards and honors

Sharon Oreck was nominated for an Academy Award in 1985[5] and a Grammy Award in 1991.[1] She has won two Women in Film Awards (1989 and 1991) and twenty MTV Video Music Awards.[2]

She is credited with coining the term populence, which refers to the way contemporary artists bring together populism and opulence in abstract painting.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b http://cinematv.lacitycollege.edu/otheralum1.htm News about Past and Present Los Angeles City College Cinema Students
  2. ^ a b c The Filmmakers behind "14 Women" Archived March 23, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ 14 WOMEN World Premier Archived July 5, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ "Video Slut | Sharon Oreck | Macmillan". Archived from the original on May 21, 2011. Retrieved August 2, 2010.
  5. ^ Awards for Sharon Oreck
  6. ^ POPulence Archived August 8, 2007, at the Wayback Machine