Alum
Jerald Harkness
Broadcast director/producer and CEO of Studio Auteur
James Benedict, BA'91, is the president and CEO of Studio Auteur, a content creation company specializing in broadcast documentaries that works with several different networks.
“I was born and raised in Indianapolis, and I'm a broadcast documentary producer and director. When I was a student here at IU in the late 80s, I had access to a camcorder. I was part of the Union Board, so I would take the camera and go film stuff on campus for people. I got asked to film the Black fraternity step shows, which are these really cool, unique dance performances. I recorded them, and then after a while, I was like, ‘man, this is really interesting,’ and did my first documentary about it when I was a junior here at IU — and it just kind of evolved into a career.”
“I now have a company called Studio Auteur, where I'm the president and CEO. It's a content creation company specializing in broadcast documentaries, so we work with a lot of different networks. Over the course of my career, I've worked with ESPN, VH1, A&E Biography, Paramount TV, PBS, Urban Movie Channel, and most recently, CBS Sports Network. I'm not in a place where most of the financing comes from, so I've had to really build up networks and partnerships over the years, but most of my work is independent — which means I get to have a lot more control.”
Last spring semester, Harkness helped teach an advanced documentary workshop at IU with Professor Susanne Schwibs. The workshop taught students how to create a documentary, using a film Harkness produced and directed in the ‘90s as a reference point.
“In 1993, I started producing and directing my second documentary feature called “Facing the Facade.” A friend of mine found eight Black students at IU, and I talked to each of them about what their experience was like being a Black student at a predominantly white college campus. I was approached with the idea of doing another documentary in the 2020s, but I said ‘I'm the last person who should do it. You should have students do it.’ And it turned into a class. We were able to get a grant for it and now we've got 13 students. It's been a very rich experience for me to work with students and use my 30 years of experience to give them some insight on what the industry is really like. The goal is to capture some sort of Black experience, but it does not have to be specific to what I did previously. I'm hoping that each student, be it the producer, director or cinematographer, finds his or her own process.”
When asked what advice he would give a student today, Harkness said it’s most important to just find a discipline and find a voice.
Written By Erin Stafford
Photos By McKenna Cardona