Robert Drew and the Development Cinema-Verite in America

P. J. O’Connell traces Robert Drew’s influence on cinema verite through extensive interviews with Drew and with some of the founding fathers of American cinema verite filmmaking—Donn Alan Pennebaker, Gregory Shuker, and Richard Leacock.



In a forty-minute magazine show, his first attempt at revolutionizing television journalism, Drew realized that his heavy equipment and the crew needed to carry it intruded too much into the real-life situations he was trying to capture. He persuaded Time-Life Broadcasting to sponsor the development of new, lightweight, portable synchronous sound equipment that freed documentary filmmakers from the bulky, tripod-mounted, AC-powered equipment of the past.



Drew formed a like-minded staff and, using the new technology to go beyond the interview-and-narration form of television journalism, filmed Primary, which documented the 1960 Wisconsin Democratic primary election. By capturing intense moments as they happened, this film fulfilled Drew’s dream of making an audience feel personally involved in the events he presented.