Naomi Foner Biography

Fast Facts

• Won the Susan B․ Anthony "Failure is Impossible" Award at the High Falls Film Festival in 2005
• Won a PEN Center USA West Literary Award for Best Screenplay for "Running on Empty" in 1989
• Graduated from Barnard College with a degree in English and earned her Master's in Developmental Psychology from Columbia University
• Is the mother of actor Jake Gyllenhaal and actress Maggie Gyllenhaal
• Started out as a content producer for "Sesame Street," for which she created animated short films
• Quote: "I have always been interested in film․․․as a way to introduce people to things they would otherwise never experience․ To open the world to them․ To open their hearts and hope that they'll think about what they've seen․"
• Quote: "When I'm doing my best writing, I feel like I've done all the work in advance; I learn the things I need to learn, or see into things I need to see․ You need to know who your people are down to the last detail․"
• Best known as the producer of "The Electric Company" and as the writer and producer of "Running on Empty," "Losing Isaiah," and "A Dangerous Woman․"