Doug Block
Doug Block (born 1953 in Port Washington, New York) is an American documentary filmmaker. He is best known for his documentaries 112 Weddings, 51 Birch Street, Home Page, and The Kids Grow Up. He is also founder of the online community for documentary filmmakers, The D-word, which has been active since 1999.
Doug Block
- Name
- Doug Block
- Birthplace
- Port Washington, New York, U.S.
- Occupation
- Director, Cinematographer, Writer and Producer
- Born
- 1953 · Port Washington.
- Nationality
- United States
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Doug Block (born 1953 in Port Washington, New York) is an American documentary filmmaker. He is best known for his documentaries 112 Weddings, 51 Birch Street, Home Page, and The Kids Grow Up. He is also founder of the online community for documentary filmmakers, The D-word, which has been active since 1999.
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Doug Block (born 1953) is a film director and film producer, of American nationality. The film director was born in Port Washington.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 27 September 2026
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In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Doug Block • Birthplace — Port Washington, New York, U.S. • Years Active — 1991–present • Occupation — Director, Cinematographer, Writer and Producer • Alma Mater — Cornell University • Parents — * Mike Block (father) • Mina Block (mother)
Life and career
Life and career
Block was born in Port Washington, New York and graduated from Cornell University. Block's debut documentary film The Heck With Hollywood!, about the challenges of three first-time filmmakers, screened at over two dozen film festivals, in 1991. In August 1999 he founded (and is currently a co-host of) The D-Word, an online community for documentary professionals worldwide. In 2015, Block told IndieWire that his aim was to create an inclusive and supportive online discussion forum and community for documentary professionals throughout the world. His second documentary film, Home Page, was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. In 2005, his documentary, 51 Birch Street, a personal story about his parents' relationship, was named one of the 10 Best Films of the Year by The New York Times. In 2010, his documentary, The Kids Grow Up, about watching his daughter Lucy grow up through his camera lens, received Special Jury Mention at the Silverdocs festival. In 2014, he spoke to IndieWire about why he opted to premiere 112 Weddings, his documentary about the couples he filmed as a wedding videographer, on HBO rather than having traditional theatrical distribution. For him, festivals were the "theatrical run." Block has said that he sees 112 Weddings, 51 Birch Street and The Kids Grow Up as an unofficial trilogy about family dynamics. Since 2019, Block has been working on a new documentary, Betty & Henri, which is based on a love letter tucked into the guidebook he'd taken along on a wedding anniversary trip to Paris.
Filmography
Filmography
• 112 Weddings (2014) (Director, Producer, Cameraman) • The Children Next Door (2013) (Director, Cameraman) • Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles (2011) (Executive Producer) • The Kids Grow Up (2010) (Director, Producer, Cameraman) • The Edge of Dreaming (2009) (Producer) • Orgasm Inc. (2009) (Consulting Producer) • A Walk Into the Sea: Danny Williams and the Warhol Factory (2007) (Producer) • 51 Birch Street (2005) (Director, Producer, Cameraman) • Paternal Instinct (2004) (co-producer) • Love and Diane (2002) (Consulting Producer, Cameraman) • Home Page (1998) (Director, Producer, Cameraman) • A Perfect Candidate (1996) (Cameraman) • Jupiter's Wife by Michel Negroponte (1995) (co-producer) • Silverlake Life: The View from Here (1993) (co-producer) • The Heck With Hollywood! (1991) (Director, Producer, Cameraman)
Primary material
Documents and archives
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q5300313: Doug Block
General reference · Wikidata
reference work
- “Doug Block”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
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Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.indieWIRE INTERVIEW: Doug Block, director of “51 Birch Street”. indiewire.com.
- 2.DOUG BLOCK’S “THE KIDS GROW UP” AT STF. filmmakermagazine.com.
- 3.Interview: Doug Block (112 Weddings). ioncinema.com.
- 4.Interview: Scenes From a Marriage, Revealed by a Son. nytimes.com.
- 5.Daddy’s Little Documentary Subject. slate.com.
- 6.Bernstein, Paula. Attention, Documentary Filmmakers: Here’s the Online Community You Need to Know About. IndieWire. 2015-04-22.
- 7.FILMFEST A YEAR OF REACHING OUT. washingtonpost.com.
- 8.FILM CENTER TO SHOW 2 MOVIES POKING FUN AT HOLLYWOOD. Deseret News.
- 9.Documentary's 'F' Word: Funding Challenges for Personal, Experimental Works International Documentary Association. www.documentary.org. 2010-06-29.
- 10.1999 Sundance Film Festival. documentary.org.
- 11.1999 Sundance Film Festival Unveils Opening Night and Lineups. indiewire.com.
- 12.Here's to the Ambitious and the Altmans. nytimes.com.
- 13.AFI-Discovery Channel Silverdocs Documentary Festival Announces Award Winners 2010. filmfestivaltoday.com.
- 14.Bernstein, Paula. Who Needs Theatrical Distribution? Here’s Why One Filmmaker Is Skipping Theaters. IndieWire. 2014-06-30.
- 15.'112 Weddings' and a Documental: Doug Block's Look at Marriages Years Later International Documentary Association. www.documentary.org. 2014-06-02.
- 16.A love letter, a Monet and a filmmaker’s obsession: The search for Betty and Henri. washingtonpost.com.
- 17.Can you solve the mystery of this Paris love letter?. CNN.
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