Brenda Goodman
A graduate of Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Communications, Brenda Goodman started her career in political advertising. After working on several Gubernatorial and Senate races, including Ted Kennedy’s run for President, she began to focus on the power of film to shape dialogue on many issues.
Brenda Goodman came to USC bringing her experiences as a producer of independent films as well as documentaries, television and music video. Her love for teaching began as she developed production seminars on her sets for the unpaid or underpaid interns and production assistants employed by the film industry. In recognizing they could be compensated with knowledge, her film sets were known for giving young people a richer, fuller experience of camera, scheduling, productions design, sound, and other aspects of production.
Goodman’s credits include Anna (winner of Golden Globe for Best Actress), Emma & Elvis (Kathryn Walker), Mac (directed by John Turturro), Prisoners of Inertia (Amanda Plumber and Chris Rich) and The Ballad of Little Jo (Ian McKellen).
Her documentary credits include Observance Observed (ABC), Blues Story, No Place Like Home and Chuck's Story. For PBS, she produced Roses in December, Growing Up Poor and Heartstrings and for HBO she produced The Baby Sitter's Club pilot.
She was the Executive Producer for the 2000-2001 Human Rights Awards and the director for Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS [DIFFA].
In addition to her producing credits, Goodman was the in-house writer, producer and director at Reeves Communications.
She is the winner of the National Association for Youth Mentor Award for her music video work with Ziggy Marley. In 2000, the National Greek Academic Honor Society named Goodman Professor of the Year at USC.
At USC, Goodman has utilized her passion for teaching and production, to collaborate on strengthening the curriculum for all film students. In 2003 she became Head of the Producing Track and has worked to enhance the curricular offerings for all production students.
As a CET Fellow, Goodman’s interests are in mentoring as part of the academic experience, creative collaboration, and issues of ethics for students in the professional schools.