Robert N. Zagone

Robert N. Zagone
Robert N. Zagone on the set of Read You Like a Book with cinematographer Michael Chin
Born	(1938-04-05) April 5, 1938 Oakland, California
Occupation(s)	film director; television director; producer; writer
Years active	1962–present
Spouse	Phyllis Maier
Awards	San Francisco / Northern California Emmy Awards Evening Magazine 1976 (two awards) Short Stories, Tall Tales 1995

Robert N. Zagone is an independent filmmaker and television director who is best known for his independent feature films Read You Like a Book (starring Karen Black, Tony Amendola and Danny Glover) and The Stand-In (starring Danny Glover). He is also well known for the iconic guerilla-style documentary Drugs in the Tenderloin, as well as his many forays into the musical culture of San Francisco, including Go Ride the Music, featuring Jefferson Airplane and Quicksilver Messenger Service; A Night at the Family Dog, featuring the Grateful Dead, Santana, and Jefferson Airplane; Big Brother and the Holding Company with Janis Joplin; and the infamous Bob Dylan Press Conference. Zagone was one of the first filmmakers to cover the cultural explosion of the 1960s in the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as one of the first directors to make music videos. In addition, he was one of the first directors to implement an open policy of diversity for all of his film projects, for both cast and crew.

Zagone has been a guest lecturer at the California College of the Arts (where one of his students was Wayne Wang), and has been asked to speak at classes at DeAnza College, San Francisco Art Institute, and San Francisco State. He has also conducted workshops at Video Expo, Film Arts Foundation, and The Bay Area Video Coalition. He is the recipient of three Emmys from the San Francisco chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, and is a member of the Directors Guild of America.

Many of the films and programs Zagone directed have been uploaded to YouTube, including the Bob Dylan Press Conference, Credence Clearwater Revival's music video for "Sweet Hitchhiker," and The Human Be-In.

Selected Film and Television Work 1963-1970

A year after beginning his volunteer status at KQED, Zagone was promoted to producer and director in the Programming Department. Some of the initial live TV shows that Zagone directed were The Jim Kerr Show (gardening), The Ed Radenzel Show (news) Laura Webber (folk guitar), World Press (news), the first local TV presentation of the California Tennis Championship, and the first international soccer match televised in the United States (Glasgow Celtics vs. Munich Bayern). It was during this time that he directed and produced many innovative television programs, not only for local Bay Area programming, but also for the National Educational Television network (which eventually transcended to PBS).

A partial list of Zagone's early directing and producing work from 1963 to 1971:

Five programs from Ralph J. Gleason's NET Jazz Casual series:
–B.B. King's first national television appearance
–The Charles Lloyd Quartet with the celebrated pianist Keith Jarrett
–Count Basie Reminisces with Freddie Green on guitar, Sonny Payne on drums, and Norman Green on bass
–The Woody Herman Band
–The Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra

Young Zagone with a Bolex Camera

Youth in the Tenderloin (1964)
Producer/Director
Youth in the Tenderloin was a studio program that featured participants discussing the burgeoning overflow of disenfranchised young people living in the Tenderloin District of San Francisco. The participants of the program were knowledgeable experts about the Tenderloin community and its issues, and included Rev. Ed Hansen of the Glide Foundation; Mark Forrester, a Central City Poverty community organizer; and Dr. William Kiely from St. Mary's Hospital. The San Francisco Chronicle said of the film, "it was one of those rare exceptions – a combination of good reporting, discussion by experts, and a forthright suggestion at the close. It pulled no punches and it made a meaningful statement."

Drugs in the Tenderloin (1967)
Producer/Director
Zagone was given a Reader's Digest Foundation Award to support a follow-up to Youth in the Tenderloin. The result was Drugs in the Tenderloin, which went on to win a prestigious NET award for Excellence.
Dormant for over 50 years, the film was recently rediscovered and played multiple sold-out shows at the Tenderloin Museum and the Mission District's famous Roxie Theater. It also was screened for two nights as part of the Another Hole in the Head film festival. It is set to play at the San Francisco Urban Film Festival in November 2017.
In his review of the festival for Beyond Chron, Peter Wong wrote, "Rather than being a vice tourist, Zagone's camera becomes a witness for the people who live with the Tenderloin's realities 24/7. This approach yields several revelatory interviews…. Despite some sound problems resulting from period technology, this rarely screened film is a cinematic time capsule worth viewing."

Bob Dylan Press Conference (1965)
Producer (With Ralph J. Gleason)/Director
Dylan's infamous press conference held in the KQED studios was also attended by Bill Graham, poet Michael McClure, and Allen Ginsberg.
Footage from the press conference was used in the Martin Scorsese documentary, No Direction Home : Bob Dylan (2005) for the American Masters series on PBS. The conference was also reproduced and dramatized in the Todd Haynes movie I'm Not There (2007) with Cate Blanchett as Bob Dylan.

The infamous 1965 Bob Dylan Press Conference, produced (with Ralph J. Gleason) and directed by Zagone

The Newcomers (1965)
The San Francisco version of a New York public television program called The Comers, The Newcomers was a studio talk show series hosted by Buzz Anderson that featured some of the brightest and most talented high school students in the Bay Area. The students talked frankly about subject matter that affected their lives, including sex, race, and school issues. One of the featured students was Ted Lange, who went on to have a successful television acting career.

Music in Golden Gate Park (1966)
Producer/Director
This program was the very first television program that used studio video cameras to shoot on location. The program featured The Steve Miller Band playing in the Children's Playground; Mimi Farina singing in a Golden Gate Park meadow; Margaret Fabrizio playing harpsichord at the Portals of the Past (directed by Joyce Campbell), and Ashish Khan, son of the famed Sitar player Ali Akbar Khan, playing sitar at the edge of Golden Gate Park.

Come Up the Years (1967–1968)
A series of programs that focused on the cultural changes that were taking place in the San Francisco area during 1967 and 1968:

• Big Brother and the Holding Company with Janis Joplin
  This was Janis Joplin's very first television appearance. Clips from this show are featured in the documentary feature film, Janis: Little Girl Blue (2015). Later, this performance was released on DVD with the title Ball and Chain.
• Human Be-In: A Gathering of the Tribes (1967)
  This visual record was a free-wheeling look at the famous gathering in Golden Gate Park that featured appearances by Allen Ginsberg, The Grateful Dead, poet Michael McClure, and Dr. Timothy Leary.
• Spirit of '67
  A fast-moving record of the fashions, hair styles, photography, and music during the hey-day of 1967 in San Francisco.
• Haight-Ashbury Influx
  A documentary about the influx of young people moving to the Haight-Ashbury district in San Francisco. Featured interviews from the underground newspaper The Oracle.

Vibrations (1968 – 1969)
Director
A series of programs that followed up on Come Up the Years, again featuring the ever-changing cultural scene in the San Francisco Bay Area.

• A Day in the Life of Country Joe and the Fish
  An irreverent visual look at a day in the life of one of the Bay Area's most famous rock groups.
• Fried Suque
  This program was hosted by rock and blues musician Steve Miller and filmed at the studios of Don Buchla, inventor of the first synthesizer, christened "The Buchla Box."
• Richard Lester Press Conference (at the Hungry i)
  A freewheeling press conference conducted by director Richard Lester (A Hard Day's Night, Help! ), about his new film, How I Won the War.
• Mort Sahl Press Conference (at the Hungry i)
  Another press conference held at the infamous SF nightclub. In this presser, Mr. Sahl discusses his involvement with Jim Garrison, the Texas Attorney General, and the Kennedy Assassination conspiracy theories. Portions of this press conference were featured in the 2006 PBS American Master's series Mort Sahl: Shaping Laughter.

Steve Miller Band Music Videos
Directed by Zagone and Ben Van Meter
These two videos were the first music videos of the Steve Miller Band and one went on to win Best Experimental Film at the San Francisco Film Festival and the Bellevue Film Festival. Clips of these videos were used in the production honoring Steve Miller when he was indoctrinated into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

National Center for Experiments in Television
The Rockefeller Foundation funded a consortium of artists to meet daily to discuss the state of television, then collectively or in tandem with others create visionary segments utilizing the studios and equipment of KQED. Zagone augmented the works with the NABET engineering crew at KQED. Participants were poet Joanne Kyger, composer Richard Felciano, author Bill Brown, and filmmakers Loren Sears and Robert Nelson. Videos that were created for these experiments were later viewed at the U.C. Museum in Berkeley and at the Whitney Museum in New York.

Youth Drug Ward (1968)
Producer/Director
This documentary was filmed at the Langley Porter Neuropsychiatric Institute in San Francisco at the University of California Medical Center. The film was a study of the program put forth by Dr. Harry Wilmer, an innovator in the field of social psychiatry and treatment for drug addiction. He based his treatments on family and group therapy methods he used after WWII at Oakland's Oak Knoll Hospital for PTSD patients. The film was funded by a grant from the National Institute of Health.

West Pole (1968)
Director
Produced with Ralph J. Gleason
This experimental program was made in conjunction with the work of the National Center for Experiments in Television. The show featured the Steve Miller Band, Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and the Grateful Dead. The show also featured live video performances with special effects featuring the rock bands Ace of Cups (one of the first all-female rock groups) and Sons of Champlin.

¡Heimskringla! or The Stoned Angels (1969)
Directed by Tom O'Horgan
Teleplay by Paul Foster
Videospace Mix by Robert Zagone
Performed by the La Mama troupe and produced for NET Playhouse.

Go Ride the Music (1970)
Director
Produced with Ralph J. Gleason
This quintessential rockumentary features Jefferson Airplane with Grace Slick and Marty Balin in rehearsal and performance. The program also features the beloved Quicksilver Messenger Service with vocalist Dino Valente.

A Night at The Family Dog (1970)
Director
Produced with Ralph J. Gleason
Shot at the remaining remnants of the old Playland Ballroom at the edge of the Pacific Ocean in San Francisco, this unique musical jam went on from sunset to sunrise. The program featured The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, and Santana, plus a jam featuring members of all these bands with the addition of the Steve Miller Band and Quicksilver Messenger Service. The program was augmented by some of San Francisco's most prestigious light show artists.

San Francisco Mix (1970)
Executive Producer/Director
This experimental "magazine-style" show preceded the Evening Magazine show, setting the foundation for the successful format of the Evening Magazine.

One of the San Francisco Mix dramatic narrative programs featured Victor Wong, at the time a journalist on the prestigious Newsroom program at KQED. Zagone liked the way Victor looked on camera and cast him in the lead role in the program, entitled Searching. Victor would later move on to become a beloved character actor in Hollywood films, featured in Bertolucci's The Last Emperor, John Carpenter's Big Trouble in Little China, and Wayne Wang's Dim Sum, among others. In one comedic scene in Searching, Victor interacts with a group of improv actors in a theatre setting. One of the characters was the then-unknown comedic actor Robin Williams. This appearance would prove to be Mr. Williams's very first national television appearance. It was only years later, after Williams became famous, that Zagone scrutinized the Searching program and recognized the young actor.

Selected Film and Television Work 1970-2000

Fantasy Films (1971-1973)
Zagone and filmmaker Irving Saraf set up the film division at Fantasy Records in Berkeley under the aegis of Ralph J. Gleason. Musical "promo films" (aka music videos) were among the first output of the newly formed department. Later, Fantasy Films, under the helm of owner Saul Zaentz, would produce the films Payday, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Amadeus, and The English Patient, among others. The music videos that Zagone directed, shot, and edited were:
–Credence Clearwater Revival "Sweet Hitch-Hiker'"
–Redwing "Shorty Go Home"
–Jim Post "Colorado High"

After leaving Fantasy Films in 1973, Zagone embarked on a freelance career, directing music shows, documentaries, high-tech visionary videos, and low budget feature films.

The Boarding House (1973)
A musical concert series videotaped at the revered Boarding House on Bush Street in San Francisco that featured the following musical artists:
–Esther Phillips
–Taj Mahal
–Leo Sayer
–The Pointer Sisters
–Mary McCreary (wife of Leon Russell)

Interface (1974-1975)
Director of studio performance programs and Producer/Director on documentary programs as listed.
Produced in New York and Washington, D.C. for PBS, this program series was one of the first to feature the cultural excellence of the African-American experience. It was executive produced and hosted by Tony Batten. It included the following programs:
–Gil Scott-Heron
–Boston: Busing
–Les McCann
–Betty Carter
–Eubie Blake
–Paul Robeson
–Cecil Williams: Reach Out and Touch
This program had not been seen for over 40 years when it was revived by the Tenderloin Museum in San Francisco. Beyond Chron reported Randy Shaw said of the program, "Reverend Cecil Williams (pastor), the legendary leader of Glide Church, recently celebrated his 86th birthday. Now, thanks to the heroic efforts of film director Robert Zagone, a 1975 television program on Reverend Williams will be shown December 16 for the first time in four decades. I saw the film recently. It is not to be missed."

Evening Magazine (1975)
Producer
The prototype for this show, prior to Zagone's involvement, was a studio program with guests discussing how-tos and tips. When Zagone became producer, he suggested to the executive producer Bill Hillier that the program should be shot on location, utilizing the new hand-held ENG cameras. Zagone also instilled the program with three hosts.
Each program featured a serious journalistic segment, an entertainment segment, and a "how-to" segment. The style and concept was soon adopted by most of the television industry, including 20/20 at ABC. Zagone helmed this show for 6 months before returning to his freelance work.

Zagone won two Emmys from the San Francisco chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for Evening Magazine, one of the winning shows having featured comedian Steve Martin and Rolling Stone journalist Ben Fong-Torres.

Inside the Cuckoo's Nest (1976)
Director
This groundbreaking PBS documentary was shot at the Oregon State Mental Hospital in Salem, Oregon, the same hospital used in the Academy Award-winning feature film One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. The film included a graphic sequence that showed the preparation, the actual process, and the aftermath of an electroshock treatment for a patient. The sequence was compared to footage from the feature film with Jack Nicholson receiving electroshock therapy.

Rainbow's End (1978)
Director
Zagone directed two programs in this Emmy Award-winning national PBS children's series for DEAF Media, starring members of the National Theatre of the Deaf. These programs were the first television productions designed especially for deaf children and their families.

Where You There? Nguzo Saba Films Series for PBS (1977–78)
Director
These seven half-hour programs aimed to create informative and entertaining documentaries about African-American cultural history. They were all produced by Carol Munday Lawrence. The programs included:

• The Black West (1979)
  This program examined African-American cowboys and cowgirls and their experiences in the old west.
• Oscar Micheaux, Film Pioneer (1981)
  Director
  An inside look at the life of film impresario Oscar Micheaux (as portrayed by Danny Glover). The show featured interviews with Bea Freeman and Lorenzo Tucker.
• Sports Heroes: Artie Wilson and Alice Coachman (1981)
  Director
  Artie Wilson was a baseball hero who played for the Birmingham Black Barons. Once baseball was integrated, he played for the New York Giants and then the Oakland Oaks, where he was a perennial All-Star. Alice Coachman was the first female African-American athlete to win a Gold Medal in the Olympics for the high jump in 1948.

Dancin' Wheels (1979)
Director
This program was one of largest television extravaganzas to be filmed in San Francisco. Hopping on the 1979 roller-skating craze, Dancin' Wheels is a display of some the best roller-skaters in California. Musical guests were disco sensation Sylvester and The Two Tons O' Fun and pop songstress Stephanie Mills.

Take My Word for It (1981)
Director
Zagone directed 100 episodes of this word-definition game show. The show was hosted by Jim Lange and featured June Lockhart, Roxie Roker, Gordon Jump, Richard Kline, Jamie Farr, Lisa Raggio, and John Baumann.

Harvest Jazz Festival (1983)
Director
This program chronicled the explosion of some of the greatest jazz artists in America as assembled at the Paul Masson Winery. These included Richie Cole, Stan Getz, Dexter Gordon, McCoy Tyner, Airto, Flora Purim, Bobby Hutcherson, and Bruce Forman, among others. The acts were introduced by Steve Allen.

Fade Out: The Erosion of Black Images in the Media (1984)
Hosted by actor Robert Hooks
Produced by Nguzo Saba Films with producer Carol Lawrence Hosted by Robert Hooks and shot at the U.C Berkeley Art Museum, this documentary film explores the negative portrayals of African-Americans in Hollywood and the media. The documentary features interviews with screenwriter Stirling Silliphant, Director Michael Schulz, actor Marla Gibbs, producer Chas. Floyd Johnson, and activist Virna Canson, among others.

The Stand-In starring Danny Glover (1985)
Director/Writer (With Edward Azlant)

This independent feature was funded by the Rockefeller Foundation through the Bay Area Video Coalition. The recipient of an American Film Institute grant, it was one of the first feature films shot entirely on video. The Stand-In was featured at the San Francisco Film Festival and at the Mill Valley Film Festival. The story centers on a low budget film director (Danny Glover) who unknowingly swaps identities with a crazed terrorist. The film features multiple well-known San Francisco character actors: Marc Hayashi (Chan is Missing); Joe Bellan (Sudden Impact, Mrs. Doubtfire); Jane Dornacker (The Right Stuff); songstress Christa Victoria; and comedian Bob Sarlatte.

Zagone directing Danny Glover on the set of The Stand In (1985) with camera assistant Spenser Nakasano and grip Mike Graham

Aftershocks (1989 theater production)
Director
This musical comedy stage revue was produced and written by SF Chronicle columnist Gerald Nachman with Emmy Award-winning songwriter Rita Abrams. The show had an extended run at the Plush Room in San Francisco and in the York Hotel (where Alfred Hitchcock shot Vertigo).

The Poet and the Rough Rider (1999)
Director
Zagone directed the dramatic sequences for this documentary on Yosemite and the National Park Service. The reenactments featured scenes between Teddy Roosevelt (Joe Early) and John Muir (Lee Stetson). The documentary was produced by Steve Perry for Sunset Films.

Selected Film and Television Work 2000 – Present

Pancho Sanchez – a Night at Kimball's East (2002)
Director
Filmed for Concord Jazz at Kimball's East night club in Emeryville, this film presents the Latin jazz favorite and his band in concert.

Read You Like a Book (2006)
Producer/Director
This independent feature film was shot at Black Oak Books in Berkeley, California, and featured Tony Amendola, Karen Black, Lorenzo Pisoni, Catalina Larrañaga, Ricardo Gil, Shaun Landry, Joe Bellan, Will Marchetti, Sophia Vaccaro, Bob Sarlatte, Alan Draven, and Danny Glover. The film was screened at the 2006 Mill Valley Film Festival and is distributed by Vanguard Cinema.

Leah Garchik reported about the filming of Read You Like a Book in her column, recounting a humorous story about a customer wandering in, looking for science fiction, but getting more than he bargained for when he came across Amendola, who had a reoccurring role in Stargate SG-1.

Screenplays

–South of Market with Edward Azlant and Ralph J. Gleason
–The Stand-In with additional dialogue by Edward Azlant
–Love Handles with Edward Azlant
–Zeroville with renowned poet and writer David Henderson
–Three in A Sling
–Hong Kong Blues for HIC Productions
–Vaudevillian with Joe Bellan and Dennis Moyer
–Malocchio
–Read You Like a Book (Story written with Jim Vaccaro, screenplay by Jim Vaccaro)
–Maggie's Page with Jim Vaccaro
–Dropped Call with Jim Vaccaro

Awards (Partial List)

Reader's Digest Foundation Award (1965)
Drugs in the Tenderloin
Director

San Francisco Film Festival and Bellevue Film Festival (1968)
Steve Miller Band music video
Director

San Francisco / Northern California Emmy Awards (1976-1977)
Class Reunion/Susan Brownmiller Evening Magazine episode
Producer

San Francisco / Northern California Emmy Awards (1976-1977)
Plennie Wingo/Steve Martin Evening Magazine episode
Producer

Nominated for a Joey Award (1995)
Time of Trial
Best Medical Film at the New York International Film and Video Festival
Gold Winner at the John Muir Medical Festival

Creative Excellence at the U.S. Industrial Film & Video Festival (1990)
Custom 800
Custom 800 was one of a series of short dramatic videos produced and directed by Zagone and commissioned by the Pac Bell Media division. The short was a lighthearted demonstration of how people could use the then-new Custom 800 number.

Best of Show at the ITVA Golden Vision (1991)
T-Minus 20
This short dramatic video directed by Zagone for Sun Microsystem demonstrated the advantages of using a Workstation system to improve productivity.

Golden Telly Award (1995)
The Artist
This one-minute short directed by Zagone was a dramatic vision presentation commissioned by the Digital Equipment Corporation. The film was the opening presentation at fan event in New York introducing a newly designed laptop computer. The film depicted an artist at work at an easel creating an abstract oil painting that ultimately represented the forward design of the laptop.

San Francisco / Northern California Emmy Awards (1995-1996)
Outstanding Achievement in Children/Youth Programming
Short Stories, Tall Tales
Director

External links

• Robert N. Zagone at IMDb