Lisa R. Cohen

Lisa R. Cohen is an Emmy award winning former network television news producer, a documentary filmmaker, media consultant and adjunct professor. AFTER ETAN: The Missing Child Case That Held America Captive is her first book, after decades reporting on the celebrated, culture-shaping Etan Patz case. Excerpts of the book were chosen for 2010's anthology of Best American Crime Reporting. She currently teaches broadcast journalism at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

She is most recently Director/Producer/Writer of the award winning verité documentary SERVING LIFE in collaboration with Executive Producer Forest Whitaker, which premiered in Oprah Winfrey Network's Documentary Club in July of 2011. To make the film, she spent a total of four months living inside the gates of Angola, Louisiana's tough maximum-security prison documenting their unique prison hospice program. The New York Times called SERVING LIFE "excellent;" the Washington Post said it was "tender and even-handed...another treat in a bright summer of documentaries...."

Previously, Cohen worked for over twenty years in network news, including long stints producing for Peter Jennings, Diane Sawyer, Sam Donaldson, Cynthia McFadden, and Charlie Rose, among others, at ABC News "PrimeTime Live" and CBS News "60 Minutes."

As a filmmaker, she also recently spent more than two years documenting the inspiring experiences of cancer patient-turned-advocate Dee Dee Ricks in the intimate film "The Education of Dee Dee Ricks," which premiered at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival and had its television premiere in Oct 2011 on HBO.

She has taught at Princeton University as a Ferris teaching fellow in addition to several years as an adjunct at Columbia's Journalism School. She has provided media consulting for organizations such as the Global Business Coalition for HIV/AIDS and George Soros' Open Society Institute, among others.

Besides an Emmy for work producing at ABC News, her awards include the 2012 Humanitas award, multiple Cine Golden Eagles, the Christopher Award, the Headliner's Award, two Gracie Awards, the Chris Award, and an NABJ award. She grew up in Winnipeg, Manitoba and Philadelphia, and currently lives in New York City.