Born in Johnson City, TN. Ross Spears has been making documentary films for more than twenty-five years and is considered one of the most accomplished documentary filmmakers now working in the United States. He has won such prestigious awards as a Lyndhurst Prize, a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Tennessee Governor's Awards in both the Arts and Humanities, and an Academy Award Nomination for Best Feature Documentary. William Sloan of the Museum of Modern Art wrote that "Spears has made a lasting and significant contribution to American film. All of his works possess a rare vigor and discipline that is unique." Spears' films deal primarily with the history and culture of his native region, the American South. His mother was a respected teacher in the public schools, and his father was a lumberman and the mayor of the town during the 1960's. Spears graduated as valedictorian of his high school in 1965, as well as Tennessee state tennis champion. He attended Duke University in the late 1960's where, planning to become a doctor, he studied both Literature and Pre-Med. His mentors included the writers Reynolds Price, Helen Bevington and Wallace Fowlie. While at Duke, Spears' interests shifted to movies and upon graduation, rather than enter Duke Medical School, he attended the film school of the University of North Carolina, where he made his first film, HOWARD, in collaboration with Jude Cassidy in 1971. Moving to Los Angeles in 1972, Spears studied filmmaking at the California Institute of the Arts, receiving an MFA degree in 1974. His mentors included Alexander Mackendrick, Terry Sanders, Pat O'Neill, Mark Harris, and Don Levy. Other credits include AGEE (1980), THE ELECTRIC VALLEY (1983), LONG SHADOWS (1987, director), TO RENDER A LIFE (1992) and "Tell About the South: Voices in Black and White" (1998 - TV).  Nominated for Documentary (Features) 1980: AGEE - Producer 1 nomination