Les Guthman

Les Guthman is a film director and producer, who has the distinction of both having won the National Academy of Science’s (U.S) nationwide competition to find the best new idea in science television and having produced three of the “20 Best Adventure DVDs of All Time,” according to "Men’s Journal" magazine.

As founding Executive Vice President and Executive Producer of Outside Television, he produced 33 primetime expedition, adventure and environmental documentaries, including Michael Brown’s "Farther Than the Eye Can See," which was nominated for two Emmy Awards in 2004: the awards for Best Sports Documentary and Best Sports Cinematography. "Farther Than the Eye Can See," the film of blind climber Eric Weihenmayer’s renowned ascent of Everest, won 17 international film festival awards. Altogether, there have been 90 film festival screenings of Guthman’s films since 2002.

He produced Outside Television’s expedition and expedition film, "Into the Tsangpo Gorge," which he also co-wrote with director Scott Lindgren. The expedition achieved the epic first whitewater descent of the “Everest” of rivers, through the 18,000 ft.-deep Tsangpo gorge in Tibet and was recognized by the Explorers Club as one of the most accomplished expeditions of recent times. "Into the Tsangpo Gorge" aired on NBC Sports in May 2002.

"Into the Tsangpo Gorge" and "Farther Than the Eye Can See," along with his production, "Into the Thunder Dragon" by filmmaker Sean White, were honored by "Men’s Journal" magazine in 2005 as three of the “20 Best Adventure DVDs of All Time.”

Guthman has also written, produced and directed ten films, including "Messner" (2002), the first documentary about Reinhold Messner, world’s greatest mountain climber, since Werner Herzog’s "Dark Glow of the Mountains" in 1984. "Messner" was an Opening Night selection of the Mountainfilm in Telluride Festival in 2004. He also made two highly regarded environmental films with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.: "The Hudson Riverkeepers" (1998) and "The Waterkeepers" (2000).

His most recent film, "Churning the Sea of Time: A Journey Up the Mekong to Angkor," premiered at Lincoln Center in April 2006. It is an official selection of the Museum of Modern Art's "Directors Fortnight Expanded" in 2007 and will screen at the Royal Geographic Society in London this February.

In 1996, he made "Corwin," a feature-length documentary about Norman Corwin, the legendary writer, producer and director during the Golden Age of Radio. "Corwin" aired on PBS between 1996-99.

His other films are "Paragliding Across America" (2001), the expedition of world-record-holding paraglider Will Gadd to become the first to paraglide across the United States; "Marathon of the Sands" (2000), the world’s most grueling ultramarathon competition in the Moroccan Sahara; "Eco-Sanctuary Belize" (2001) and "Ten Adventures of a Lifetime" (2004).

In 1999, he won the National Academy of Sciences nationwide competition to select the best new series concept in science television, which resulted in his film, "Three Nights at the Keck," hosted by actor John Lithgow.

In 1991, Les Guthman created and produced the "Discover Magazine" television series at the Walt Disney Company, based on Discover magazine. He produced "Discover Magazine" for The Disney Channel, and then, working with Disney President and CEO Frank Wells, moved the series to the Discovery Channel, where it became a signature series. At the same time, he developed an unproduced series with HBO based on a comedian’s view of science.

He also co-created and produced the CableAce Award-nominated series "21st Century", which included the last interview with Dr. Jonas Salk, discoverer of the polio vaccine. "21st Century" was co-created and hosted by Public Radio and KCRW host Warren Olney.

Les Guthman’s other credits include almost a decade at NBC News in New York, where he was Manager of Election Analysis and a political producer and writer for Tom Brokaw; a producer and writer for Norman Lear’s Tandem Productions; and Story Consultant on "Visions", the celebrated PBS series that commissioned 80 scripts and produced 40 feature-length independent films and television stage productions over four seasons at KCET in Los Angeles. One of its films, "Alambrista," won the Camera D’Orprize at the Cannes Film Festival.

While in college, he was the youngest paid staff member on Sen. Robert F. Kennedy’s presidential campaign in 1968.

He is a member of the Explorers Club in New York.