My Thoughts On Working With Ron Silver

The first time I talked to Ron Silver was in January of 2005. Executive Producer Dave Bossie had brought me in to produce, write and direct a feature-length documentary on the United Nations as it neared its 60th anniversary. Ron would be the narrator, but as I soon found out he would be much more.  As everyone knew Ron was passionate and held strong opinions, and he wanted to hold the UN to the fire over many human rights issues and especially over their treatment of Israel. We decided to call the film “Broken Promises: The United Nations at 60.”

Over the phone from his New York apartment, Ron rallied me to the cause. He told me that as a kid, as a native New Yorker, how proud he was of the United Nations. He loved all the flags out in front, and reminded me that this was the world’s institution for peace when it was created out of the ashes of World War II. We both fondly remembered the work that Audrey Hepburn and Danny Kaye did for UNICEF. And we both knew that that UN no longer existed. (more…)