Michael Kantor is a writer, director, and producer whose work includes "Quincy Jones: In the Pocket" for American Masters, Cornerstone for HBO, and The West with Ken Burns. Prior to his work in television, Kantor was a freelance theater director and writer, published in Newsday, American Theater, and Interview. He is president of Ghost Light Films and Almo Inc., companies dedicated to bringing the arts to television. Since 2001, Michael Kantor has produced 21 hours of television for national broadcast. In addition to winning the Peabody Award and the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Nonfiction Series, Mr. Kantor’s productions have been recognized with seven Primetime Emmy Award nominations, and one Writers Guild of America Award nomination.
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Biography from TMDB.
- Producer
- 34 on MovieCove · 57 credits in all
What are Michael Kantor's films like?
Across their 28 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Self and Society.
Genres
Their MovieCove films by primary genre. The badge is the typical Midcredits score of the genre's films, the median percentile; an up arrow marks a genre at or above their average across these genres.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 0 · Earnest 28
Light 14 · Serious 12 · Dark 2
Grounded 23 · Stylized 5 · Heightened 0
Gentle 17 · Charged 11 · Intense 0
Steady 24 · Shifting 3 · Whiplash 1
Straight-faced 20 · Some laughs 8 · Funny 0
Slow burn 25 · Even-paced 3 · Relentless 0
Casual 11 · Engaged 17 · Full focus 0
Easy watch 15 · Affecting 8 · Heavy 5
Resolved 24 · Open-ended 4 · Ambiguous 0
Moods and endings
- Happy8
- Bittersweet17
- Ambiguous1
- Cyclical1
- Other1
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Michael Kantor's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 24 of their 34 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Tubi (7).
- Art Spiegelman: Disaster Is My Muse (2024) · producer · free
- Buddy Guy: The Blues Chase the Blues Away (2021) · producer · free
- Janis: Little Girl Blue (2015) · producer · free
- Garry Winogrand: All Things are Photographable (2018) · producer · free
- Itzhak (2017) · producer · free
- Ailey (2021) · producer · free
- The Rooster (2023) · producer · free
- Buddy Guy: The Blues Chase the Blues Away (2021) · producer · free
- Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am (2019) · producer · free
- Garry Winogrand: All Things are Photographable (2018) · producer · free
- Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You (2016) · producer · free
- Itzhak (2017) · producer · free
- Bad Girl (2016) · producer · free
- Curiosity Stream
Subscription and free streaming for Michael Kantor's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
57 credits, 34 with a MovieCove page.
Midcredits score: 92nd percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 91st percentile of all films
W.E.B. Du Bois: Rebel With a Cause (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2026)
Starring Dick Van Dyke(2025)
Midcredits score: 98th percentile of all filmsLani B. Supreme: Legacy (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2025)
Hannah Arendt: Facing Tyranny (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2025)
Midcredits score: 94th percentile of all films
Marcella(2024)
Midcredits score: 83rd percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 97th percentile of all films
The Disappearance of Miss Scott (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2025)
Midcredits score: 81st percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 97th percentile of all films (provisional, few ratings)
Midcredits score: 89th percentile of all films
The Rooster(2023)
Midcredits score: 40th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 84th percentile of all films
Floyd Abrams: Speaking Freely (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2023)
Jonathan Thunder: Good Mythology (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2023)
Sydney G. James: How We See Us (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2023)
Midcredits score: 89th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 82nd percentile of all films
Groucho & Cavett (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2022)
Roberta(2022)
Midcredits score: 62nd percentile of all films (provisional, few ratings)
Jerry Brown: The Disrupter (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2022)
Marian Anderson: The Whole World in Her Hands (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2022)
Becoming Helen Keller (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2021)
Song for Cesar(2021)
Midcredits score: 73rd percentile of all films (provisional, few ratings)
Ailey(2021)
Midcredits score: 72nd percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 93rd percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 91st percentile of all films
How It Feels to Be Free (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2021)
Midcredits score: 97th percentile of all films
Michael Tilson Thomas: Where Now Is (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2020)
Midcredits score: 74th percentile of all films
Raúl Juliá: The World’s a Stage (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2019)
Midcredits score: 94th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 93rd percentile of all films
Words from a Bear(2019)
Midcredits score: 51st percentile of all films (provisional, few ratings)
Midcredits score: 96th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 91st percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 87th percentile of all films
Lorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes / Feeling Heart (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2017)
Itzhak(2017)
Midcredits score: 85th percentile of all films
When Patsy Cline Was... Crazy (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2017)
Midcredits score: 93rd percentile of all films
Mike Nichols: An American Master (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2016)
Bad Girl(2016)
Midcredits score: 27th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 85th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 95th percentile of all films
Janis: Little Girl Blue(2015)
Midcredits score: 92nd percentile of all films
By Sidney Lumet(2015)
Midcredits score: 85th percentile of all films
Superheroes: A Never-Ending Battle (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2013)
Broadway Musicals: A Jewish Legacy (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2013)
Give Me the Banjo(2011)
Midcredits score: 83rd percentile of all films
Make 'Em Laugh: The Funny Business of America (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2009)
Broadway: The American Musical (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2004)
Quincy Jones: In the Pocket (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2001)
American Masters (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1986)
Career shape
A full career of 49 titles from 1986 to 2026.
Biggest box office
Janis: Little Girl Blue (2015)
Highest rated
Art Spiegelman: Disaster Is My Muse (2024)
Most popular right now
Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It (2021)
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored.
Awards
a Primetime Emmy from 8 major nominations, 2005–2020.
- Primetime Emmy, nominated · Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series
- Primetime Emmy, nominated · Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series
- Primetime Emmy, nominated · Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series
- Primetime Emmy, nominated · Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series
- Primetime Emmy, nominated · Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series
- Primetime Emmy, nominated · Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series
- Primetime Emmy, nominated · Outstanding Writing for Nonfiction Programming
- Primetime Emmy, won · Outstanding Nonfiction Series
Major bodies only: the Oscars, Primetime Emmys, Golden Globes, BAFTAs and Screen Actors Guild Awards are named; Cannes, Venice, the Berlinale, Sundance, the directors', writers' and producers' guilds, the Grammys, Critics Choice and the Independent Spirit Awards count as other major bodies. Festival and regional prizes are not counted. Source: IMDb.
How do Michael Kantor's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 89th percentile, the median of all 34; across their 28 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 86th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up27
- 50th to 74th5
- 25th to 49th2
Shape of the crowd
16 of their 34 titles are Crowd Pleasers.
- Universally Loved4
- Cult Classic2
- Crowd Pleaser16
- Mixed12
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Who does Michael Kantor work with?
People who share at least 2 of Michael Kantor's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Regina K. Scully shares the most, 6.
Directors
- Sasha WatersShared titles: Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World (2026), Garry Winogrand: All Things are Photographable (2018)See all 2 shared titles with Sasha Waters
Actors
- Oprah WinfreyShared titles: Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World (2026), Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am (2019)See all 2 shared titles with Oprah Winfrey
Composers and cinematographers
- Kathryn BosticShared titles: Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore (2025), Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It (2021), Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am (2019)See all 3 shared titles with Kathryn Bostic
- Keith WalkerShared titles: Buddy Guy: The Blues Chase the Blues Away (2021), Maya Angelou and Still I Rise (2016)See all 2 shared titles with Keith Walker
- Buddy SquiresShared titles: Oliver Sacks: His Own Life (2019), Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story (2017)See all 2 shared titles with Buddy Squires
- Jenna RosherShared titles: Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You (2016), Janis: Little Girl Blue (2015)See all 2 shared titles with Jenna Rosher
Producers
- Regina K. ScullyShared titles: Ailey (2021), Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It (2021), Oliver Sacks: His Own Life (2019), Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story (2017), Maya Angelou and Still I Rise (2016), Janis: Little Girl Blue (2015)See all 6 shared titles with Regina K. Scully
- Julie SacksShared titles: Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore (2025), Oliver Sacks: His Own Life (2019), Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story (2017), By Sidney Lumet (2015), Janis: Little Girl Blue (2015)See all 5 shared titles with Julie Sacks
- Sally Jo FiferShared titles: Ailey (2021), Oliver Sacks: His Own Life (2019), Words from a Bear (2019), Maya Angelou and Still I Rise (2016)See all 4 shared titles with Sally Jo Fifer
- Geralyn White DreyfousShared titles: Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore (2025), Ailey (2021), Oliver Sacks: His Own Life (2019)See all 3 shared titles with Geralyn White Dreyfous
