Ian Cheney is an Emmy-nominated and Peabody Award-winning documentary filmmaker. He has completed ten feature documentaries, including King Corn (2007), The Greening of Southie (2008), The City Dark (2011), The Search for General Tso (2014), Bluespace (2015), The Most Unknown (2018), The Emoji Story (2019), Thirteen Ways (2019), Picture a Scientist (2020) and The Long Coast (2020). His short films include Two Buckets (2006), Truck Farm (2010), The Melungeons (2013), The Smog of the Sea (2016) and The Measure of a Fog (2017). He received bachelor’s & master’s degrees from Yale University, and an MFA in Film from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. A former MacDowell Fellow & Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT, he lives in midcoast Maine. For more information about Ian’s films, visit www.wickedelicate.com.
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Biography from TMDB.
- Director, producer, writer, cinematographer, editor and actor
- 7 on MovieCove · 22 credits in all
What are Ian Cheney's films like?
Across their 6 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Society and Ideas.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 0 · Earnest 6
Light 3 · Serious 3 · Dark 0
Grounded 6 · Stylized 0 · Heightened 0
Gentle 6 · Charged 0 · Intense 0
Steady 6 · Shifting 0 · Whiplash 0
Straight-faced 3 · Some laughs 3 · Funny 0
Slow burn 6 · Even-paced 0 · Relentless 0
Casual 2 · Engaged 4 · Full focus 0
Easy watch 5 · Affecting 1 · Heavy 0
Resolved 3 · Open-ended 3 · Ambiguous 0
Moods and endings
- Happy1
- Bittersweet1
- Ambiguous4
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 Ian Cheney's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 3 of their 7 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service.
- Curiosity Stream
Subscription and free streaming for Ian Cheney'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
22 credits, 7 with a MovieCove page.
The Work in Progress(2026)
Midcredits score: 75th percentile of all films (provisional, few ratings)
The Last Class (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2025)
Observer (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2025)
Shelf Life (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2024)
Fight Like Hell: The Testimony of Mother Jones (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2023)
The Arc of Oblivion(2023)
Midcredits score: 81st percentile of all films
Picture a Scientist(2020)
Midcredits score: 94th percentile of all films
The Long Coast (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2020)
The Emoji Story(2019)
Midcredits score: 52nd percentile of all films
The Most Unknown (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2018)
The Smog of the Sea (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2017)
Bluespace (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2015)
From This Day Forward(2015)
Midcredits score: 62nd percentile of all films (provisional, few ratings)
Midcredits score: 79th percentile of all films
The Melungeons (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2013)
World Fair (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2013)
The City Dark (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2012)
Truck Farm (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2011)
The Greenhorns (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2010)
Big River (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2010)
The Greening of Southie (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2008)
King Corn(2007)
Midcredits score: 78th percentile of all films
Career shape
A full career of 21 titles from 2007 to 2026.
Biggest box office
King Corn (2007)
Highest rated
The Search for General Tso (2014)
Most popular right now
The Emoji Story (2019)
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.
How do Ian Cheney's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 78th percentile, the median of all 7; across their 6 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 75th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up5
- 50th to 74th2
Shape of the crowd
3 of their 7 titles are Mixed.
- Divisive1
- Cult Classic1
- Crowd Pleaser2
- Mixed3
Reviewers score the atmosphere 64/100 and the pacing 46/100 in their films, across 5 reviewed titles. The element that speaks to their work as a director.
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 Ian Cheney work with?
People who share at least 2 of Ian Cheney's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Simon Beins shares the most, 4.
Composers and editors
- Simon BeinsShared titles: The Work in Progress (2026), The Emoji Story (2019), The Search for General Tso (2014), King Corn (2007)See all 4 shared titles with Simon Beins
- Ben FriesShared titles: The Work in Progress (2026), The Emoji Story (2019), The Search for General Tso (2014)See all 3 shared titles with Ben Fries
- Frederick ShanahanShared titles: The Emoji Story (2019), From This Day Forward (2015), The Search for General Tso (2014)See all 3 shared titles with Frederick Shanahan
Producers
- Meredith DeSalazarShared titles: The Work in Progress (2026), The Arc of Oblivion (2023)See all 2 shared titles with Meredith DeSalazar
- Rebecca TaylorShared titles: The Work in Progress (2026), The Arc of Oblivion (2023)See all 2 shared titles with Rebecca Taylor
- Jennifer 8. LeeShared titles: The Emoji Story (2019), The Search for General Tso (2014)See all 2 shared titles with Jennifer 8. Lee
- Martha ShaneShared titles: The Emoji Story (2019), From This Day Forward (2015)See all 2 shared titles with Martha Shane
