Beth Harrington is a film director/producer based in Vancouver, Washington. She was born in Boston and received her master's degree from the University of Massachusetts Boston. She worked as a back-up singer for Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers on the Warner BrosSire Records label from 1980 to 1984 prior to shifting to film. Her most recent work explored little-known facts in the history of popular American music "with a Grammy nomination under her belt for her film, “Welcome to the Club: The Women of Rockabilly.” It took her twelve years to create her most recent work, "The Winding Stream, The Cashes and the Course of Country Music" in which she was one of the last people to interview Johnny Cash while he was still alive. Her previous work is what she has described as what, "straddles the line between objective journalistic integrity and a passion for every subject." Her documentary "The Blinking Madonna and Other Miracles" examines the beliefs of a community that Harrington lived in, the North End of Boston. When she asked the residents of the North End community if the Madonna really blinked at her or if it was a glitch in the camera, it revealed an aspect of the North End that she had not observed before. Although she did not grow up there, "After college, Harrington went to live in the North End of Boston. Though not originally of the neighborhood, she is - though not too quickly - accepted by her neighbors. They show concern for her when her thirteen-year relationship with her boyfriend ends. In an effort to distract her, they encourage her to videotape the annual feast." In her latest project, Harrington shifts from documentary to narrative film-making with The Musicianer. It tells the story of a 1920s-era singer who inadvertently becomes immortal. Production on the web series pilot began in spring 2017.
Filmography
Producer/Director/Writer Oregon Art Beat: Allen Say Producer/Director/Writer Reed Producer/Director/Writer Producer/Director/Writer Producer/Director/Writer Oregon Art Beat: Carter Family III at the American Roots Music Fest Producer/Director/Writer Producer/Director/Writer Producer/Director/Writer Gates of the Arctic Co-Producer Co-Producer/Director/Writer Oregon Art Beat: Pete Beeman’s Simple Machines Producer/Director/Writer Producer/Director/Writer Director Apollo 13: To the Edge and Back Associate Producer Frontline: The Health Care Gamble Associate Producer NOVA: In the Path of a Killer Volcano Associate Producer Dating in the Age of AIDS Line Producer The Moveable Feast Producer/Director/Writer The Moveable Feast Producer/Director/Writer NOVA: Can the Elephant Be Saved? Associate Producer Firepower Associate Producer/Writer Ave Maria Producer/Director/Writer Countdown to Disaster Associate Producer
