JILL A. HARGRAVE
Producer/Writer/Editor
Jill A. Hargrave is Creator and President of EagleVision Productions, Inc. a 501(c)(3) nonprofit production company. Hargrave is an award-winning independent producer who had a long-standing relationship with New Jersey Network Public Television (NJN) until the State of New Jersey closed it down in 2011. Over the years, Hargrave produced a number of Emmy-nominated documentaries for NJN. From 2005 until 2010, Hargrave also served on the staff of the NJN Foundation as its Director of Grants Development. The NJN Foundation was the fundraising arm of NJN and Hargrave successfully raised funds for many NJN productions and community and educational outreach projects. From November 2010 to April 2012, Hargrave served as the Development Director for the Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown, NJ before relocating to Vero Beach, Florida.
Hargrave first joined NJN in 1988 as part of the Target New Jersey documentary unit. That year, she produced Going Home Alone, an insightful documentary that examines the shortage of affordable child care in New Jersey, and the dilemma of latch-key children. During her four years on staff, she produced a variety of documentaries including two Emmy-nominated programs, Myths of Aging and Teen Reunion: A Glasnost Experience. Myths of Aging addresses ageism in America and compares intergenerational relationships and family structures here and in Japan. Teen Reunion: A Glasnost Experience documented the experiences and impressions of seven Russian teens visiting America for the first time. Hargrave also produced a five-part NJN News series, Woodstock: Making History, commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Woodstock Rock Festival; and Assignment Japan, a four-part NJN News series shot on location in Tokyo, Kyoto and Fukui.
From 1992 to 2005, Hargrave continued to produce, write, and edit award-winning documentaries for NJN as an independent. Following is a list of some of the NJN documentaries she produced during this period:
A Conversation with Mary Robinson, 2005 Emmy Award Nomination for Talk Program/One Time Only Special – Mid-Atlantic Chapter, is a 30-minute one-on-one interview with Mary Robinson, the former President of Ireland and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Conducted by NJN News Anchor, Kent Manahan, the interview with a video introduction covers various aspects of Robinson’s life with a focus on global issues, her role as President of Ireland, and her personal life.
Teaching Over Time, New Jersey Broadcasters Association’s 2004 Best of the Best Public Affairs Award – is a 90-minute special depicting the history of New Jersey’s Public Schools from the one-room schoolhouse of yesteryear to the computer-driven classroom today. The Museum of Broadcast Communications requested this program for its Peabody Collection archives, featuring the work of the finest documentarians. The documentary was also named a finalist in NHK’s Japan Prize.
Cutting Edge New Jersey, 2002 Emmy Award Nomination for Health and Science Program – Mid-Atlantic Chapter, focused on the need to encourage and excite students about the field of mathematics and the sciences.
The Candidates, 2000 Philadelphia Press Award, Best Television Magazine Feature and 2001 Emmy Award Nomination for Public Affairs Program/OTO Special – Mid-Atlantic Chapter, profiled the lives of New Jersey’s U.S. Senate candidates Jon S. Corzine (D) and Congressman Bob Franks (R).
The Lost Kingdom, shot on location in Israel, chronicled the experiences of a team of archaeologists from New Jersey as they excavated a site thought to be the Lost City of Geshur in the Golan Heights.
Pure Water: Green vs Green and Preserving Pure Water focused on the effects that development in Sterling Forest, New York would have on New Jersey’s water supply. These documentaries gave environmentalists, developers and politicians the opportunity to address a wider audience about the pros and cons of developing this land. Due to pressure by environmentalists, the U.S. Government eventually stepped in and signed a bill that preserves Sterling Forest as open space.
In 1997, Hargrave developed funding for Speak of Me As I Am, an NJN and British Broadcasting Corporation co-production, documenting the life and times of Paul Robeson, a great 20th Century African American that aired in April 1998. As NJN’s co-producer, Hargrave worked closely with an educator to produce the teacher’s guide and a timeline poster that was packaged with the documentary. She produced and edited a 7-minute video introduction to the program, recruiting Oscar-winning actor, Cuba Gooding, Jr. as the on-camera host. Hargrave also designed and implemented a successful nationwide marketing plan, distributing the educational package to schools and libraries.
Hargrave also produced, wrote and edited Gift of Smiles in 1997, a heart-warming, half-hour NJN documentary, shot on location in the Philippines, profiling Operation Smile, a humanitarian organization of volunteer doctors and support personnel who perform cleft lip and palate operations on children and adults in developing nations.
Hargrave received the 1996 Philadelphia Press Award, Best Television Magazine Feature, for the NJN production Rap on Teen Violence, an innovative 30-minute documentary using custom rap music to tell the story instead of a narrator. The program was distributed to other public television stations through APS. In 1996, Hargrave also co-produced NJN’s Born to Politics, a profile of Governor Christine Todd Whitman hosted and narrated and by CNN’s Judy Woodruff.
Aside from documentaries, Hargrave has produced several half-hour programs for Animal Planet’s A Pet Story. She has produced and edited many segments for NJN’s Discover New Jersey, a half-hour, magazine-format program that focused on things to do and see in the Garden State. Hargrave is an Emmy-nominated segment producer for Caucus: New Jersey. She also produced a season of NJN’s Inside Science, a half-hour program featuring a 4-minute video introduction followed by a studio discussion with renowned experts in the scientific field on a variety of topics.
Hargrave started her career in broadcasting as a member of the acclaimed documentary team at WCBS-TV's Eye On New York. It was there that she developed a preference for that genre. She believes it to be the ideal format for exploring social and political issues, offering a degree of in-depth coverage rarely experienced in television today. Hargrave moved to California in the early 1980’s and worked on a number of projects including NBC-TV’s Fantasy, which gave her experience in that network's entertainment division. Then Hargrave moved back East in 1986 to work for ABC-TV News in New York.
Born in Croydon, England, Hargrave came to the United States in 1974 and obtained a degree in journalism, Magna cum Laude, from Pace University in White Plains, New York. For three years, she was a reporter and Editor-in-Chief of the college newspaper, The Prestonian. Hargrave now resides in Vero Beach, Florida.
