About Gail Pellett

Gail Pellet has written, directed, and produced television and radio documentaries and public affairs programs for more than forty years, addressing a broad spectrum of issues, events, and ideas with a common theme of social justice, from reconciliation in South Africa to human rights crimes in El Salvador, from religious approaches to the global environmental crisis, to end of life choices and the history of slavery in eighteenth century America. After producing with Bill Moyers at PBS for thirteen years, she formed her own independent documentary production company in 1995. She has also produced and reported for The MacNeil/Lehrer News Hour, NPR’s All Things Considered and Morning Edition, the Canadian Broadcasting Company, NBC’s Today Show, and WBAI-FM in New York as well as WBCN-FM in Boston and KPFA-FM in Berkeley. Her work has earned numerous awards, including a DuPont-Columbia Gold Baton; two George Foster Peabody Awards; a Cine Golden Eagle; National Education Film & Video Gold, Bronze, and Silver awards; Wilbur and Christopher Awards; and five National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Emmy Nominations. Her articles have appeared in the Washington Post magazine, Mother Jones, the Village Voice, New Age and the American Way. Her feature articles have also appeared on various webzines: Truthout, Common Dreams, Moyers Media and Trans-Asian Photographic Review.

Forbidden Fruit is Pellett’s first work that turns a lens and microphone on her own life, thought, and feeling. Every film, every radio program, every article was challenging, but this work of memoir was the most difficult of all. She lives in New York City and Oaxaca, Mexico.