Talk:Whitney Dow
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Start a discussion about improving the Whitney Dow page,
[edit] | The user below has a request that an edit be made to Whitney Dow. That user has an actual or apparent conflict of interest. The requested edits backlog is very high. Please be extremely patient. There are currently 913 requests waiting for review. Please read the instructions for the parameters used by this template for accepting and declining them, and review the request below and make the edit if it is well sourced, neutral, and follows other Wikipedia guidelines and policies. Remember to set the |answered= parameter to "yes" when the request has been accepted, rejected or on hold awaiting user input. |
I am Whitney Dow, the subject of this article, and therefore have a conflict of interest. I am requesting that an independent editor review the following updates to the article. I have tried to keep the proposed changes factual and supported by published sources.
1. Update the introductory paragraph
I propose updating the introduction to reflect more recent work. Suggested language:
Whitney Dow (born October 10, 1961) is an American documentary filmmaker, producer, and director. He is best known for Two Towns of Jasper, co-directed with Marco Williams, which received a George Foster Peabody Award and an Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award. His other directing credits include I Sit Where I Want: The Legacy of Brown v. Board of Education, Unfinished Country, When the Drum Is Beating, and The Big Payback, co-directed with Erika Alexander.
I have intentionally not included the existing characterization that my work focuses primarily on race and identity, since my documentary work has covered a broader range of subjects.
2. Add The Big Payback
In 2022, Dow co-directed and produced The Big Payback with Erika Alexander. The documentary follows Robin Rue Simmons and the effort to establish a reparations program for Black residents of Evanston, Illinois. It premiered at the Tribeca Festival and was broadcast nationally on PBS's Independent Lens in January 2023.
PBS/Independent Lens lists Dow and Alexander as directors and producers:
https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/documentaries/the-big-payback/
3. Add Academy membership
In 2020, Dow was invited to join the Documentary Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
The Academy's 2020 new-member announcement lists Whitney Dow in the Documentary branch, citing When the Drum Is Beating and Two Towns of Jasper:
https://www.oscars.org/newmembers2020/pdf/2020_new_members.pdf
4. Add/update filmography
I would also appreciate an editor reviewing and updating the filmography to include more recent and currently omitted credits. Proposed additions include:
- The Big Payback (2022) — Co-director, producer
- After the Bite (2023) — Executive producer
- Ask E. Jean (2025) — Consulting producer
There are also earlier producing and executive-producing credits that appear to be absent from the current article, including Freedom Summer, Banished: How Whites Drove Blacks Out of Town in America, The Undocumented, Toots, and Among the Believers. I would be happy to provide reliable sources for the exact credits if an editor believes these are appropriate for inclusion.
I am also currently directing and producing the documentary ORCA. Because it is still in production, I leave it to independent editors to determine whether there is sufficient independent sourcing for it to be included at this stage.
I would appreciate an independent editor reviewing these requests and making whatever changes are consistent with Wikipedia's sourcing, neutrality, and biographical policies. I am happy to provide additional sources or clarification as needed.
Thank you. Whitney157 (talk) 15:23, 23 August 2026 (UTC)