Ian Cheney is an acclaimed documentary filmmaker, recognized with an Emmy nomination and a Peabody Award. Born and raised in New England, he pursued his academic endeavors at Yale University, earning both his bachelor's and master's degrees.
After completing his education, Ian co-created, co-produced, and starred in the feature documentary King Corn, which premiered on PBS in 2007 and received a prestigious George Foster Peabody Award in 2009. He went on to direct The Greening of Southie, a documentary that garnered attention from The New Yorker and Good Morning America, as well as Truck Farm, a film that explores urban agriculture in New York City.
Ian's subsequent projects include The City Dark, a documentary that sheds light on light pollution and the disappearance of the night, The Search for General Tso, a feature documentary that delves into the world of American Chinese food, Bluespace, which examines the terraforming of Mars and the waterways of New York City, and The Smog of the Sea, a collaborative project with musician Jack Johnson that focuses on microplastics in the sea.
Ian's most recent film, The Most Unknown, is a feature documentary that profiles nine scientists working on the fringes of human knowledge. Throughout his career, he has also produced short films for prominent publications such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Guardian, and The Undark.
Ian is a co-founder of FoodCorps, a nationwide public service organization, and in 2011, he and his longtime collaborator Curt Ellis received the Heinz Award for their work in sustainability. Ian was also a Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT from 2014-2015 and has served as a visiting professor at the Università degli Studi di Scienze Gastronomiche in Italy. Currently, he is an adjunct professor at Yale College.
Ian resides in Maine with his wife, Amanda Murray, a curator and film producer, and their son, Kepler.
