DENNIS GOULDEN

'Dennis Goulden' is a documentarian who has worked as a cameraman, editor, writer, executive producer, producer and director on hundreds of films, and has received over a dozen Emmys and hundreds of other awards for his many years of work.

Contents

Early Years

''Montage''

After ''Montage''

WVIZ

Later Years

External Websites

Early Years

Goulden was born in London, Ontario.^[1] As a child he knew he wanted to be a filmmaker, and bought his first camera when he was twelve. He graduated from London South Collegiate Institute in 1954, and began working for CFPL-TV in London, Ontario the next year. He served four years in the Royal Canadian Air Force Reserve while beginning his television career as “a prop man at CFPL. That meant setting scenery up, and doing any dirty work necessary. Canadian TV was five years behind America in program development but management at CFPL were incredibly supportive of their creative staff and allowed them to create many first-of types of programs. I got in on the ground floor.”^[2] By 1959, he began producing documentaries at CFPL and in 1960 began producing a new documentary series ''The World Around Us'', which won several Canadian awards. In 1964 he moved to Cleveland, Ohio to produce documentaries for Westinghouse-owned KYW-TV. He worked on a Dr. Benjamin Spock documentary named "The Victims" produced in cooperation with the Anti-Defamation League out of New York that eventually won a silver medal at the Cannes Film Festival. Goulden also produced long-form documentaries for a Westinghouse series called ''Focal Point Poverty'' with hosts like Carl Stern and Bud Dancy.

''Montage''

In 1955, NBC forced Westinghouse to trade its NBC-affiliated Philadelphia WPTZ-TV to NBC in exchange for WNBK-TV in Cleveland. In 1965, NBC was forced to reverse the trade on orders from the FCC and Justice Department. When NBC regained control of the Cleveland station, it renamed it WKYC-TV and moved several shows from Philadelphia to Cleveland. One of these was the documentary series called ''Montage'', and in 1966 Goulden became executive producer of the show on NBC’s recently reacquired owned-and-operated station.
''Montage'' profiled local personalities, such as the musical directors of the Cleveland Orchestra Lorin Maazel and George Szell, and Cleveland Browns coach Paul Brown, and national ones such as Olympic skater Jo Jo Starbuck and Oscar-nominated actor William Gargan. The shows were sometimes narrated by celebrities such as Bill Cosby and Robert Stack. It also looked at national issues with a local perspective. Pollution, race, homosexuality, drugs, crime, housing, education, medical advancements, the Vietnam War, and many other issues were examined. The ''Montage'' unit travelled to Australia, Asia, Europe, and South America to pursue stories. These shows were often broadcast on the other NBC owned-and-operated stations, PBS stations, and others.
Goulden held that position until 1978, when ''Montage'' was cancelled. During that time over 300 episodes were produced. The show won dozens of Emmys and dozens more nominations, and hundreds of other awards. Many of the completed shows, as well as raw footage, audio tapes, scripts, and production notes were given to the library at Cleveland State University in 1980.

After ''Montage''

Dennis Goulden continued to work and WKYC as executive producer of their ''Probe 3'' investigative unit until 1980, at which time he began his own production house, “North Coast Productions.” He produced shows for the rapidly expanding cable market, including ''You Asked For It''. Goulden travelled extensively to Australia and West Africa during that period. In 1982 he contracted with WEWS-TV, where he became Special Projects Producer. He worked mainly with the news division, tightening up their standards and producing specials. His work at WEWS won him two more Emmys.^[3]

WVIZ

In 1984 Goulden became Local Programing Director of WVIZ-TV, the Cleveland PBS station. The station, under the tenure of founder and president Betty Cope, had emphasized production of educational programming for schools. Cope wanted Goulden to apply his skills to the creation of innovative local programming. During the next 4 years came the creation of a number of programs and series. ''Kovels On Collecting'' was a showcase for the antique experts Ralph and Terry Kovel. ''Producers Showcase'' gave new producers a venue to show their work. ''MediScene'' was a medical series hosted by ex-nurse M. R. Berger, and went on to win an Emmy. ''Dimension'' was modeled along the lines of CBS' Sunday Morning and aired monthly. ''CookSmart'' was hosted by Susie Heller, and guests included Jacques Pepin and Julia Child. He gave Larry Elder (now a nationally syndicated radio host) his first show. He also produced specials, such as a Paul Meincke-hosted special on the tenth anniversary of busing in Cleveland, an hour special on Margaret Bourke White, and many others. He credits Betty Cope with their creation because, Goulden says, she let him experiment.^[4]

Later Years

After stepping down from his PBS job in mid-1988, Goulden became Director of Programming and Executive Producer of North Coast Cable. While there, he continued to produce shows featuring the Kovels and Larry Elder, who moved to cable with Goulden, and programming for cable stations such as the Discovery Channel, Bravo, CNBC and HGTV. He currently produces special projects at WKYC, where he has won Emmys for his work on Dateline-Cleveland.

External Websites

★ The Kovels website

★ ''Montage'' collection at Cleveland State University