{{Short description|American filmmaker}} {{Use mdy dates|date=October 2013}} {{Infobox person | name = Ian Cheney | image = Ian Cheney.jpg | alt = | caption = Ian Cheney | birth_name = | birth_date = <!-- {{Birth date and age|YYYY|MM|DD}} --> | birth_place = | death_date = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} (death date then birth date) --> | death_place = | nationality = | other_names = | known_for = | occupation = Director, producer }}

'''Ian Cheney''' is an American documentary filmmaker, cinematographer, and producer.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.iancheney.com | title=Ian Cheney |accessdate=April 4, 2014}}</ref>

==Early life and education== Cheney grew up in Massachusetts<ref name=miltonmag>{{cite web |url=http://www.milton.edu/news/upload/magazine_spring05.pdf |title=Ian Cheney '98 &ndash; What's wrong with how America thinks of food? |accessdate=May 12, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101127153428/http://milton.edu/news/upload/magazine_spring05.pdf |archive-date=November 27, 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and Maine,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://bangordailynews.com/2011/07/24/living/maine-filmmaker-has-eyes-on-the-skies |title=Maine filmmaker has eyes on the skies |date=July 24, 2011 |accessdate=May 12, 2012}}</ref> attended The Mountain School, a semester school for high school juniors,<ref>{{Cite web|date=June 9, 2010|title=Meet & Eat: Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis of Truck Farm, a Farm on a Truck|url=http://www.seriouseats.com/2010/06/ian-cheney-and-curt-ellis-of-truck-farm-king-corn-documentary.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201002114213/https://www.seriouseats.com/2010/06/ian-cheney-and-curt-ellis-of-truck-farm-king-corn-documentary.html|archive-date=October 2, 2020|website=seriouseats.com}}</ref> and graduated from Milton Academy in 1998.<ref name=miltonmag/> Cheney received bachelor's and master's degrees from Yale University in 2002 and 2003.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.aya.yale.edu/event/honolulu-screening-city-dark-ian-cheney-02 |title=Honolulu Screening of 'The City Dark' by Ian Cheney '02 |accessdate=May 12, 2012 |archive-date=December 3, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203004756/http://www.aya.yale.edu/event/honolulu-screening-city-dark-ian-cheney-02 |url-status=dead }}</ref> He received his Master of Fine Arts in Filmmaking from the Vermont College of Fine Arts in 2018.<ref>{{cite web | title=Ian Cheney's ('18) films, THIRTEEN WAYS and PICTURE CHARACTER, premiere &#124; VCFA MFA in Film Blog | date=March 22, 2019 | url=https://storyboard.vcfa.edu/ian-cheneys-18-films-thirteen-ways-and-picture-character-premiere-in-dc-and-tribeca/ }}</ref>

==Career== He shared a Peabody Award in 2008 for ''King Corn'', which he co-produced and starred in.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.peabody.uga.edu/winners/winners_2000s.php#2008 |title=Complete List of 2008 Peabody Award Winners |access-date=May 7, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111031044823/http://www.peabody.uga.edu/winners/winners_2000s.php#2008 |archive-date=October 31, 2011 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> In 2011, he and longtime collaborator Curt Ellis received the 17th Annual Heinz Award with special focus on the environment, becoming the youngest recipients to receive the Heinz Award.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Heinz Awards: Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis|url=http://www.heinzawards.net/recipients/ian-cheney-curt-ellis|website=The Heinz Awards}}</ref> Cheney received an Emmy nomination in 2013 for his film ''The City Dark'', which aired on PBS' POV.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/pov/pressroom/2013/pov-films-nominated-for-9-news-documentary-emmy-awards.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130717030754/http://www.pbs.org/pov/pressroom/2013/pov-films-nominated-for-9-news-documentary-emmy-awards.php |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 17, 2013 | title=POV Films Nominated for 9 News and Documentary Emmy Awards | website=PBS |accessdate=April 4, 2014}}</ref>

Cheney's 2018 film, ''The Most Unknown'', was released in theaters in May, then on Netflix in 25 languages in the summer,<ref>{{Cite web|last=Spangler|first=Todd|date=2018-04-20|title=Vice Inks Netflix, Theatrical Deals for Motherboard's 'The Most Unknown' Science Documentary (EXCLUSIVE)|url=https://variety.com/2018/digital/news/netflix-vice-motherboard-most-unknown-documentary-theatrical-1202764193/|access-date=2022-01-16|website=Variety|language=en-US}}</ref> and finally posted in nine individual episodes in YouTube.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|date=2018-08-24|title=''The Most Unknown'' Available on Netflix, Youtube|url=https://www.simonsfoundation.org/2018/08/24/the-most-unknown-selected-to-open-major-film-festival/|access-date=2022-01-09|website=Simons Foundation|language=en-US}}</ref>

Cheney runs Wicked Delicate Films, a documentary film production company based in Maine.<ref name="Wicked Delicate Films">[http://wickedelicate.com Wicked Delicate Films]</ref> He is a co-founder and former member of the board of directors of the FoodCorps non-profit organization.<ref>[http://foodcorps.org/about/our-team-1/our-board-of-directors FoodCorps directors] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121123043733/http://foodcorps.org/about/our-team-1/our-board-of-directors |date=November 23, 2012}}</ref> He is the brother of poet Colin Cheney.<ref>{{cite web|title=Colin Cheney: The City Dark|url=https://www.colincheney.com/the-city-dark|accessdate=April 18, 2019|archive-date=April 18, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190418143922/https://www.colincheney.com/the-city-dark|url-status=dead}}</ref>

His film ''The Long Coast'' premiered at a virtual version of the Camden International Film Festival in October 2020.<ref>{{cite web|last=Keough |first=Peter |date=September 17, 2020|title=At this year's Camden International Film Festival: surveying the Maine coast, tracking down Berlin Wall segments, and targeting suspects overseas - The Boston Globe|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/09/17/arts/this-years-camden-international-film-festival-surveying-maine-coast-tracking-down-berlin-wall-segments-targeting-suspects-overseas/|access-date=2020-12-21|website=BostonGlobe.com}}</ref>

His most recent films include ''Picture a Scientist'' (2020), ''The Arc of Oblivion (2023)'', ''Shelf Life (2024)'' and ''Observer (2025).'' He has completed fourteen feature-length documentaries. <ref name="wicked">{{cite web |url=https://www.wickedelicate.com}}</ref>

==Filmography== *''King Corn'' (2007), Co-creator, Co-producer, Cinematographer, Writer *''The Greening of Southie'' (2009), Director, Editor<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.greeningofsouthie.com | title=The Greening of Southie |accessdate=April 4, 2014}}</ref> *''Truck Farm'' (2011), Director<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.truckfarm.org/ |title=Truck Farm |accessdate=April 4, 2014 |archive-date=April 7, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407082008/http://www.truckfarm.org/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> *''The City Dark'' (2012), Director<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thecitydark.com | title=The City Dark |accessdate=April 4, 2014}}</ref> *''The Melungeons'' (2013), Director<ref name="Wicked Delicate Films"/> *''The Search for General Tso'' (2014), Director<ref>{{cite web |url=http://tribecafilm.com/filmguide/53208ae0c07f5df7d2000729-search-for-general-tso |title=The Search for General Tso |accessdate=April 4, 2014 |archive-date=April 13, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413012700/http://tribecafilm.com/filmguide/53208ae0c07f5df7d2000729-search-for-general-tso |url-status=dead }}</ref> *''Bluespace'' (2015), Director <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.docnyc.net/film/bluespace/// |title=Bluespace |accessdate=November 21, 2020}}</ref> *''The Smog of the Sea'' (2017), Director *''The Most Unknown'' (2018), Director <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8126390/ |title=The Most Unknown |date=August 9, 2018 |publisher=IMDb |accessdate=October 8, 2018}}</ref> *''The Emoji Story'' (2019), Director <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theemojistory.com/#crew |title=The Emoji Story |accessdate=June 15, 2021}}</ref> *''Thirteen Ways'' (2019), Director <ref>{{cite web |url=https://dceff.org/film/thirteen-ways/ |title=Thirteen Ways |accessdate=November 17, 2020}}</ref> *''Picture a Scientist'' (2020), Director <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pictureascientist.com/ |title=Picture a Scientist |accessdate=November 21, 2020}}</ref> *''The Long Coast'' (2020), Director <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.thelongcoast.me/ |title=The Long Coast |accessdate=November 21, 2020}}</ref> *''Postcards from Vershire'' (2021), Director <ref name="wicked" /> *''The Arc of Oblivion'' (2023), Director <ref name="wicked" /> *''Shelf Life'' (2024), Director <ref name="wicked" /> *''Observer'' (2025), Director <ref name="wicked" /> *''The Last Class'' (2025), Executive Producer <ref name="wicked" />

==References== {{Reflist|2}}

==External links== *{{IMDb name|id=2782976|name=Ian Cheney}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cheney, Ian}} Category:Living people Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:American documentary filmmakers Category:Film producers from Massachusetts Category:American cinematographers Category:Peabody Award winners Category:Yale University alumni Category:Milton Academy alumni Category:Film producers from Maine