{{short description|American journalist and filmmaker|bot=PearBOT 5}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2018}} {{Infobox person | name = Laura Checkoway | image = | birth_date = | birth_place = | occupation = Director, producer, editor, screenwriter and journalist | years_active = | website = {{URL|http://www.lauracheckoway.com/}} }}
'''Laura Checkoway''' is a documentary filmmaker and writer, known for her documentary ''Edith+Eddie'' for which she received an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject nomination at the 90th Academy Awards.<ref name="Nom90th">{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-42788267 |title=Oscars 2018: The list of nominees in full |work=BBC News |date=January 23, 2018 |accessdate=January 23, 2018}}</ref> The film also received an Emmy nomination<ref>{{Cite web |title=Abacus, Edith+Eddie earn Emmy® nominations |url=https://kartemquin.com/news/abacus-editheddie-earn-emmy%C2%AE-nominations |access-date=2023-01-25 |website=Kartemquin Films |language=en}}</ref> and won numerous awards including the IDA Documentary Awards Best Short.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Edith+Eddie wins Best Short at 2017 IDA Awards |url=https://kartemquin.com/news/editheddie-wins-best-short-at-2017-ida-awards |access-date=2023-01-25 |website=Kartemquin Films |language=en}}</ref> In The New Yorker, critic Richard Brody wrote: “One of the most impressive aspects of Checkoway’s film is that, with a simple and straightforward approach, she brings the overwhelming force of abstract institutions seemingly onto the screen.”<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-03-03 |title=Two Standouts Among the 2018 Oscar-Nominated Documentary Shorts |url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/two-standouts-among-the-2018-oscar-nominated-documentary-shorts |access-date=2023-01-25 |website=The New Yorker |language=en-US}}</ref> Academy Award winning filmmaker Julia Reichert called ''Edith+Eddie'' "One of the most beautiful and quietly furious films I've ever seen." Checkoway's documentary ''The Cave of Adullam''<ref>{{Cite web |last=Complex |first=Valerie |date=2022-05-31 |title=Actor Laurence Fishburne Documentary About Jason Wilson ‘The Cave Of Adullam’ To Have World Premiere At Tribeca; Directed By Laura Checkoway |url=https://deadline.com/2022/05/actor-laurence-fishburne-documentary-the-cave-of-adullam-1235035448/ |access-date=2023-01-25 |website=Deadline |language=en-US}}</ref> is executive produced by Laurence Fishburne and premiered at Tribeca Film Festival in 2022, winning top prizes Best Documentary Feature, Best Editing, and the Audience Award.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lewis |first=Hilary |date=2022-06-16 |title=Tribeca Festival: ‘Good Girl Jane,’ ‘The Cave of Adullam’ Among Top Competition Winners |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/2022-tribeca-festival-award-winners-competition-1235167121/ |access-date=2023-01-25 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |language=en-US}}</ref> In an interview with Deadline, Fishburne said: “She has a cinematic sensitivity and a doctor’s bedside manner... Laura doesn’t impose her personality or her energy onto anything. It boils down to her humanity and her ability to see the humanity in all…” <ref>{{Cite web |last=Complex |first=Valerie |date=2022-06-13 |title=‘The Cave Of Adullam’s Laurence Fishburne & Jason Wilson Discuss The Story Of How They Connected To Create The Documentary: Q&A |url=https://deadline.com/2022/06/the-cave-of-adullam-interview-laurence-fishburne-1235044435/ |access-date=2023-03-21 |website=Deadline |language=en-US}}</ref> The film was released by ESPN Films. She received NYWIFT’s Excellence in Documentary Filmmaking Award<ref>{{Cite web |title=NYWIFT Presents 10 Scholarships and 14 Festival Awards throughout 2022 |url=https://www.nywift.org/nywift-presents-10-scholarships-and-14-festival-awards-throughout-2022/ |access-date=2023-01-25 |website=New York Women in Film & Television |language=en-US}}</ref> in 2022.
With a background in journalism, Checkoway was a writer for numerous publications including Vibe and Rolling Stone.
Checkoway wrote the 05 February 2008 ''Village Voice'' cover story entitled "Prodigy's 25th Hour."<ref>{{Cite web|date=2008-02-05|title=Prodigy's 25th Hour|url=https://www.villagevoice.com/2008/02/05/prodigys-25th-hour/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170627213534/https://www.villagevoice.com/2008/02/05/prodigys-25th-hour/|url-status=dead|archive-date=27 June 2017|access-date=2022-02-22|website=The Village Voice}}</ref> In 2011, Simon & Schuster published ''My Infamous Life: The Autobiography of Mobb Deep’s Prodigy'', a memoir co-authored by Checkoway and Prodigy. This work has been described in the Ringer as being "one of the best music autobiographies ever."<ref>{{Cite web|last=Kwak|first=Donnie|date=2017-06-23|title=How Prodigy Told His Life Story|url=https://www.theringer.com/2017/6/23/16044150/my-infamous-life-prodigy-autobiography-laura-checkoway-1091f209b102|access-date=2022-02-22|website=The Ringer|language=en}}</ref>
==Filmography== *2025: ''The Cat Man Eshete'' (Documentary short)<ref>{{Cite web |title=THE CAT MAN ESHETE by Laura Checkoway @ Brooklyn Film Festival |url=https://www.brooklynfilmfestival.org/film-detail?fid=2930 |access-date=2025-11-18 |language=en-US}}</ref> *2022: ''The Cave of Adullam'' (Documentary feature) Executive producer Laurence Fishburne. *2017: Edith+Eddie (Documentary short) Executive producers Steve James and Cher.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ford |first=Rebecca |date=2018-02-23 |title=Cher on ‘Edith+Eddie’: "They Were Not Treated Like People" |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/cher-edith-eddie-they-were-not-treated-like-people-1087030/ |access-date=2023-01-25 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |language=en-US}}</ref> *2016: ''Wolffland'' (Documentary short about artist Mia Wolff)<ref>{{Cite web |title='Wolffland' Short Documentary |url=http://www.lauracheckoway.com/wolffland |access-date=2025-11-18 |website=Laura Checkoway |language=en-US}}</ref> *2014: ''Lucky'' (Documentary feature) Executive producer Steve James.<ref>{{Cite web|title=LUCKY - Cinema Guild Non-Theatrical|url=http://store.cinemaguild.com/nontheatrical/product/2500.html|access-date=2022-02-22|website=store.cinemaguild.com}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{Official website|http://www.lauracheckoway.com/}} * {{IMDb name|5323949}} * [https://lief.studio/filmmakers/laura-checkoway/ Commercial representation at Lief] {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Checkoway, Laura}} Category:Living people Category:American documentary film producers Category:American documentary film directors Category:American photographers Category:Year of birth missing (living people)