Max Roach: The Drum Also Waltzes

You can watch the trailer here. Please note that this first-look preview is a rough cut.

directed by Sam Pollard and Ben Shapiro

MAX ROACH: THE DRUM ALSO WALTZES explores the life and music of the legendary drummer, bandleader, and social activist – a remarkable series of creative peaks, personal struggles, and reinventions – from Jim Crow to the Civil Rights years, from the heady days of post-war modern jazz to hip hop and beyond.

Filmmaking Team

Sam Pollard, Co-Director/Producer

Sam Pollard is an accomplished feature film and television editor, and documentary producer/director whose work spans more than thirty years. He was producer of the series Eyes On The Prize II: America at the Racial Crossroads, and I’ll Make Me A World: Stories of African-American Artists and Community, which received The George Peabody Award.

Together with Spike Lee, Mr. Pollard co-produced Four Little Girls, about the 1963

Birmingham church bombings, which was nominated for an Academy Award, and When

The Levees Broke, which received a Peabody and three Emmy Awards. Mr. Pollard has

produced/directed feature-length documentaries including: Slavery By Another Name

(PBS), August Wilson: The Ground On Which I Stand (PBS/American Masters), the

critically-acclaimed MLK/FBI (2020); Black Art: In the Absence of Light (2021), Lowndes

County and the Road to Black Power (2022). He won the Peabody Career Achievement

Award for “individuals whose work and commitment to broadcasting and digital media

have left an indelible mark on the field and in American culture.”

Ben Shapiro, Co-Director/Producer/Cinematographer

Ben Shapiro is a filmmaker and audio producer who has received many awards including Peabodys. He was the director and cinematographer of Gregory Crewdson: Brief Encounters about the noted photographer, which premiered at South by Southwest, followed by international theatrical release and broadcast. He was a producer for two Peabody-award-winning public television series and has been a cameraperson for projects by Sam Pollard, Katy Chevigny, and Barbara Kopple among others, and documentaries for PBS’ American Masters.

For 25 years he has been an editor and producer at Radio Diaries, creating numerous

audio pieces airing on NPR’s All Things Considered. Shapiro teaches at the School of

Journalism at Columbia University.

Russell Greene, Editor

Russell Greene has over 20 years of experience, with feature credits including: And We Go Green (2019), The Automat (2019), Harold Prince: The Director’s Life (PBS Great Performances), Blue Note Records: Beyond The Notes (Tribeca 2018), Tribal Justice (Full Frame, POV), The Witness (Emmy Nominee Best Doc, New York FF, Academy Award Short List), Famous Nathan (Tribeca Film Festival), Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction (Venice Film Festival, SXSW) and Ordinary Miracles.