Greg Whiteley: Mormon Filmmaker
Greg Whiteley is a documentary filmmaker and is known for directing and producing New York Doll (2005), and writing, directing, and producing Resolved (2007), Mitt (2014), and Most Likely to Succeed (2015). New York Doll was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. Resolved received two Emmy Award nominations (Best Documentary, Editing). New York Doll explores the life of bassist Arthur "Killer" Kane and his band as well as his conversion to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Resolved follows the story of a high school debate team. For Mitt, Whiteley spent six years filming with Romney’s family during both occasions he decided to run for president and then during his campaigns. Most Likely to Succeed explores the education system in the United States and proposes ideas for its reform.
He is the creator, executive producer, and director of the Netflix documentary series “Cheer” and “Last Chance U.” “Cheer” was both critically and commercially successful — a “home run” by industry standards. It won three Emmys in 2022 in directing, editing, and “outstanding unstructured reality series” categories. “Last Chance U,” also an Emmy winner and the longest-running sports documentary series on Netflix, is going on its seventh season at the end of 2022.[1]
Whiteley was born in Provo, Utah, and raised in Bellevue, Washington. He is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ and served as a missionary from 1989 to 1991 to the Navajo Nation in New Mexico.
- His mission to New Mexico instilled in him newfound confidence and he caught himself thinking about his future profession: “Daily, you’re put in uncomfortable situations, and you survive all of them,” he says of his mission and how it helped him gain confidence.
He wanted to follow the career path of his father, whom he idolized. But he "caught the filmmaking bug" in college and after his mission, he spoke to his father about his career plans.
His father's comment, ‘I always knew you’d do something like that,’ helped Whiteley through difficult years of "wondering" if his filmmaking career "was going to work out."
With his wife, Erin, he formed One Potato Productions, an homage to his father who grew up on an Idaho potato farm.
He earned his bachelor’s degree in film from Brigham Young University and his MFA in film from the Art Center College of Design. He won two Clio Student awards in 1999 for his films "Pepsi" and "Krazy Glue." He had a role in the movie Breaking Free.
Whiteley and his wife are the parents of two children.
