Ivy Meeropol

Ivy Meeropol (born October 13, 1968) is an American director and producer of documentaries for film and television, known for Indian Point and Heir to an Execution. She is the daughter of Michael Meeropol and Ann Karus Meeropol and granddaughter of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, and adoptive granddaughter of Abel Meeropol (pen name: Lewis Allan), author of "Strange Fruit" and "The House I Live In". A graduate of Sarah Lawrence College, she served as a legislative aide to Congressman Harry Johnston.

Career

Meeropol worked as a speechwriter and legislative aide to Congressman Harry Johnston of Florida, and then began a career as a journalist, publishing articles in The New York Times, O, The Oprah Magazine, Premiere, Nest, Paper, Black Book Magazine, and Provincetown Arts Magazine, where she was also the fiction editor. Ivy Meeropol also directed a six-part documentary series for the Sundance Channel entitled The Hill. It focused on the work of four young staff members at the office of congressman Robert Wexler as they responded to his electoral defeat in the 2004 presidential election. The documentary aired on the Sundance Channel in August and September 2006.

In 2013, Meeropol was a Sundance Institute Fellow, and was awarded grants from the Sundance Documentary Fund, The NY State Council for the Arts, and The MacArthur Foundation.

In 2019, Meeropol revisited the story of her grandparents to inquire into the man who prosecuted them, Roy Cohn. She directed and produced Bully. Coward. Victim. The Story of Roy Cohn. In an interview with Women and Hollywood, Meeropol pointed out the urgency of the Roy Cohn story in light of the Trump administration:I want people to understand why Donald Trump’s relationship with Cohn is critically important, and help audiences to gain a deeper insight into how Cohn helped set Trump on a path that reverberates today. This film is my way of impressing upon audiences that the past is very much present, and we would be wise not to forget how we got here.

In 2023, Meeropol directed After the Bite for HBO, a documentary revolving around the local community in Cape Cod, grappling with the sightings of sharks and the science behind their appearance.

In 2025, Meeropol directed Ask E. Jean, a documentary revolving around the life and career of E. Jean Carroll, which had its world premiere at the 52nd Telluride Film Festival.

Personal life Her father is Jewish and her mother is Lithuanian-Irish Catholic. Meeropol lives in the Hudson Valley with her husband, production designer Thomas Ambrose, and their two children.

Filmography