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Janet Tobias

b. 1958

American film director

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About Janet Tobias

Born 1958. Janet Tobias is an American teacher, film director, screenwriter, film producer and documentary film, known for No Place on Earth.

Janet Tobias is a media executive specializing in healthcare as well as an Emmy Award-winning director, producer, and writer.

She directed Fauci, and also No Place On Earth in 2012, a docudrama about two caves in Ukraine in which three dozen Jews escaping the Holocaust successfully hid for a total of 511 days. Her screenplay, co-written with Paul Laikin, was a finalist for the 2014 Award for Documentary Screenplay from the Writers Guild of America.

More recently, Tobias directed Unseen Enemy, a documentary on the threat of pandemics in the 21st century which initially aired on CNN in 2017. 2018 saw the release of her documentary Memory Games, a glimpse into the brain's vast potential for memorization through the eyes of four memory competition participants.

Career After growing up in Indiana, graduating from Yale University, and working in radio news, Tobias started her television career at CBS's 60 Minutes as Diane Sawyer's associate producer. She then moved to ABC's Prime Time Live, where she produced, wrote, and directed both domestic and international stories ranging from a case study of organ donation to a portrait of the Kuwaiti royal family after the Gulf War.

In 1992, Tobias moved to Dateline NBC to work as a national producer, supervising pieces on medical ethics and the home health care industry. Following Dateline, she worked as an editorial producer of ABC News' Law and Justice unit where she developed stories for Nightline, 20/20, and World News Tonight; she was also the executive producer for PBS's Emmy Award-winning program Life 360.

In 2001, she founded a television and film production company called Sierra/Tango Productions with former ABC anchor Forrest Sawyer. Sierra/Tango has produced over a dozen documentaries on social issues ranging from medical ethics to the life of teenagers in America. Tobias is also the founder of Ikana Health, which focuses on the mobile web, social media and video as it relates to healthcare information and improving patient outcomes.

In 2009, Tobias was appointed to the Forum on Drug Discovery, Development and Translation of the Institute of Medicine at the National Academy of Sciences, serving two terms until 2015. In 2010, she became an adjunct professor of medicine in the Department of Health Evidence & Policy at Mount Sinai School of Medicine where she works on preventing diabetes in minority populations.

Ms. Tobias is a member of the Writers Guild of America and currently resides in New York City.

Filmography

The following are among Tobias's commercial films:

Year Title Director Producer Writer 2001 Frontline (Juvenile Justice) 2012 No Place On Earth 2017 CNN: Unseen Enemy 2018 Memory Games 2021 Fauci

Executive producer Y2K: The Winter of Our Disconnect (1999) PBS: Life 360 series (2001-2002) MSNBC Investigates: Nature's Weapon: The Hidden Plague (2003) MSNBC Reports: The Next War (2003) MSNBC: Battle for America's Schools (2003) History Channel: Voices of Civil Rights (2005)

Senior producer Nightline (2000)

Awards

National Emmy and American Bar Association awards 2 Cine Golden Eagles'

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Important facts

Birth century
Nationality
Known for
No Place on Earth
Education
Yale University, West Lafayette Junior-Senior High School
Employers
New York University

People in Janet Tobias's life

Named in this biography and alive at the same time

Contemporaries

People whose lives overlapped Janet Tobias's

Frequently asked questions

Who is Janet Tobias?

American film director

When was Janet Tobias born?

Janet Tobias was born on 10 January 1958 in Red Bank.

What is Janet Tobias's occupation?

Janet Tobias is a teacher, film director, screenwriter, film producer and documentary film.

What is Janet Tobias known for?

Janet Tobias is known for No Place on Earth.

What nationality is Janet Tobias?

Janet Tobias is American.

Sources & further reading

Β· Wikipedia: Janet Tobias

Β· Wikidata: Q20687401

Β· DBpedia: Janet Tobias

Cite this page

APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Janet Tobias. https://biography.guide/janet-tobias/

MLA: "Janet Tobias." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/janet-tobias/.

Chicago: "Janet Tobias." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/janet-tobias/.

Data last updated: 2026-09-22 Β· Spot an error? Report a correction.

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