Tom Weinberg

Tom Weinberg is a Chicago native filmmaker, independent documentary producer, and television producer. From an early age, he held an interest in television and media. He founded the independent video archive Media Burn in 2003, and currently sits on the board of directors as president. As a producer, he focused on guerrilla television and revolutionizing ways in which the public could have access to news other than what was displayed within the mainstream media.

His presence was and still remains an influential role in Chicago's media and television.

Early life In 1947, the Weinberg family purchased their first television set, which was the beginning of Tom Weinberg's fascination with television media. He earned his MBA from New York University in 1968, then continued to work for his father's business at the Py-O-My Baking Mix Company. After his father died and the business was sold, Weinberg pursued a career in television. At Channel 26, he did extensive news coverage on cases such as the Chicago Seven trial. The World's Largest TV Show and Four More Years were two documentaries produced by this collective. Documentary footage was often used, and the show included politics, talk segments, and interviews. Before this, there was not an archive for any of the surviving works done by Chicago and global independent documentary filmmakers, especially those filmed during the guerrilla television era that had stemmed from the civil unrest of the 1960s. Media Burn has received notability and recognition from the National Archives and Save America's Treasures. This archive holds more than 8000 videos, and in recent years, upwards of 18 million views on the internet at mediaburn.org, YouTube and social media.