Natasha Lance Rogoff

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Natasha Lance Rogoff
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BornMarch 15, 1960
New York City, US
Alma materUC Berkeley, Leningrad State University, Columbia University, SIPA
OccupationProducer, writer, director, author
Years active1983-present
Spouse(s)Kenneth Rogoff (m. 1995)
ChildrenGabriel Lance Rogoff (born 1996), Juliana Charlotte Rogoff (born 1998)
Websitehttps://www.natashalancerogoff.com/

Natasha Lance Rogoff (born March 15, 1960) is a TV producer and award-winning filmmaker who created programs for NBC and ABC News and PBS. Lance Rogoff executive produced Ulitsa Sezam[1] (Sesame Street in Russia) from 1992 to 1997 and also produced Plaza Sesamo (Sesame Street in Mexico).[2] She is also the author of the new bestselling book, Muppets in Moscow: The Crazy Unexpected True Story of Making Sesame Street in Russia, published by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers in the US in October 2022 and in the UK on January 2023[3].

Muppets in Moscow, a memoir, tells the story of Lance Rogoff's experience as the lead American TV producer tasked with creating an original version of Sesame Street in Russia, following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Muppets in Moscow is shortlisted for the prestigious Pushkin Prize for “Best Non-Fiction Writing about Russia.” [4] Muppets in Moscow also received an IPPY Gold Award for Best First Book[5] and two Silver awards from IPBA Benjamin Franklin for Best New Voice-Nonfiction[6] and Best Audiobook-Nonfiction.[7]

In 2017, Lance Rogoff produced, directed, and wrote the short film Russian Millennials Speak Openly About America, which has several million views on YouTube. From 1989-1991, Natasha embedded herself with hardline Russian nationalists and filmed, “Russia for Sale: The Rough Road to Capitalism,” which WETA presented and was also aired nationally on PBS. Excerpts of this film were also featured on ABC’s Nightline with Ted Koppel on the night of the Moscow Coup when the Soviet regime fell. Lance Rogoff appeared on air. Russia for Sale was narrated by Natasha Lance Rogoff and Pulitzer Prize winner and former New York Times correspondent Hedrick Smith[8].

In the 1980s Lance Rogoff worked as a freelance journalist, writing and making television programs about Soviet underground culture, the persecution of Russian rock musicians, and the LGBTQ community. During the 1988 Reagan-Gorbachev Moscow Summit, Lance Rogoff served as “Special Consultant” to NBC Nightly News[9] with Tom Brokaw[10] and in 1989, joined Hedrick Smith to produce the four-part PBS television series, Inside Gorbachev’s USSR,[11] which received a Dupont Columbia Award for journalism[12].

Lance Rogoff is currently an Associate in the Art, Film and Visual Studies Department at Harvard University[13].

Early life and education

Born in New York City to Charlotte Rosnick Lance and Sheldon Lance, Lance Rogoff is the granddaughter of Russian and Polish immigrants. As a teenager, Lance Rogoff became fascinated with Tolstoy, Gogol and Dostoevsky, and foreign cultures, including Russia. In 1976, Lance Rogoff lived in Venezuela, lived with a local family and learned Spanish, as part of an exchange program. The following year, she studied abroad in Luxembourg as part of the American Field Service and learned to speak French and German.

From 1979 to 1984, Lance Rogoff attended the University of California, Berkeley, receiving a Bachelor of Arts in Chinese History. From 1982 to 1983, she studied Russian in Leningrad, USSR at Leningrad State University through CIEE (Council on International Education Exchange)[14]. From 1985 to 1987, Lance Rogoff pursued a Master of Arts at the Graduate School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) at Columbia University and the Harriman Institute for Advanced Study of the Soviet Union[15]. Lance Rogoff received the Rockefeller Fund Scholarship in 1987[16].

Lance Rogoff was a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations from 1984 to 1987.

Journalism

Gay Life Under the Hammer and Sickle

While studying Russian at Leningrad State University in Leningrad, USSR in 1983, Lance Rogoff kicked off her journalism career, writing about Soviet underground culture, including about censored rock musicians and the LGBTQ community in communist Russia. Lance Rogoff published an article in the San Francisco Chronicle'[17], Gay Life Under the Hammer and Sickle, which was one of the earliest exposes of Soviet government persecution of the Russian LGBTQ community. Later that year, she worked as a freelance journalist travelling across India, Nepal, Thailand, Hong Kong and China, and publishing articles in the the South China Morning Post.

Red Pop's Green Light

In 1985, Lance Rogoff’s article Red Pop's Green Light, about the underground rock 'n' roll scene in Russia, was published in UK magazine City Limits[18] and the German publication, Stadt Zeitung[19].

Directing, Producing, and Screenwriting

Rock Around the Kremlin

In 1985, Lance Rogoff produced (with filmmaker Jacki Ochs) a TV episode for ABC TV’s 20/20. The program, Rock Around the Kremlin, featured Lance Rogoff on air as a “Russia Specialist.” The episode focused on the censorship and persecution of Russian rock musicians; a topic which she had written about as a journalist. Many of these music artists later composed original music for Ulitsa Sezam’s production.

1988 Reagan-Gorbachev Moscow Summit

During the 1988 Reagan-Gorbachev Moscow Summit, Lance Rogoff served as Special Consultant to the NBC Nightly News[9], producing coverage for Tom Brokaw and Garrick Utley[10].

Inside Gorbachev’s USSR

The following year, in 1989, Lance Rogoff served as the associate producer for Inside Gorbachev’s USSR, a PBS 4-part series with Pulitzer Prize-winning host Hedrick Smith[11] and executive producer, Martin Smith. The series received a DuPont Columbia Award for Journalism[12].

Russia for Sale: The Rough Road to Capitalism

From 1989 to 1991, Lance Rogoff produced, directed and wrote Russia for Sale: The Rough Road to Capitalism, a feature length documentary film that was presented by PBS’s Washington, DC station, WETA and aired nationally on PBS TV. Excerpts of Russia for Sale also aired on ABC’s Nightline with Ted Koppel on January 10, 1993. Her film profiles three Russians struggling to build real democracy and a free market in a society reeling from the legacy of Communism[8]. The documentary won 1st Place at the 1991 Video Fest.

Lance Rogoff received a Ford Foundation award of $225,000 for the production of Russia for Sale.

Can You Stop People From Drinking?

In 1992, Lance Rogoff was the Associate Producer of PBS NOVA's Can You Stop People From Drinking. This 60-minute documentary about contrasting approaches to alcohol abuse and treatment in the UK and USSR was filmed in Moscow and the UK and produced by David Dugan of Windfall Films based in London, UK and Eric Strange based in Massachusetts[20][21].

Sesame Street International

Ulitsa Sezam

From 1992 to 1997, Lance Rogoff was hired by Sesame Workshop (formerly, The Children’s Television Workshop until 2005) to executive produce and co-direct Ulitsa Sezam', the Russian production of Sesame Street in Moscow. This original production envisioned the Sesame Street Muppets modeling idealistic values and skills needed to help children thrive in post-communist societies, while reflecting unique Russian culture, values, music, and puppetry traditions. The show incorporated a uniquely innovative educational curriculum created by Russian educators and child development experts, focusing on democracy, tolerance, freedom of expression, as well as good nutrition, health, well-being, and diversity[1].

Despite challenging culture clashes, the assassinations of her Russian broadcast partners, the near death of the show’s sponsor in a car bombing, and the takeover of the show’s puppet production office at ORT, Russia's largest TV station, by Russian soldiers with AK-47s[22], Ulitsa Sezam became a huge success, airing on Russia’s two largest TV channels (ORT and NTV) in prime time, for over a decade, and well into Putin’s era, until 2010. The show was funded by from USAID[23], Soros Foundation, and the Nestlé Corporation[24], and with support from the Russian Ministry of Education[25][26]. As chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, then-Senator Joseph Biden spearheaded bipartisan Congressional approval for a Russian Sesame Street television series. In the hearing before the Subcommittee for European Affairs on September 8, 1992, then-Senator Joe Biden probed for data to quantify the show’s potential impact [27]. Ulitsa Sezam aired from 1996 to 2010 and reached millions of children across the former Soviet Union.

Ulitsa Sezam debuted on October 22, 1996 in prime time on Russia’s two largest TV Channels, NTV and ORT, to millions of children across 11 time zones. The program continued to air from 1996 to 2010 and ran for 4 seasons, well into Putin’s era[1].

In 1997, Ulitsa Sezam was nominated for a TEFI Award (equivalent to an EMMY) for Ulitsa Sezam.

Plaza Sésamo

From 1992 to 1997, Lance Rogoff was the producer of the fourth season of Plaza Sésamo, the Mexican co-production of Sesame Street[2]. This season’s production of 152 half-hour episodes of Plaza Sésamo received funding from UNICEF and focused on health and nutrition in Latin America. Plaza Sezam was broadcast throughout Latin America and also in the United States, on UNIVISION[28] to a potential audience of 25 million viewers in 34 countries. As Gary Knell, an executive at The Children's Television Workshop stated, "Our mission is to educate all kids. And the fact is, in the U.S., especially in cities like Los Angeles, there's an enormous number of Spanish-speaking households"[29].

The content for Plaza Sésamo for the fourth season was developed by a board of Latin American educators and UNICEF, focusing on nutrition, health, and safety[29][30]. The season featured a creative new set built by renowned Mexican architect Ricardo Legorreta[31] and debuted the first female Muppet, Lola.

G Is for Growing: Thirty Years of Research on Children and Sesame Street provides key research into the significant role the program has had for early childhood development, examining the educational development of preschoolers vs. those who watched non-educational content. Research was also conducted on the extension of Sesame Street into other cultures and media, such as Ulitsa Sezam and Plaza Sésamo.[32]

Recent Productions

Tax Me If You Can

In 2004, Lance Rogoff was the Associate Producer of "Tax Me If You Can"[33], which aired on PBS Frontline[34], hosted by Hedrick Smith. The documentary investigated the rampant abuse of tax shelters dating back to the late 1990s, finding many respected accounting firms responsible.

Russian Millennials Speak Openly about America

In 2016, following the election of Donald Trump, Lance Rogoff produced the short-form video Russian Millennials Speak Openly about America, which has 2.5+ million views on YouTube[35].

Muppets in Moscow

In 2022, Lance Rogoff published Muppets in Moscow, her memoir of producing Ulitsa Sezam (Sesame Street in Russia), while she and her team faced the assassinations of two of her broadcast partners, the near killing of the show's first sponsor in a car bombing, and the takeover of the show’s production office by Russian soldiers with AK-47s[3][22].

The book received strong reviews from various publications, particularly focusing on Lance Rogoff and her team's perseverance in the face of intense culture clashes. The Guardian reviewed Muppets in Moscow as "a highly entertaining and readable new book, recounting a litany of cultural clashes, wild west-style assassinations and dashed hopes about the post-communist era."[36] Forbes reviewed the book as "an inspiring story of bringing Sesame Street to Russia. The book provides lessons for businesses on how to overcome cultural clashes."[22]

Since publication, Muppets in Moscow has received reviews in The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Post's Best Books of 2022,The Financial Times, Smithsonian Magazine, The Boston Globe, The Daily Mail, Forbes, American Enterprise Institute (AEI), Newsweek, and starred reviews in Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, The Spectator, and Chess Base.

TV appearances

Lance Rogoff's TV appearances include: ABC News Live with Linsey Davis, MSNBC Morning Joe with Mika Brzezinski, PBS's Boston station, WGBH Stories From the Stage: Never the Same with Wes Hazard, Sky News Kay Burley, FOX Business Mornings with Maria

Additional Press

UK press includes: BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 4 Saturday Live, BBC Radio 5, Times Radio, Monocle 24 Radio, BBC World Service –“Outlook,”, The Jewish Chronicle, Intelligence Squared, History Today, and The Big Issue.

Other International press: Radio New Zealand's Nine to Noon Radio

Awards

Muppets in Moscow is currently shortlisted for the 2023 Pushkin Book Prize[4] for Best Non-Fiction Writing on Russia, and also received an IPPY Gold Award for Best First Book[5] and two Silver awards from IPBA Benjamin Franklin for Best New Voice-Nonfiction[6] and Best Audiobook-Nonfiction[7].

Entrepreneurship

Finky’s Kitchen, Pioneers and KidsCOOK Productions

In 1997, Lance Rogoff developed an original TV series “Pioneers,” to provide skills and training to help Russians transition to a free market society. The 10-part series offered case studies on entrepreneurship in post-communist Russia.

In 1996, Lance Rogoff wrote, directed, and filmed Finky's Kitchen, a comedy cooking episode about feeding young children healthy homemade food. The show starred celebrated actor and puppeteer from Avenue Q, John Tartaglia[37].

KickinNutrition.TV is distributed in over 25 US states[38] through the non-profit organization “Ingredients for Education.” Founded in 2013, KickinNutrition.TV continues to be available for download and focuses on nutrition, food education and health equity, using video and digital interactive gaming technologies[39]. In a partnership with New York City Mayor Bloomberg, KickinKitchen.TV’s videos appeared in more than 13,000 NYC taxicabs and on NYC Life (Channel 1) and Boston City TV[40].

KidsCOOK Productions received the U.S. Department of Agriculture / SBIR Contract Award for $650,000[41].

Ingredients for Education

Since 2013 Lance Rogoff has served as the President and Founder of Ingredients for Education[42], which provides digital health, nutrition, and wellness, evidence-based programming to vulnerable, marginalized, and minority children and families. The program has demonstrated measurable quantitative impact on health behavior change based on studies with over 25,000 children. In the first year after program launch, 40% of the children took concrete actions to improve their diets, 35% improved their eating behavior, 41% increased their knowledge of grocery store food choices, and 40% increased their consumption of fruit and vegetables. Of the 35% that improved eating behavior, many reported that they ate fewer hot dogs, hamburgers, pizza, and fried chicken, drank less soda, and were eating more home-cooked dinners with their families. Through IFE, the KickinNutrition.TV program has been distributed to over 25,000 students in more than 25 states. During the COVID pandemic the program was made widely available to help children and families coping with the nutritional challenges associated with schools being shut down.

Ingredients for Education received Social Impact Funding from the following sponsors. This list is not comprehensive:

Notable sponsors include: the Heckscher Foundation for Children, Thomas L. Kempner Jr., Mario Batali Foundation, Idan Ofer Foundation, and the John Carlson Family Foundation.[43]

Notable partners include: The US Department of Agriculture, The National Institute of Food and Agriculture, The NBA, NBA Cares, Teach For America, The Children's Aid Society, the Tennessee School Nutrition Association, NYC Department of Education, Bloomberg, Senator Gillibrand, NYC Media, NY Common Pantry, Harlem Village Academies, Pinellas County Schools, BELL After School Program, Cambridge Public Schools, Foxborough Public Schools, Everett Public Schools, Lawrence Public Schools, The Dalton School, Boston City TV, Let's Talk about Food, The Boston Collaborative for Food and Fitness, FoodFight, The After-School Corporation, Boston University, Harvard University, Tufts University.[43]

Key Advisory Board members include[43]:

  • Dr. Walter Willet - Harvard School of Public Health[44]
  • Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian - Tufts Friedman School, Nutrition Science & Policy[45]
  • Dr. David Ludwig - Boston Children's Hospital
  • Stephanie Khurana - Harvard Business School
  • Emily Averbook - American Board of Radiology
  • Kok Tjun Chan - Harvard Business School
  • Juliana F.W. Cohen - Harvard School of Public Health
  • Beth Mendelson - Voice of America
  • Kristina Michael - Partnerships
  • Suzanne Priebatsch - Morgan Stanley
  • Eric B. Rimm - Harvard Medical School
  • Rachel Vasquez-Reina - McKinsey & Co.

Notable celebrities include: Former Celtics player, Jared Sullinger, Celebrated Chef and Restaurant owner, Mario Batali, NFL MVP Greg Jennings, Dascha Polanco, Chef and Restaurant owner, Daniel Boulud, and U.S. Rhythmic Champion, Nastasya Generalova.[43]

Filmography and TV

Year(s) Title Broadcast Stations Director Producer Writer
1985 Rock Around the Kremlin Yes
1988 1988 Reagan-Gorbachev Moscow Summit NBC Nightly News Yes
1989 Inside Gorbachev’s USSR PBS TV Yes - Associate Producer
1989-1991 Russia for Sale: The Rough Road to Capitalism PBS TV Yes Yes Yes
1992-1997 Ulitsa Sezam ORT, NTV (Russian TV) Yes Yes Yes
1992-1997 Plaza Sésamo Televisa, Univision (US) Yes Yes Yes
1992 Can You Stop People from Drinking? Channel 4 (UK) Yes - Associate Producer
2004 Tax Me If You Can PBS Frontline Yes - Associate Producer
2016 Russian Millennials Speak Openly about America YouTube Yes Yes Yes


References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Magazine, Smithsonian; Katz, Brigit. "When the Muppets Moved to Moscow". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Plaza Sesamo: Me Gusta Ser Yo (2005), DVD (Spanish)". International Children's Books. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Muppets in Moscow: The Unexpected Crazy True Story of Making Sesame Street in Russia.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Book Prize". Pushkin House. Retrieved 2023-05-14.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "2023 Medalists". ippyawards.com. Retrieved 2023-05-14.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Winners: Best New Voice - Nonfiction". IBPA Book Award. Retrieved 2023-05-14.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Winners: Audiobook - Nonfiction". IBPA Book Award. Retrieved 2023-05-14.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Russia for sale: the rough road to capitalism (in English and русский), Parallax Productions, WETA-TV (Television station : Washington, D.C.), Cinema Guild, Cinema Guild, 1992, retrieved 2023-05-06{{citation}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Muppets in Moscow". JBW. Retrieved 2023-05-14.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "From the archives: August 8, 1988". NBC News. Retrieved 2023-05-14.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Marzynski, Marian (2022-05-24), Inside Gorbachev's USSR (1990), retrieved 2023-05-16
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "PBS Documentary On Soviet Union Gets Top Broadcast Award". AP NEWS. Retrieved 2023-05-14.
  13. ↑ "Natasha Lance Rogoff". Davis Center. 3 November 2022. Retrieved 2023-05-14.
  14. ↑ Tuttle, Kate (November 3, 2022). "How a Russian version of 'Sesame Street' helped raise a generation". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
  15. ↑ "WEDDINGS; Natasha S. Lance, Kenneth S. Rogoff". The New York Times. 1995-06-25. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
  16. ↑ Russell, Cozette. "Natasha Lance Rogoff". The Film Study Center at Harvard University. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
  17. ↑ "sfchronicle". Natasha Lance Rogoff. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
  18. ↑ "greenlight". Natasha Lance Rogoff. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
  19. ↑ Lance Rogoff, Natasha (August 23, 1985). "Rock und Roll: Russlands Musikalischer Wildwuchs". Stadt Zeitung. pp. 14–17.
  20. ↑ "NOVA | Past Television Programs | Season 19: January - December 1992 | PBS". www.pbs.org. Retrieved 2023-05-14.
  21. ↑ "Nova: Can You Stop People From Drinking? - Windfall Films". www.windfallfilms.com. Retrieved 2023-05-14.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 Anderson, Stuart. "The Muppets Survive Russian Television". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
  23. ↑ Brodsky, Sascha (30 January 1996). "Russian 'Sesame Street' planned". United Press International.
  24. ↑ "Muppets Take Moscow". Bloomberg.com. 2006-09-25. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
  25. ↑ Merrill, Megan (2002-09-13). "3rd Time's a Charm for Ulitsa Sezam". The Moscow Times. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
  26. ↑ "Ulitsa Sezam". The Communication Initiative Network. Retrieved 2023-05-14.
  27. ↑ Affairs, United States Congress Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Subcommittee on European (1992). U.S. Assistance to the New Independent States: Hearings Before the Subcommittee on European Affairs of the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate, One Hundred Second Congress, Second Session, March 19; April 8 and 9; May 5, 6, and 14, 1992. U.S. Government Printing Office. ISBN 978-0-16-038840-8.
  28. ↑ Magazine, Smithsonian. "Meet Sesame Street's Global Cast of Characters". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 Cobo-Hanlon, Leila (1996-03-27). "A Green Big Bird? : 'Plaza Sesamo,' the Spanish-language version of 'Sesame Street,' is prospering in the U.S. amid debate over whether the program hurts or helps bilingualism". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
  30. ↑ https://www.unicef.org/media/93541/file/UNICEF-annual-report-1994.pdf
  31. ↑ Snow, Shauna (1995-03-30). "TELEVISIONNew AIDS Group: The Academy of Television..." Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
  32. ↑ Fisch, Shalom M.; Truglio, Rosemarie T. (8 April 2014). G Is for Growing: Thirty Years of Research on Children and Sesame Street. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-66494-7.
  33. ↑ Tax Me If You Can (full documentary) | FRONTLINE, retrieved 2023-05-14
  34. ↑ "Credits | Tax Me If You Can | FRONTLINE | PBS". www.pbs.org. Retrieved 2023-05-14.
  35. ↑ RUSSIAN MILLENNIALS SPEAK OPENLY ABOUT AMERICA, retrieved 2023-05-06
  36. ↑ Smith, David (2022-10-18). "Muppets in Moscow: the wild story behind Sesame Street in Russia". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
  37. ↑ "John Tartaglia". www.johntartagliaproductions.com. Retrieved 2023-05-15.
  38. ↑ "About". www.kickinnutrition.tv. 2013-08-05. Retrieved 2023-05-15.
  39. ↑ "Adventure Game for Tweens to Promote Healthy Eating will be Unveiled at Games For Health Conference". PRWeb. Retrieved 2023-05-15.
  40. ↑ "KickinKitchen.TV Offers Kids a One-Stop Destination for the First-Ever Tween Musical-Sitcom-Style TV and Web Series Airing on TV on NYC Life Channel 25 and in NYC Taxis". PRWeb. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
  41. ↑ "KIDSCOOK PRODUCTIONS LLC | SBIR.gov". www.sbir.gov. Retrieved 2023-05-14.
  42. ↑ "Natasha Lance Rogoff | HuffPost". www.huffpost.com. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
  43. ↑ 43.0 43.1 43.2 43.3 "About". www.kickinnutrition.tv. 2013-08-05. Retrieved 2023-05-19.
  44. ↑ Avenue, 677 Huntington; Boston; Ma 02115 (2021-01-05). "Walter C. Willett". Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Retrieved 2023-05-28.
  45. ↑ "Dariush Mozaffarian | Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy". nutrition.tufts.edu. Retrieved 2023-05-28.

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