Andrew Tkach
Executive Producer, Voices from the Roof of the World Series
Andrew Tkach has over 30 years of experience producing documentaries and TV magazine reports, often examining human rights and how environmental issues affect local communities. He has won 8 News and Documentary Emmys including one for a 60 Minutes programme called the “Garden of Eden, “documenting the effort to save Gabon’s lowland gorillas. Currently he is directing the Voices from the Roof of the World project which mentors local filmmakers producing documentaries on climate change in South and Central Asia. The VRW series follows the model of the successful 52 part Giving Nature a Voice programme, produced in East Africa.
Tkach’s documentaries focusing on environmental issues include: “On Thin Ice, “ which showed how climate change was imperiling the lives and ancient culture of the last hunters using dog sleds in northwest Greenland. In Mali he documented how the artisanal gold mining industry was exploiting children and poisoning them with mercury. The NBC programme called “The Real Price of Gold, ” was nominated for an Emmy. In Bangladesh he documented the largest poisoning in history, when arsenic was discovered in thousands of hand pumped wells installed with “The Best of Intentions.” In Vietnam he followed the tragic trail of “Agent Orange,” and the devastating effect the U.S. military’s spraying of the defoliant had on the environment and the people. In the United States he produced hour long documentaries on threatened marine environments and the Alaskan oil spill.
Aside from his interest in environmental subjects, Tkach has produced two feature length documentaries on revolution and war in today’s Ukraine and the history of famine and disinformation during Stalin’s USSR. Prior to forming his own company, Messy Moment Media, Tkach was the principal long form producer for Christiane Amanpour – CNN’s chief international correspondent. For thirteen years they collaborated on a string of award winning CNN documentaries and over 30 TV magazine reports for CBS News 60 Minutes. He also produced hour long documentaries for National Geographic, ABC News Turning Point and 48 Hours. His expose of modern-day slavery, “Of Human Bondage, Slavery Today” won the Dupont Silver Baton, News & Documentary Emmy and the Overseas Press Club Awards. Prior to his work with AKU, Tkach taught broadcast journalism at the University of Indonesia, the University of the South Pacific and the University of Central Asia through multiple Fulbright grants. He has also taught at the Sciences Po Journalism School in Paris. Tkach earned his MS in Journalism from Columbia University.
Filmography
Congo’s Call of the Wild 2020, Hunger for Truth (2018), Kuki’s Crusade (2017) Generation Maidan: A Year of Revolution & War (2015), On Thin Ice (2014), Artivist (2013), Imelda & Me (2012), Secrets & Sins (2011), Scars of Racism (2011), Buddha's Warriors (2010), Generation Islam (2009), God's Muslim Warriors (2008), Czar Putin (2007), War Within (2006), Where Have All the Parents Gone (2006), World's Most Dangerous Gang (2005), Of Human Bondage Slavery Today (1995), Heroin Connection (1993), Murder Capital (1991), Moscow Vice (1989), Urban Nomads (1988), Postscript to a War.
