René Balcer
Encyclopedia
René Balcer is a Canadian television writer, director and producer.
, Quebec
, Canada
, and attended Lower Canada College
in Montreal. He earned his B.A.
Magna Cum Laude in Communication Studies
from Concordia University
in 1978. He began his career as a journalist
, covering the Yom Kippur War
as a cameraman. He later worked as a reporter and editor for various Canadian publications, and made documentary films for the National Film Board of Canada
. In 1980, he moved to Los Angeles, where he collaborated with the cult film director Monte Hellman
on a number of film projects. He later worked for a variety of notable film producers including Francis Coppola, Steve Tisch
and Mace Neufeld
. In 1990, he wrote his first television project for Steve Tisch, the MOW "Out On The Edge".
series Law & Order
, and for creating its spin-off series Law & Order: Criminal Intent
. He also wrote for the series Star Trek: The Next Generation
, and has penned three made-for-television movies, one of which "Out On The Edge" (1990) won the American Psychological Association
Award for best television program.
Balcer won an Emmy in 1997 as Executive Producer of Law & Order. He has also won a Peabody Award
, a Writers Guild of America Award
, four Edgar Award
s from the Mystery Writers of America
(three for his writing for Law & Order, and a fourth for Law & Order: Criminal Intent), two Silver Gavel Awards from the American Bar Association
, a Career Award from the Reims International Television Festival, and a Career Angie Award from the International Mystery Writers Festival. In 2004, he was awarded the Alumnus of the Year from Concordia University
. On November 17, 2008, he received an honorary Doctorate of Laws (LLD) from Concordia at their fall convocation and delivered the Commencement Address.https://web2.concordia.ca/alumni/news/notable/AS/balcer_hondoc_speech_2008.php His work has been recognized outside the entertainment community: in 2004, he received a Maggie Award from Planned Parenthood
for his Law & Order: Criminal Intent episode "The Third Horseman
"; in 2010 he received the Champion of Justice award from the Washington, DC-based Alliance for Justice
, for his work on the Law & Order episode "Memo from the Dark Side".
Balcer has received more unusual recognitions: in 2008, he was commissioned a Kentucky Colonel
by Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear
; In the Season Five episode of The Sopranos
, "In Camelot", Chris's writing friend JT (played by Tim Daly) tells Chris that he has a meeting with Rene Balcer, explaining that Balcer is "Dick Wolf
's right-hand man!"
Balcer was showrunner for Law & Order: Criminal Intent through the fifth season
. In March 2007, Balcer returned to Law & Order at the end of its 17th season as executive producer and head writer. He continued on as showrunner through the show's 20th and final season, writing and directing the show's series finale "Rubber Room
", which the New York Times called the "best finale of all" that season's TV series. In June 2010, he was hired as showrunner of the newest Law & Order
spinoff, Law & Order: Los Angeles
.
Balcer is currently writing a four-hour miniseries about Los Angeles in the 1960s in conjunction with George Clooney
's Smokehouse Productions and the A&E Network
, and adapting Cormac McCarthy
's Border Trilogy for Sony TV
.
to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
. The Rene and Carolyn Balcer Collection comprises some 800 works and includes woodblocks prints, watercolors, screens, sketches and other works and writings by Hasui.
In 2010, through his Mattawin Company, Balcer sponsored the publication of a 13-volume catalogue of the works of the Wuming Group, a cooperative of underground Chinese artists during the Cultural Revolution
. In 2011, Mattawin sponsored the publication of a book of photographs by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei
, "Ai Weiwei New York 1983-1993".
In the summer of 2011, Balcer collaborated with Chinese artist Xu Bing
on an artwork that was part of Xu Bing's exhibition "Tobacco Project Virginia" at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in September of that year. Balcer's contribution -- a poem entitled "Backbone" meant as a tribute to the black women who picked tobacco -- was integrated by Xu Bing into an installation. Balcer later turned the poem into lyrics for a blues song, "Backbone" featuring the blues artists Captain Luke on vocals and Big Ron Hunter on guitar and produced by Michael Sackler-Berner. Balcer produced a film documenting Xu Bing's "Tobacco Project: Virginia" (2011).
Balcer has lectured widely about writing, art, and the duties of artists in free societies, notably at Columbia
, NYU
, Harvard
, UCLA
and Loyola Marymount; in Moscow
(Internews
), Paris
(Sorbonne
), Beijing
(Central Academy of Fine Arts), Toronto
(Canadian Film Centre
), Banff World Media Festival
, Tokyo
(the International Ukiyo-e
Society), and Brisbane (SPAA Conference).
"In L.A., the only thing within walking distance of anything is your car."
On Jerry Orbach
: "I always think about the show as before Jerry and after Jerry. You saw the weariness of 25 years of crime-fighting in New York written on his face."
On Law & Order's longevity: "The secret to the show’s success? Every week, Dick (Wolf) and I send a small specimen of our blood to an individual who shall remain nameless but who resides in a very very warm place."
On Justice: "The law against murder applies to all. It can tolerate no exception. There is one law. And when that law is broken it is the duty of every officer of any court to rise in defense of that law, and bring their full power and diligence to bear against the law breaker. Because Man has only those rights he can defend. Only those rights." Spoken by District Attorney Jack McCoy
in the Law & Order episode "Vaya Con Dios
"
On torture: "Torture injures everyone who comes into contact with it and corrodes the country that abides it."
On the duties of artists: "It is true that one of the first acts of tyrants is to erase history, to wipe out the recorded memory of a people. With that in mind, it's important to remember that the work that we do as writers, artists and performers will form an essential part of the collective memory that future generations will draw upon. And so we owe it to those future generations to defend that memory and be honest witnesses to our time." In a speech delivered to the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, 12/8/09.
Early life
He was born in MontrealMontreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, and attended Lower Canada College
Lower Canada College
Lower Canada College of Montreal is an elementary and secondary level private school.The college was founded by the Church of St John the Evangelist in 1861 as St. John's School and changed its name to Lower Canada College in 1909, replacing an older school by that name that was founded in...
in Montreal. He earned his B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
Magna Cum Laude in Communication Studies
Communication studies
Communication Studies is an academic field that deals with processes of communication, commonly defined as the sharing of symbols over distances in space and time. Hence, communication studies encompasses a wide range of topics and contexts ranging from face-to-face conversation to speeches to mass...
from Concordia University
Concordia University
Concordia University is a comprehensive Canadian public university located in Montreal, Quebec, one of the two universities in the city where English is the primary language of instruction...
in 1978. He began his career as a journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
, covering the Yom Kippur War
Yom Kippur War
The Yom Kippur War, Ramadan War or October War , also known as the 1973 Arab-Israeli War and the Fourth Arab-Israeli War, was fought from October 6 to 25, 1973, between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria...
as a cameraman. He later worked as a reporter and editor for various Canadian publications, and made documentary films for the National Film Board of Canada
National Film Board of Canada
The National Film Board of Canada is Canada's twelve-time Academy Award-winning public film producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary, animation, alternative drama and digital media productions...
. In 1980, he moved to Los Angeles, where he collaborated with the cult film director Monte Hellman
Monte Hellman
Monte Hellman is an American film director, producer, and film editor.Hellman is among a group of directing talent mentored by Roger Corman, who produced several of the director's early films...
on a number of film projects. He later worked for a variety of notable film producers including Francis Coppola, Steve Tisch
Steve Tisch
Steven "Steve" Tisch is an American businessman. He is the Chairman and Executive Vice President of the New York Giants, the NFL team co-owned by his family, as well as a film and television producer...
and Mace Neufeld
Mace Neufeld
Mace Alvin Neufeld is an American film and television producer.-Life and career:Neufeld was born in New York City, New York, the son of Margaret Ruth and Philip M. Neufeld, a stockbroker. He married on 28 February 1954...
. In 1990, he wrote his first television project for Steve Tisch, the MOW "Out On The Edge".
Career
He is most noted for his writing and production work for the televisionTelevision
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
series Law & Order
Law & Order
Law & Order is an American police procedural and legal drama television series, created by Dick Wolf and part of the Law & Order franchise. It aired on NBC, and in syndication on various cable networks. Law & Order premiered on September 13, 1990, and completed its 20th and final season on May 24,...
, and for creating its spin-off series Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Law & Order: Criminal Intent is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it was also primarily produced. Created and produced by Dick Wolf and René Balcer, the series premiered on September 30, 2001, as the second spin-off of Wolf's successful crime drama...
. He also wrote for the series Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...
, and has penned three made-for-television movies, one of which "Out On The Edge" (1990) won the American Psychological Association
American Psychological Association
The American Psychological Association is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States. It is the world's largest association of psychologists with around 154,000 members including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. The APA...
Award for best television program.
Balcer won an Emmy in 1997 as Executive Producer of Law & Order. He has also won a Peabody Award
Peabody Award
The George Foster Peabody Awards recognize distinguished and meritorious public service by radio and television stations, networks, producing organizations and individuals. In 1939, the National Association of Broadcasters formed a committee to recognize outstanding achievement in radio broadcasting...
, a Writers Guild of America Award
Writers Guild of America Award
The Writers Guild of America Award for outstanding achievements in film, television, and radio has been presented annually by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America, West since 1949...
, four Edgar Award
Edgar Award
The Edgar Allan Poe Awards , named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America...
s from the Mystery Writers of America
Mystery Writers of America
Mystery Writers of America is an organization for mystery writers, based in New York.The organization was founded in 1945 by Clayton Rawson, Anthony Boucher, Lawrence Treat, and Brett Halliday....
(three for his writing for Law & Order, and a fourth for Law & Order: Criminal Intent), two Silver Gavel Awards from the American Bar Association
American Bar Association
The American Bar Association , founded August 21, 1878, is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. The ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of academic standards for law schools, and the formulation...
, a Career Award from the Reims International Television Festival, and a Career Angie Award from the International Mystery Writers Festival. In 2004, he was awarded the Alumnus of the Year from Concordia University
Concordia University
Concordia University is a comprehensive Canadian public university located in Montreal, Quebec, one of the two universities in the city where English is the primary language of instruction...
. On November 17, 2008, he received an honorary Doctorate of Laws (LLD) from Concordia at their fall convocation and delivered the Commencement Address.https://web2.concordia.ca/alumni/news/notable/AS/balcer_hondoc_speech_2008.php His work has been recognized outside the entertainment community: in 2004, he received a Maggie Award from Planned Parenthood
Planned Parenthood
Planned Parenthood Federation of America , commonly shortened to Planned Parenthood, is the U.S. affiliate of the International Planned Parenthood Federation and one of its larger members. PPFA is a non-profit organization providing reproductive health and maternal and child health services. The...
for his Law & Order: Criminal Intent episode "The Third Horseman
The Third Horseman
"The Third Horseman" is a first season episode of the television series Law & Order: Criminal Intent.-Plot summary:In this episode, Detectives Goren and Eames investigate the murder of an abortion doctor who was shot in his own apartment...
"; in 2010 he received the Champion of Justice award from the Washington, DC-based Alliance for Justice
Alliance for Justice
Alliance for Justice is a national association of environmental, civil rights, mental health, women's, children's and consumer advocacy organizations in the USA....
, for his work on the Law & Order episode "Memo from the Dark Side".
Balcer has received more unusual recognitions: in 2008, he was commissioned a Kentucky Colonel
Kentucky colonel
Kentucky colonel is the highest title of honor bestowed by the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Commissions for Kentucky colonels are given by the Governor and the Secretary of State to individuals in recognition of noteworthy accomplishments and outstanding service to a community, state or the nation...
by Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear
Steve Beshear
Steven Lynn "Steve" Beshear is an American politician who is the 61st Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. A Democrat, Beshear previously served in the Kentucky House of Representatives from 1974 to 1979, was the state's Attorney General from 1980 to 1983, and was Lieutenant Governor from...
; In the Season Five episode of The Sopranos
The Sopranos
The Sopranos is an American television drama series created by David Chase that revolves around the New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the often conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads...
, "In Camelot", Chris's writing friend JT (played by Tim Daly) tells Chris that he has a meeting with Rene Balcer, explaining that Balcer is "Dick Wolf
Dick Wolf
Richard Anthony "Dick" Wolf is an American producer, specializing in crime dramas such as Miami Vice and the Law & Order franchise. Throughout his career he has won several awards including an Emmy Award and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.-Early life:Wolf was born in New York City, the son...
's right-hand man!"
Balcer was showrunner for Law & Order: Criminal Intent through the fifth season
Law & Order: Criminal Intent (season 5)
The fifth season of Law & Order: Criminal Intent premiered September 25, 2005 and ended May 14, 2006.Chris Noth and Annabella Sciorra joined the cast and the show began alternating episodes with Vincent D'Onofrio and Kathryn Erbe on account of D'Onofrio's health at the time. Annabella Sciorra,...
. In March 2007, Balcer returned to Law & Order at the end of its 17th season as executive producer and head writer. He continued on as showrunner through the show's 20th and final season, writing and directing the show's series finale "Rubber Room
Rubber Room (Law & Order)
"Rubber Room" is the twenty-third episode of the twentieth season and the series finale of NBC's long-running legal drama Law & Order. In the episode, Detectives Lupo and Bernard search for an anonymous blogger who has posted plans to blow up a school, while Lt...
", which the New York Times called the "best finale of all" that season's TV series. In June 2010, he was hired as showrunner of the newest Law & Order
Law & Order
Law & Order is an American police procedural and legal drama television series, created by Dick Wolf and part of the Law & Order franchise. It aired on NBC, and in syndication on various cable networks. Law & Order premiered on September 13, 1990, and completed its 20th and final season on May 24,...
spinoff, Law & Order: Los Angeles
Law & Order: Los Angeles
Law & Order: LA, originally titled Law & Order: Los Angeles, is an American police procedural and legal drama television series set in Los Angeles, where it was produced...
.
Balcer is currently writing a four-hour miniseries about Los Angeles in the 1960s in conjunction with George Clooney
George Clooney
George Timothy Clooney is an American actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter. For his work as an actor, he has received two Golden Globe Awards and an Academy Award...
's Smokehouse Productions and the A&E Network
A&E Network
The A&E Network is a United States-based cable and satellite television network with headquarters in New York City and offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, London, Los Angeles and Stamford. A&E also airs in Canada and Latin America. Initially named the Arts & Entertainment Network, A&E launched...
, and adapting Cormac McCarthy
Cormac McCarthy
Cormac McCarthy is an American novelist and playwright. He has written ten novels, spanning the Southern Gothic, Western, and modernist genres. He received the Pulitzer Prize and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction for The Road...
's Border Trilogy for Sony TV
Sony Pictures Television
Sony Pictures Television, Inc. is an American and global television production/distribution subsidiary of Sony Pictures Entertainment. In turn, the latter is part of the Japanese conglomerate Sony.-Background:...
.
Other activities
In 2006, Balcer donated a collection of works by the Japanese woodblock artist Kawase HasuiKawase Hasui
was a prominent Japanese painter of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and one of the chief printmakers in the shin hanga movement.Kawase studied ukiyo-e and Japanese style painting at the studio of Kaburagi Kiyokata...
to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
The Virginia Museum of Fine arts, or VMFA, is an art museum in Richmond, Virginia, in the United States, which opened in 1936.The museum is owned and operated by the Commonwealth of Virginia, while private donations, endowments, and funds are used for the support of specific programs and all...
. The Rene and Carolyn Balcer Collection comprises some 800 works and includes woodblocks prints, watercolors, screens, sketches and other works and writings by Hasui.
In 2010, through his Mattawin Company, Balcer sponsored the publication of a 13-volume catalogue of the works of the Wuming Group, a cooperative of underground Chinese artists during the Cultural Revolution
Cultural Revolution
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, commonly known as the Cultural Revolution , was a socio-political movement that took place in the People's Republic of China from 1966 through 1976...
. In 2011, Mattawin sponsored the publication of a book of photographs by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei
Ai Weiwei
Ai Weiwei is a Chinese contemporary artist, active in sculpture, installation, architecture, curating, photography, film, and social, political and cultural criticism. Ai collaborated with Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron as the artistic consultant on the Beijing National Stadium for the 2008...
, "Ai Weiwei New York 1983-1993".
In the summer of 2011, Balcer collaborated with Chinese artist Xu Bing
Xu Bing
Xu Bing is a Chinese-born artist, resident in the United States since 1990. He currently resides in Beijing.-Biography:...
on an artwork that was part of Xu Bing's exhibition "Tobacco Project Virginia" at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in September of that year. Balcer's contribution -- a poem entitled "Backbone" meant as a tribute to the black women who picked tobacco -- was integrated by Xu Bing into an installation. Balcer later turned the poem into lyrics for a blues song, "Backbone" featuring the blues artists Captain Luke on vocals and Big Ron Hunter on guitar and produced by Michael Sackler-Berner. Balcer produced a film documenting Xu Bing's "Tobacco Project: Virginia" (2011).
Balcer has lectured widely about writing, art, and the duties of artists in free societies, notably at Columbia
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, NYU
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
, Harvard
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, UCLA
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
and Loyola Marymount; in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
(Internews
Internews
Internews Network is an international non-profit organization whose mission is to empower local media worldwide to give people the news and information they need, the ability to connect, and the means to make their voices heard...
), Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
(Sorbonne
Sorbonne
The Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter, in Paris, France, which has been the historical house of the former University of Paris...
), Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
(Central Academy of Fine Arts), Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
(Canadian Film Centre
Canadian Film Centre
The Canadian Film Centre is an advanced training institution for film, television and new media. Based in Toronto, Canada, CFC offers residents education, industry partnerships and production experience...
), Banff World Media Festival
Banff World Media Festival
The Banff World Media Festival is an international media event in held in the Canadian Rockies at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel in Banff, Alberta, Canada. The Festival is dedicated to world television and digital content and its creation and development...
, Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
(the International Ukiyo-e
Ukiyo-e
' is a genre of Japanese woodblock prints and paintings produced between the 17th and the 20th centuries, featuring motifs of landscapes, tales from history, the theatre, and pleasure quarters...
Society), and Brisbane (SPAA Conference).
Quotes
On Los Angeles:"In L.A., the only thing within walking distance of anything is your car."
On Jerry Orbach
Jerry Orbach
Jerome Bernard "Jerry" Orbach was an American actor and singer. He was well known for his starring role as Detective Lennie Briscoe in the Law & Order television series and as the voice of Lumière in Disney's Beauty and the Beast. As well, Orbach was a noted musical theatre star...
: "I always think about the show as before Jerry and after Jerry. You saw the weariness of 25 years of crime-fighting in New York written on his face."
On Law & Order's longevity: "The secret to the show’s success? Every week, Dick (Wolf) and I send a small specimen of our blood to an individual who shall remain nameless but who resides in a very very warm place."
On Justice: "The law against murder applies to all. It can tolerate no exception. There is one law. And when that law is broken it is the duty of every officer of any court to rise in defense of that law, and bring their full power and diligence to bear against the law breaker. Because Man has only those rights he can defend. Only those rights." Spoken by District Attorney Jack McCoy
Jack McCoy
John James "Jack" McCoy is a fictional character in the television drama Law & Order, created by Michael S. Chernuchin and played by Sam Waterston since 1994. He is the second-longest tenured character on the show, after Lt. Anita Van Buren . On January 28, 2009, McCoy's character ended the longest...
in the Law & Order episode "Vaya Con Dios
Vaya Con Dios
' may refer to:* "Vaya con Dios" , a song written by Larry Russell, Inez James, and Buddy Pepper* Vaya Con Dios , a Belgian band** Vaya Con Dios , their debut album...
"
On torture: "Torture injures everyone who comes into contact with it and corrodes the country that abides it."
On the duties of artists: "It is true that one of the first acts of tyrants is to erase history, to wipe out the recorded memory of a people. With that in mind, it's important to remember that the work that we do as writers, artists and performers will form an essential part of the collective memory that future generations will draw upon. And so we owe it to those future generations to defend that memory and be honest witnesses to our time." In a speech delivered to the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, 12/8/09.
See also
- List of famous Montrealers
- List of Quebec actors and actresses
- Other Canadian pioneers in early HollywoodCanadian pioneers in early HollywoodMotion pictures have been a part of the culture of Canada since the beginning.-History:Around 1910, the East Coast filmmakers began to take advantage of California winters and after Nestor Studios, run by Canadian Al Christie, built the first permanent movie studio in Hollywood a number of the...
External links
- The apocrypha Interview: Rene Balcer by Kitteridge
- Alumni Recognition Awards — Concordia University
- Balcer debates FCC commissioner on TV Violence Wall Street Journal
- Rene Balcer on NPR's Talk of the Nation
- Vanity Fair Article
- CBC Interview with Rene Balcer and Tonight Show's Peter Sears
- September 25 2009 interview by Salon.com's Glenn Greenwald on torture and L & O 20th Season premiere
- Sept. 21 2009 Interview about L & O and LOCI's new seasons
- NPR Interview with Rene Balcer and Walter Moseley
- NPR interview with Balcer re:choosing stories
- Harper's Magazine Interview with Rene Balcer
- America Magazine Interview with Rene Balcer
- Article on Balcer's Beijing Speech
- El Tiempo (Colombia) Spanish language interview with Balcer
- NPR interview with Balcer on 5/24/10 re: series finale
- Balcer-produced film about Xu Bing's Tobacco Project at VMFA
- Video of Balcer at Occupy Wall Street