---
name: "Maggie Greenwald"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/maggie-greenwald"
fi1m_id: "maggie-greenwald"
imdb_id: "nm0339245"
tmdb_id: 94831
wikidata_id: "Q6730240"
roles: ["Director"]
born: "23 June 1955"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
average_as: "director"
average_over: 1
updated: "2026-09-24T02:45:47.539230+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Maggie Greenwald

## Identity

Maggie Greenwald

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/maggie-greenwald
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** maggie-greenwald
- **IMDb ID:** nm0339245
- **TMDB ID:** 94831
- **Wikidata ID:** Q6730240
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maggie_Greenwald, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6730240, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0339245/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/94831

Director. Born 23 June 1955 in New York City, New York, USA.

## Details

- **Work:** Director
- **Born:** 23 June 1955, New York City, New York, USA
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maggie_Greenwald, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6730240, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0339245/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/94831

## Streaming the US now

- **Pluto TV:** [*Nashville*](https://film.one/tv/nashville-2012.md) (74)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Maggie Greenwald

> Maggie Greenwald’s attention to women with limited choices and the daily business of period life makes her worth seeking out. We are less persuaded when her scripts explain the social pressures her characters already make clear.

A woman living as a man in a Western is a useful place to begin with Maggie Greenwald. *The Ballad of Little Jo* (1993) brings together her interest in women with restricted choices and her willingness to reconsider a familiar genre. She approaches the past through the details of daily life, without the sepia finish that can make hardship look inviting. That attention is the strongest reason to seek out her films.

Her early features include *Home Remedy* (1987), which she wrote and directed, and the Jim Thompson adaptation *The Kill-Off* (1989). The later *Songcatcher* (2000) turns to Appalachian music, a subject well suited to a director interested in the everyday customs of a community. Composer David Mansfield scored both that film and *Sophie and the Rising Sun* (2016), a romance set in 1941 which also concerns prejudice and female friendship. Greenwald’s care with ensemble performances matters as much as her period detail.

On television, *Nashville* (2012) has the convincing singing and strong central performances that can carry a wavering story. We cared about its central rivalry because Connie Britton and Hayden Panettiere make the feeling behind it convincing. The crowded opening and unnecessary plot complications are the reasons our recommendation comes with a caveat. Greenwald directed one episode, “Ghost in This House”, in 2017; our affection for the series cannot simply be credited to her. Her work spans independent features, television films and episodic drama, but a series credit tells us less about her choices than the films she writes herself.

*Songcatcher* can grow stiff, while *Sophie and the Rising Sun* sometimes draws its characters and their conflicts too broadly. Greenwald’s ensemble work and attention to period detail are persuasive enough without the scripts pressing the point, and we would prefer her to trust them more. Start with *The Ballad of Little Jo* for a Western that makes a woman’s freedom its practical concern.

## Biography

Maggie Greenwald is an American film and television director and screenwriter. She began her career as a picture and sound editor. Her feature films include *The Kill-Off* (1989), *The Ballad of Little Jo* (1993), *Songcatcher* (2000) and *Sophie and the Rising Sun* (2016).

Greenwald has directed episodes of television series including *Nashville* (2012) and *Madam Secretary* (2014), as well as television films such as *Get a Clue* (2002), *Wildfire* (2005) and *Christmas on Honeysuckle Lane* (2018). Her work has screened at festivals including Sundance and received awards such as an Independent Spirit Award and a Special Jury Award at Sundance.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *Nashville* (2012), Fi1m 74, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/nashville-2012.md)

## Complete filmography (19)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Christmas on Honeysuckle Lane* (2018), Director
- *Sophie and the Rising Sun* (2016), Screenplay, Director, Producer
- *Madam Secretary* (2014), series, Director
- *The Last Keepers* (2013), Director
- *Nashville* (2012), series, Director — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/tv/nashville-2012.md)
- *Good Morning, Killer* (2011), Director
- *Wildfire* (2005), series, Director
- *Comfort and Joy* (2003), Director
- *Tempted* (2003), Director
- *Get a Clue* (2002), Director
- *Songcatcher* (2001), Director, Writer
- *What Makes a Family* (2001), Director
- *The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo* (1996), series, Director
- *The Ballad of Little Jo* (1993), Director, Writer
- *The Kill-Off* (1989), Director, Writer
- *Home Remedy* (1987), Director, Screenplay
- *The Devonsville Terror* (1983), Music Editor
- *Hot Stuff* (1979), Producer, Writer, Director, Editor
- *AH!* (1978), Producer, Writer, Director

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© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/maggie-greenwald