Neal Marshad (born April 25, 1952) is an American film and television producer, director, cinematographer, and screenwriter.
Early life and education Marshad was born on April 25, 1952, in Peekskill, New York, the son of Ruth Marshad and Look art director and graphic designer Jack Marshad. Marshad grew up in Croton-on-Hudson, New Yorkhttps://www.dwell.com/home/the-marshad-house-2d6f94d7, and since 1975https://tribecacitizen.com/2026/01/02/tcqa-cinematographer-producer-and-screenwriter-neal-marshad/ Marshad resides in Tribeca in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Starting in 1971, Marshad attended New York University, Tisch School of the Arts, Institute of Film and Television, and earned a bachelor's degree in film. Marshad's screenwriting professor and mentor was Mardik Martin whose screenwriting credits with director Martin Scorcese include Mean Streets, Raging Bull, and New York, New York (1977 film). Marshad was also mentored by professor George C. Stoney who taught documentary filmmaking. Marshad's audio engineering professor was Lee Osborne known for his work as the location live performance recording engineer for both Woodstock the music festival and the documentary Woodstock (film). Marshad's classmates included Barry Sonnenfeld, Amy Heckerling, Susan Seidelman, Martin Brest, Mitchell Block and Leonard Maltin.
Career
Beginning in 1964, Neal Marshad was mentored by Fluxus founder George Maciunas at his father's New York design studio, where Marshad was influenced by Maciunas and fellow avant-garde artists Ay-O and Yoko Ono.
While attending New York University in 1973, Marshad produced, edited and co-directed with Patrice Marden the documentary "...and the walls came tumbling down" examining the work of an improvisational drama workshop conducted by actress Marketa Kimbrell with inmates at the Queens House of Detention for Men in New York City. The film documents how a dramatic play is planned, written, and rehearsed in improvisational sessions. Marshad signed a distribution agreement with University of California, Berkeley Extension Media Center to release the documentary. The documentary was selected for the 33rd Annual Student Film Festival at New York University Tisch School of the Arts, Institute of Film and Television, screening on October 27, 1973, at New York City's Bleecker Street Cinema. The film was selected to compete in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Regional Student Film Competition for Student Academy Awards, and was screened on November 17, 1973, at the Fashion Institute of Technology Haft Auditorium in New York City.
In 1973, Neal Marshad was hired by the New York City-based post-production company Ross-Gaffney to serve as a sound effects editor and sound effects Foley assistant for the motion picture Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams directed by Gilbert Cates. This was Marshad's first experience editing 35mm motion picture film and 35mm soundtracks and he became a member of the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians trade union which included workers in the film industry.
After graduating New York University Tisch School of the Arts in 1974, Marshad photographed and directed a PBS documentary, Sculpture by Isaac Witkin which was broadcast in the United States on Public Broadcasting Service on October 19, 1976, and had non-theatrical exhibition at New York City's The Metropolitan Museum of Art on November 7, 1976. Marshad and Witkin attended the Metropolitan Museum screening and followed with a Q&A .
In 1978, Marshad collaborated with emerging filmmaker Kathryn Bigelow on her experimental short film "The Set-Up" while she was completing her graduate studies at Columbia University. The film premiered on November 21, 1978. Marshad served as audio engineer overseeing post-production voice over sound recording. The film, written and directed by Bigelow, is a 20-minute black-and-white deconstruction of cinematic violence, juxtaposing a brutal fight sequence with philosophical commentary by two off-screen theorists.https://letterboxd.com/film/the-set-up-1978/releases/
Beginning in 1978, Marshad edited, produced, photographed, post-production supervised, and audio-engineered short films in collaboration with writer/director Tom Schiller for NBC's Saturday Night Live over a 47-year period, commencing with "Perchance to Dream" which premiered on Season 4 Episode 14 and was broadcast on March 10, 1979. Marshad engineered the voice-over recording for actor Bill Murray in Marshad's screening room at 377 Broadway in New York City. The host for the episode was Gary Busey. In May 1979, Marshad supervised the post production of the short film Clones Exist Now directed and written by SNL film segment director Tom Schiller which first aired Season 4 Episode 6 on May 26, 1979, with Carrie Fisher hosting and The Blues Brothers were the musical guest. In February 1980, Marshad collaborated again with SNL director/writer Tom Schiller and supervised the post production of the Schiller's Reel short Mask of Fear, which aired Season 5, Episode 12 on February 23, 1980, hosted by Kirk Douglas with Sam & Dave the musical guest.
Marshad was producer, cinematographer, and post-production supervisor for Saturday Night Live's "Java Junkie" a Schiller's Reel short film featuring Peter Aykroyd and Teri Garr. "Java Junkie" was selected by the National Endowment for the Arts Short Film Showcase and was distributed theatrically in USA. The film premiered on NBC Saturday Night Live season 5 episode 8, December 22, 1979.
Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes commissioned Marshad to direct a documentary film including a live broadcast concert at the Asbury Park Convention Hall on August 8, 1979. The film was shown in January 1980 on WarnerMedia's Qube (cable television).
Marshad is credited as both film producer and director of photography for Saturday Night Live Schiller's Reel "Linden Palmer, Hollywood's Forgotten Director" https://pro.imdb.com/title/tt0694940/filmmakers which was broadcast on February 9, 1980, and hosted by Chevy Chase. Marshad collaborated with writer/director Tom Schiller and shot the film entirely in The Battery (Manhattan).
In 1981 Marshad is credited for his post production sound engineering work on You Are Not I (film),https://pro.imdb.com/title/tt0193647/filmmakers an independent film directed by Sara Driver and co-written and photographed by Jim Jarmusch and based on a short story by Paul Bowles.https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/13/movies/13driver.html The film was screened in the Master Works section of the 2011 New York Film Festival.https://www.filmlinc.org/daily/nyff-spotlight-you-are-not-i/
In 1981 German director Wim Wenders hired Neal Marshad to provide film post-production services and post-production audio engineering services for The State of Things (film) and Wenders edited the film in Marshad's 35mm edit room in New York City.
In January 1982, The Steinettes, the a capella doo-wop street group known for their appearance in the Robert Altman film Popeye, collaborated with Marshad. Neal Marshad produced and engineered a recording of twenty songs performed by The Steinettes in his studio at 295 West 4th Street in Greenwich Village, New York City.
In 1982, Marshad won an Emmy Award for outstanding achievement in directing and cinematography for his work for CBS Sports Super Bowl XVI
In 1982, Marshad formed Neal Marshad Productions, and began directing and producing films for IBM in the US and Europe using the ARPANET to facilitate global communications between crews and clients. IBM commissioned Marshad to direct a documentary film about architect Renzo Piano and the IBM Traveling Technology Pavilion in Paris.
In 1984 Marshad collaborated with actor/producer Michael Douglas, Betsy Gotbaum, and Rolling Stone Magazine's publisher Jann Wenner, and the New York City Police Department to produce and direct a documentary film about handgun ownership dedicated to John Lennon.
In 1985, Marshad was hired by Apple Computer Inc. to produce, direct, and shoot "Are We There Yet?" a video intended to address the departure of company co-founder Steve Jobs and the leadership of then-CEO John Sculley. The video featured Apple technologists, executives, and co-founder Steve Wozniak.
On December 17, 1988, NBC Saturday Night Live aired the short film Marshad produced and photographed collaborating with writer/director Tom Schiller titled "Love is a Dream". The film featured Phil Hartman and Jan Hooks. The film was named one of the best pre-recorded moments in all 50 years of SNL history by CinemaBlend.com. The film was selected by producer Lorne Michaels to be included in six episodes of Saturday Night Live between the time it premiered in 1988 and the SNL50 Anniversary show broadcast on February 16, 2025.
In 1989, Marshad started to develop, co-produce, and co-direct with Donna Olson, the PBS television documentary The Conspiracy of Silence. The film explores domestic violence in the U.S., emphasizing its cross‑cultural reach and ubiquity across social classes featuring actress Kathleen Turner. The documentary follows survivors and legal advocates including Denise Brown, sister of Nicole Brown Simpson, and Judge Deborah Kooperstein and highlights work at The Retreat, a women's shelter in East Hampton, New York. Originally broadcast three times between 1995 and 1996 on PBS, The Conspiracy of Silence received a Silver Award at the 1996 WorldFest–Houston (Women's Issues) and an Honorable Mention for Health & Medicine at the 1996 Columbus International Film & Animation Festival.
On October 28, 1989, during Season 15, Episode 4 of Saturday Night Live, Marshad served as producer and cinematographer for the "Schiller's Reel" short film segment titled "Falling in Love". Written and directed by Tom Schiller, the segment starred SNL repertory players Victoria Jackson and Jon Lovitz. The film was shot at Mother's Stage, a production space located in East Village, Manhattan. "Falling in Love" is a satirical take on romantic musicals, featuring Jackson and Lovitz as a couple who reunite and sing together before experiencing an unexpected comedic twist: together falling off of a NYC high-rise apartment building. The film was broadcast as part of the episode hosted by James Woods with musical guest Don Henley.
In 1989 and 1990, Marshad produced, directed and photographed two standup comedy specials hosted by The Improv comedy club founder Budd Friedman and sponsored by Johnnie Walker as a way for talent scouts from The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and Star Search to book up-and-coming standup talent. Judges who attended the taping of the shows and voted to determine the winners were George Schlatter, Jack Rollins, Charles H. Joffe, Estelle Getty, and Paul Rodríguez. The one-hour specials were broadcast respectively on The Comedy Channel in 1989 and on Comedy Central in 1990, for which Marshad directed then unknown comedians Steve Harvey,Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: Ray Romano, Brian Kiley, Judd Apatow and Ellen Cleghorne.
On February 24, 1990, during Season 15, Episode 14 of Saturday Night Live, Neal Marshad served as supervising producer and director of photography for the "Schiller's Reel" segment titled "Hooked on Sushi" starring Kevin Nealon. The short film, directed and written by Tom Schiller, parodied America's growing obsession with sushi culture. Marshad collaborated with Schiller, lending the segment a cinematic visual style. Marshad's direction of photography contributed to the noir aesthetic. The film was shot in Zutto, a Japanese restaurant, in Tribeca neighborhood in New York City.
In 1993, while working for IBM Latin America, Marshad directed a documentary film about making the Vatican Library accessible online.