Nevins was born on theLower East Side of Manhattan[1] to Jewish parents[6] Stella Nevins (née Rosenberg),[7] achemist, and Benjamin Nevins, a Russian immigrant post office worker who was also abookie. Nevins' family was very poor and her mother suffered from an acute form ofRaynaud's disease, which resulted in amputations of her limbs, andscleroderma.[8] Nevins has a younger sister (born 1946) who is a doctor.
She received a BA in English fromBarnard College in 1960. In 1963 she received an MFA in Directing from theYale School of Drama, where she was one of two women in the directing program.[1][11]
In the 1960s, Nevins began her career at theUnited States Information Agency in Washington, D.C. She was hired to play a secretary in the USIA TV series calledAdventures in English, which was created to teach English vocabulary, which her character repeated, in foreign countries.[1] Nevins then worked as a researcher, cataloging historical footage aboutWorld War II at theLibrary of Congress. Nevins said that this immersive work inspired her to shift focus from the fictional world of theater to the fact-based world of documented in film.[12]
From 1970 to 1973, after moving back to New York, Nevins apprenticed with directorDon Mischer and producer Bob Squire. Nevins then got a job as a researcher onAl Perlmutter's groundbreakingChannel 13 TV showThe Great American Dream Machine, eventually working her way up to doing segments and "man on the street" interviews. Nevins also worked as a director.[13] Inspired by the filmSalesman, she hiredAlbert and David Maysles to direct parts of the show.[10][14]
In 1973, Nevins was a Field Producer forThe Reasoner Report onABC News.
In 1979, Nevins was hired byHBO as director of documentary programming on a 13-week contract.[11] She continued in that position until 1982.
From 1983 to 1985, Nevins had a production company called Spinning Reels and created the animated educational programBraingames.[10][17]
In 1986, Nevins returned to HBO as vice president of documentary programming. In 1995, she became the senior vice president of original programming. Nevin's tenure at HBO saw the rise of sexually themed programming in theAmerica Undercover documentary series.[18]
From 1999 to 2003, Nevins was the executive vice president of original programming at HBO.[14] In 1998, Nevins said that she produced 12 documentaries a year at HBO, with budgets that were typically US$600,000 in 1998 dollars.[19]
Nevins was HBO's President of Documentary and Family Programming from 2004 to 2018.[20]
In March 2018, Nevins retired from her position at HBO.[20][21]
In 2017, Nevins published a memoir,You Don't Look Your Age... and Other Fairy Tales.[23] Nevins explores concepts of aging, youth, and experience. Some of the book features lightly fictionalized vignettes and poetry.[24][25]Kathy Bates,Gloria Vanderbilt,Lily Tomlin,Martha Stewart,Meryl Streep,RuPaul, among many others, contributed audio performances to the audio version of the book.[26]
In 1963, Nevins married a lawyer who also attended Yale. Though she wanted to pursue a theater career, her husband wanted her to be home evenings and weekends promoted her to find a daytime job. The marriage ended in divorce.[12][27]
In 1972, Nevins married investment banker Sidney Koch. The pair had a home inLitchfield, Connecticut, and an apartment on theUpper East Side of Manhattan. They have one son, David Koch (born 1980).[28] She has discussed her son's struggle withTourette syndrome and her struggle to be a working mother with a son who was ill.[15] Nevins has said that the 2007 HBO series,Addiction, was inspired by her son's struggles with substance abuse.[11]
Nevins produced an HBO documentary about theTriangle Shirtwaist Factory fire calledTriangle: Remembering the Fire, to which she had a personal connection, which she found out about after seeing the documentarySchmatta. Nevins' great-aunt Celia Gittlin, a 17-year-old immigrant from Russia, had died in the fire.[29]
Nevins, Sheila (foreword by) (2007). Hoffman, John; Froemke, Susan (eds.).Addiction: Why Can't They Just Stop?: New Knowledge, New Treatments, New Hope. New York: Rodale, Inc.ISBN978-1-609-61697-7.OCLC894934005.
^abRose, Charlie; Nevins, Sheila (March 21, 2001)."Sheila Nevins – Charlie Rose"(Video interview, includes transcript).Charlie Rose.Archived from the original on November 12, 2018. RetrievedNovember 11, 2018.
^Nevins, Sheila (foreword by) (2007). Hoffman, John; Froemke, Susan (eds.).Addiction: Why Can't They Just Stop?: New Knowledge, New Treatments, New Hope. New York: Rodale, Inc.ISBN978-1-609-61697-7.OCLC894934005.
^Mesce, Jr., Bill (2015).Inside the Rise of HBO: A Personal History of the Company That Transformed Television. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. p. 137.ISBN978-1-476-62225-5.OCLC913376198.
Cunningham, Megan (2005). "Producing: Sheila Nevins: Collaborating with Directors".The Art of the Documentary: Fifteen Conversations with Leading Directors, Cinematographers, Editors, and Producers. San Francisco: New Riders.ISBN978-0-133-76497-0.OCLC869792233.
Dunn, Edwina (2017). "Sheila Nevins".The Female Lead: Women Who Shape Our World. London: Ebury Press.ISBN978-1-473-52945-8.OCLC992169535.
