William Cohen – November 2, 1941 ~ May 20, 2014
Emmy award winner, filmmaker, author, lecturer William Cohen passed away suddenly in May of 2014 while finishing this edition of Uppers Downers All Arounders.
 
Bill considered himself, above all else, an educator and a storyteller. His career spanned forty years and began in the news room of a San Francisco television station. He learned his craft writing, editing and producing daily news segments and longer documentary pieces on a variety of topics. His interest in medicine led to a partnership with like-minded colleagues in Biomed Arts Associates, Inc., a company specializing in medical illustration, still photography and video with a diverse client that included medical equipment manufacturers and the University of California, San Francisco.
 
Bill always looked beneath the surface and along with partners Paul Steinbroner and Dr. Darryl Inaba was instrumental in developing the educational materials that have earned CNS Productions, Inc. the respect they enjoy as one of the primary sources of information on alcohol, drug and behavioral addictions.
 
Uppers Downers All Arounders, the college level textbook Cohen co-authored with Dr. Inaba, has been an indispensable reference for the over twelve thousand students each year who are assigned the text for their coursework. Treatment centers, local law enforcement, the FBI Training Academy, and the US Drug Enforcement Administration rely on the always current information each edition delivers and the reader-friendly style of the presentation.

Bills affable style, his quirky sense of humor, and generosity of spirit will be greatly missed by his family, friends and professional colleagues.

About William Cohen

William Cohen

William Cohen

Emmy award winner, filmmaker, author, lecturer William Cohen spent the past four decades building an impressive resume as an educator proficient in several media. Author of the prevention workbook A Matter of Balance: Personal Strategies for Alcohol & Other Drugs, Mr. Cohen has written and directed over 200 documentaries airing on ABC, NBC and PBS. He received a National Peabody Award in recognition of his excellent work. He taught courses on alcohol and other drugs at Southern Oregon University and currently lectures through out the Pacific Northwest on drug education, compulsive behaviors, and substance abuse.

“Psychoactive drugs and addictive behaviors affect people’s lives from conception to death and because drug use and abuse can occur at any age, access to prevention and treatment programs should be widely available. “

William E. Cohen

William E. Cohen considers himself above all else – an educator and a storyteller. His career spans forty years and began in the news room of a San Francisco television station. He learned his craft writing, editing and producing daily news segments and longer documentary pieces on a variety of topics. His interest in medicine led to a partnership with like minded colleagues in Biomed Arts Associates, Inc., a company specializing in medical illustration, still photography and video with a diverse client that included medical equipment manufacturers and the University of California, San Francisco.

Bill has always been a man who looks beneath the surface and along with partners Paul Steinbroner and Dr. Darryl Inaba has been instrumental in developing the educational materials that have earned CNS Productions, Inc. the respect they enjoy as one of the primary sources of information on alcohol, drug and behavioral addictions. Uppers Downers All Arounders, the college level textbook Cohen co-authored with Dr. Inaba is now in its 6th edition and has been an indispensable reference for the over twelve thousand students each year who are assigned the text in their coursework. Treatment centers, local law enforcement, the FBI Training Academy, and the US Drug Enforcement Administration rely on the always current information each edition delivers and the reader-friendly style of the presentation.

In between working on the 7th edition of Uppers Downers All Arounders, Bill lectures throughout the Pacific Northwest on drug education, compulsive behaviors, substance abuse, and the neurochemistry of addiction.

Awards

National Emmy

  • Old Age, Do Not Go Gentle, 2-hour documentary on aging in America
  • Here’s Looking At You Kid, 1-hour documentary telling the story of extraordinary personal resilience in an 11-year-old boy’s fight to recover from burns suffered over 73 percent of his body. NOVA

The Robert Kennedy Award for Journalism

  • Old Age, Do Not Go Gentle

Peabody Award

  • Old Age, Do Not Go Gentle

American Film Festival – First Place

  • Cancer Disclosure

Associated Press Award – Best Documentary

  • Whatever Happened to Patty Hearst
  • Flight of the Orphans

Film & Video Productions (partial list)

  • Symbols: P=Producer, D=Director, C=Cinematographer, E=Editor, W=Writer, CP-Co-Producer
  • Neurochemistry of Relapse & Recovery (D, W, E), 30 min, 2009, CNS Productions
  • Uppers, Downers, All Arounders, The Series (Ten 15-min videos) (D, W, E) 150 min, 2007-2009, CNS Productions
  • Methamphetamine: Neurochemistry & Recovery (D, W, E) 30 min, 2006, CNS Productions
  • Co-Occurring Disorders: Mental Health & Drugs (D, W, E) 36 min, 2005, CNS Productions
  • Marijuana: Neurochemistry & Physiology (D, W, E) 37 min, 2005, CNS Productions
  • Medical Consequences of Addiction (D, W, E) 36 min, 2005, CNS Productions
  • Prescription & OTC Drugs: Misuse & Abuse (D, W, E) 35 min, 2004, CNS Productions
  • Psychoactive Club Drugs & Inhalants (D, W, E) 53 min, 2002, CNS Productions
  • Alcohol & Its Effects (D, W, E) 60 min, 2001, CNS Productions
  • Uppers, Downers, All Arounders: Drugs & Effects 2 (D, W, E) 63 min, 2001, CNS Productions
  • Compulsive Gambling: Signs & Symptoms (D, W, C, E) 28 min, 2001, CNS Productions
  • Roots of Addiction (D, W, E) 28 min, 1999, CNS Productions
  • Heroin, From Pleasure to Pain (D, W, E) 35 min, 1999, CNS Productions
  • Sports & Drugs (D, W, E) 50 min, 1997, CNS Productions
  • In & Out of Control: Emotional, Phys.& Sexual Violence (W, E) 38 min, 1997, CNS Productions
  • Compulsive Gambling & Recovery (W, D, E), 50 min, 1995, Brubaker & Associates
  • Haight Ashbury Training Series (15 part series, 12 hrs.), (D, W, E) 1991-1993, CNS Prod.
  • Newborn Care (D, W, E) 20 min, 1990, CNS Productions
  • Transpac III (P, D, C, E) 17 min, 1988, Abbott Critical Care
  • A Matter of Balance (D, W, C, E) 25 min, 1987, Biomed Arts Inc.
  • Dr. Lucia, A Life in Medicine (P, D, W, C, E) 30 min, 1985, UC Medical Center, San Francisco
  • Billy Martin Big League Baseball (9 part series) (C, E) 140 min, 1982-1983, ALN Productions
  • Here’s Looking at You Kid (D, C,E, W) 53 min, 1979, The Burn Council
  • You Can’t Keep Your Horse in the Garage (P, D, E, C) 30 min, 1978, ABC Network
  • Save the Seas (P, D, C, E) 57 min, 1977, The Dolphin Project
  • Old Age, Do Not Go Gentle (AP, E) 2×54 min, 1977, KGO-TV, ABC Network
  • Day on the Green (C, E) 90 min, 1976, CNS Productions
  • A Time to Be Born (P, D, E) 30 min, 1977, CNS Productions
  • Psychoactive (P, D, E, W) 30 min, 1976, WEC Productions
  • What Ever Happened to Patty Hearst (P, E) 51 min, 1974, KGO-TV, ABC-TV
  • Tripping with Terwilliger (5 part series) (D, W, E) 85 min, 1973-1976, Standard Oil
  • EXPO 70, Japan (P, C, D, W, E) 4 part series, 90 min, 1970, CNS German, Canadian, Quebec Governments
  • “1969” (P, D, E) 17 min, 1969, KYVU-TV, San Francisco
  • Latin America: Land of Extremes (P, C, D, E) 53 min, 1963, KPTV, Portland, OR