Frank Beacham

Frank Beacham
141 West 73 St., Apt 7S • New York, NY 10023 • 212-873-9349

Frank Beacham is a New York-based writer, director and producer who works in print, radio, television, film and theatre.

Beacham has served as a staff reporter and editor for United Press International, the Miami Herald, Gannett Newspapers and Post- Newsweek. His articles have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, the Village Voice and The Oxford American.
Beacham has written on retainer on video and audio technology for The Broadcast Bridge, TV Technology, Video, Pro Audio Review, American Cinematographer and Radio World magazines.

Beacham’s books, "Whitewash: A Southern Journey through Music, Mayhem & Murder" and "The Whole World Was Watching; My Life Under the Media Microscope" are currently in publication. One of his stories is currently being developed for television.
He wrote, with George Demas, the stage play, "Maverick," about Orson Welles. The play was produced in New York City in 2019.

Beacham co-wrote the new Harvey Brooks’ book, "View from the Bottom." It will be published by July 4, 2020 by Tangible Press. The memoir is of the notable bass players who performed with Bob Dylan, Miles Davis and many others.

As a writer and columnist, Beacham has written extensively on the cultural implications of information technology. For six years, his syndicated column, "Questioning Technology," was distributed to more than 100 newspapers in the United States and Canada.

Previously, Beacham wrote three non-fiction books on video for the American Society of Cinematographers, wrote an interactive course of digital photography for the New York Institute of Photography and has been a long running columnist on television and internet topics for several trade magazines and weekly newspapers.

He is a contributor to "Toward the Meeting of the Waters," an anthology on the civil rights movement published by the University of South Carolina Press.

In 1999, Frank Beacham was executive producer of Tim Robbins’ Touchstone feature film, "Cradle Will Rock." His play, "Maverick," about video with Orson Welles, was staged off-Broadway in New York City in 2019.

Beacham wrote and directed the award-winning American Public Radio drama, "The Orangeburg Massacre," starring David Carradine, Blair Underwood and James Whitmore. The program portrayed the true story of the killing of three black students and wounding of 27 others on the South Carolina State college campus in 1968 and the subsequent cover up by the FBI and state government officials.

The Orangeburg production won the 1991 Gold Medal for Best History and the Silver Medal for Best Social Issues programs in international radio competition among 26 nations at the New York Festivals.

Beacham produced, with the late Richard Wilson, the six-hour retrospective, "Theatre of the Imagination: Radio Stories by Orson Welles & the Mercury Theatre" and wrote, directed and produced the documentary, "The Mercury Company Remembers" with Leonard Maltin. Previously, he has written for "Riverwalk: Live From the Landing," a weekly jazz broadcast from American Public Radio.

In the early 1990s, Frank Beacham produced four stage plays in Los Angeles. In 1985, he teamed with Orson Welles over a six month period to develop a one-man television special showcasing the star's many talents. Orson Welles Solo was canceled after Mr. Welles died on the day principal photography was to begin.

Other video credits include "A Tribute to John Huston" hosted by Jack Nicholson and Richard Brooks; "Ronald Neame on the Director;" "Hollywood Chronicles: The Great Movie Clowns" and "Private Lives, Public People."

Frank Beacham has a B.A. in Radio and Television Journalism, 1969, from the University of South Carolina and was winner of a 1966 scholarship from South Carolina Broadcaster's Association.

He did post-graduate studies at UCLA, University of Southern California and American Film Institute in film producing, directing, acting, story analysis/development, and screen writing.