producer of Ben Shahn: Passion for Justice

Susan Wallner is a producer on staff with NJN Public Television, where she has been since 1988 when she joined the staff of State of the Arts. She became series producer for the award-winning arts magazine in 1993. In addition, she produces and directs documentaries, including Ben Shahn: Passion for Justice.

Recently, Susan served as executive producer for NJN's American Family Portraits, a local/national PBS programming initiative, and for Student Voices: Newark Mayor's Race, an Annenberg/Pew Charitable Trust initiative. Past projects include the Emmy Award-winning documentaries Crossroads: The Story of a Theatre, and Toshiko Takaezu: Portrait of an Artist (available from Films for the Humanities and Sciences).

Her awards include six Mid-Atlantic Emmys, a US International Film and Video Gold Camera Award, a Chicago International Television Competition Silver Plaque, two CINE Golden Eagles, a NETA First Place Documentary Award, a Silver Award from WorldFest-Charleston, the New Jersey Society of Professional Journalists' First Place Award for Broadcast Journalism, and a fellowship from the Pennsylvania State Council on the Arts. In addition, she was recently chosen to participate in the PBS/CPB Producers Academy.

Before joining NJN Public Television, Susan worked freelance on commercial film productions in the Philadelphia area. She has a master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School of Communication. Her undergraduate degree is from New College in Sarasota, Florida. She also attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago for photography and art history. Susan lives in Bucks County, Pennsylvania with her husband Mark Kobasz, a sculptor and glass artist, and their children.