Joan Borsten
- Producer
- Director
- Writer
Joan Borsten Vidov was born in Santa Monica on August 17, 1947. Her
mother Laura (1912-2003) was one of the Navy's first female officers
(then known as WAVES), stationed in Pearl Harbor during World War II,
and retiring as a Lieutenant Commander. Her father, Orin Borsten
(1912-2005), came to Hollywood in 1944 and had a long career in the
entertainment industry. As a publicist he handled a stable of clients
which included Dorothy Dandridge, Mario Lanza, and Hattie McDaniel. As
a television writer he scripted one of the first ten episodes of The Outer Limits (1963), As a studio executive he worked at MGM and Universal Studios.
After retiring, he co-wrote "A Loving Gentleman: The Love Story of
William Faulkner and Meta Carpenter," which was published by Simon and
Schuster, and with his wife Laura "Once A Wave."
Joan graduated University of California Berkeley with a degree in comparative literature, served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Panama, and received a graduate degree in bilingual education. In 1973 she relocated to Tel Aviv and became a staff reporter for Israel's English language daily "The Jerusalem Post", interviewing leading Israeli politicians and celebrities, covering the peace process with Egypt, the 1983 Israeli Invasion of Lebanon, and writing cover stories about Egyptian First Lady Jehan Sadat and Tunisian First Lady Wasilla Bourguiba. From 1977-1985 Joan was a regular contributor to the Los Angeles Times Calendar section, working for Calendar Editor Irv Letovsky. For Calendar she covered film production and the politics of film from Poland to West Africa, and Spain to India. For Calendar she interviewed Federico Fellini, Ingrid Bergman, Jack Lemmon, George C. Scott, Raul Julia, Tony Curtis, Bruce Beresford, Roman Polanski, Walter Matthau and dozens of other film directors and stars.
In 1985, while living in Rome and working for the Calendar section she met Oleg Vidov, known as the Robert Redford of Russia, who came to Italy to defect from the USSR. When Oleg was given political asylum by the US Government, Joan followed him to Los Angeles. They married several years later. In Los Angeles she became vice president of US Operations for Carthago Films, the company which produced Franco Zeffirelli's "La Traviata," and then Chief Operating Officer of Just Betzer Films, which produced the Best Foreign Film Oscar winner "Babette's Feast."
In 1988 with Oleg she formed Films by Jove Inc., the California-based film production and distribution company, which four years later 1992 acquired worldwide rights (excluding the former USSR) to most of the award-winning animation library of Moscow's Soyuzmultfilm Studio (approximately 1,200 films). Films by Jove financed digital restoration and marketing of more than 40 hours of animated films produced from 1936-1991 by Soyuzmultfilm. She served as Executive Producer with Oleg Vidov of The Animated Classic Showcase, Mikhail Baryshnikov's "Stories from My Childhood," "Rudyard Kipling's 'The Jungle Book,'" "Masters of Russian Animation," "The Adventures of Cheburashka and Friends." She produced, wrote, directed and narrated "Animated Soviet Propaganda." She was co-author with Oleg Vidov and Mikhail Baryshnikov "Mikhail Baryshnikov's 'Stories from My Childhood'" (published by Harry N. Abrams, New York).
Joan successfully defended the Films by Jove license agreement with Soyuzmultfilm Studios and the Studio's legal copyright in the courts of France and the United States against state-supported Russian piracy until 2007 when a Russian oligarch bought the rights to the animation library.
Joan graduated University of California Berkeley with a degree in comparative literature, served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Panama, and received a graduate degree in bilingual education. In 1973 she relocated to Tel Aviv and became a staff reporter for Israel's English language daily "The Jerusalem Post", interviewing leading Israeli politicians and celebrities, covering the peace process with Egypt, the 1983 Israeli Invasion of Lebanon, and writing cover stories about Egyptian First Lady Jehan Sadat and Tunisian First Lady Wasilla Bourguiba. From 1977-1985 Joan was a regular contributor to the Los Angeles Times Calendar section, working for Calendar Editor Irv Letovsky. For Calendar she covered film production and the politics of film from Poland to West Africa, and Spain to India. For Calendar she interviewed Federico Fellini, Ingrid Bergman, Jack Lemmon, George C. Scott, Raul Julia, Tony Curtis, Bruce Beresford, Roman Polanski, Walter Matthau and dozens of other film directors and stars.
In 1985, while living in Rome and working for the Calendar section she met Oleg Vidov, known as the Robert Redford of Russia, who came to Italy to defect from the USSR. When Oleg was given political asylum by the US Government, Joan followed him to Los Angeles. They married several years later. In Los Angeles she became vice president of US Operations for Carthago Films, the company which produced Franco Zeffirelli's "La Traviata," and then Chief Operating Officer of Just Betzer Films, which produced the Best Foreign Film Oscar winner "Babette's Feast."
In 1988 with Oleg she formed Films by Jove Inc., the California-based film production and distribution company, which four years later 1992 acquired worldwide rights (excluding the former USSR) to most of the award-winning animation library of Moscow's Soyuzmultfilm Studio (approximately 1,200 films). Films by Jove financed digital restoration and marketing of more than 40 hours of animated films produced from 1936-1991 by Soyuzmultfilm. She served as Executive Producer with Oleg Vidov of The Animated Classic Showcase, Mikhail Baryshnikov's "Stories from My Childhood," "Rudyard Kipling's 'The Jungle Book,'" "Masters of Russian Animation," "The Adventures of Cheburashka and Friends." She produced, wrote, directed and narrated "Animated Soviet Propaganda." She was co-author with Oleg Vidov and Mikhail Baryshnikov "Mikhail Baryshnikov's 'Stories from My Childhood'" (published by Harry N. Abrams, New York).
Joan successfully defended the Films by Jove license agreement with Soyuzmultfilm Studios and the Studio's legal copyright in the courts of France and the United States against state-supported Russian piracy until 2007 when a Russian oligarch bought the rights to the animation library.
