Biographie
Greg Crutcher is an award winning filmmaker and television producer whose wide-ranging career has one indelible constant: excellence. The whole host of music videos and television programs he has produced and directed has earned him the respect of his peers and numerous national and international awards in his industry.
The more than 100 music videos he has created have helped propel the careers of some of country music's best-selling artists: Garth Brooks, Travis Tritt and many others. Two of his long form commercial music videos were certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for sales of more than $1,000,000 apiece. The Gospel Music Association honored him with their highest accolade, the Dove Award, for his memorable music video The Great Adventure for Contemporary Christian artist Steven Curtis Chapman.
For cable giant, The Nashville Network, Crutcher directed SoulMates, a series of one hour specials that details the love stories of country music celebrities and their spouses. Lushly photographed and deeply felt, the program combined perceptive interviews with exclusive home footage and intimate family situations. Subjects have included Garth and Sandy Brooks, Alan Jackson and Denise, and Jeff and Gregg Foxworthy, to name a few.
Crutcher is also well regarded for his iconoclastic approach to music video programming. He has produced and/or directed groundbreaking specials, hundreds of episodes of weekly series and important home video collections of recording artist's work.
For Country Music Television, Crutcher directed a two hour surrealist romp blending vaudeville, dance and musical comedy as a structure for presenting the most popular videos and artists of the year. The CMT 1995 Countdown was presented domestically and in a slightly different version for viewers in Europe. Crutcher also directed thirty six episodes of CMT Showcase for the cable network. The profiled artists included The Mavericks, Shania Twain, Tim McGraw and Pam Tillis among many others.
In the dual role of producer and director, Crutcher also helmed TNN VideoSesssion, a fast-paced look at a country artist's career through music videos and an irreverent, off center interview. Created initially for The Nashville Network, the series was later seen on cable in Europe and Latin America.
Crutcher also directed TNN's first-ever period musical special. Filmed much like a feature on Old West sets outside of Tucson, AZ in June, 1993, The Music of the Wild West reprised the "greatest hits" of the frontier era of American history. Awarded the coveted WorldFest Gold Award at the Charleston International Film Festival, the sixty minute special included guest artists Crystal Gayle, Marty Stuart, Michael Martin Murphey and John McEuen.
Crutcher also directed the first ever television special to originate from the National Cowboy Hall of Fame. Cowboy Jubilee: A Celebration of the National Cowboy Hall of Fame showcased the western art and historical holdings of Oklahoma City's famed museum of the American West and celebrated the role cowboys have played in the American dream and culture. Hosts Riders In The Sky mix music and humor with special appearances by James Garner, Jimmy Stewart and cowboy poet Waddie Mitchell.
Crutcher's background also includes the glamorous world of fashion for television. As Fashion Editor for American Magazine (TNN), he traveled from coast to coast producing, writing and directing fashion segments for the national cable network's daytime magazine show. Crutcher has interviewed a host of fashion celebrities including designers, super-models and high profile retail magnates.
Also for TNN, Crutcher co-hosted and co-produced a highly-rated entertainment news magazine. Country Notes, a hip, youth-oriented weekly half hour offered reports on country music's cutting edge artists and issues. The experience gave him a reporter's access to the burgeoning Nashville music industry and front line experience in major television production on a national scale.
Crutcher's professional life also includes stints in front of the camera as a respected television journalist at local television stations across the country. In Kansas and Missouri, he honed his craft as weatherman, weekend anchor and producer. In Columbia, South Carolina his unique Carolina Traveler series won him a devoted audience and regional awards for reporting and television production.
