Ivy Meeropol: Movies & Box Office

Ivy Meeropol (born October 13, 1968) is an American filmmaker, director, and producer known primarily for her thought-provoking documentaries that explore political, social, and historical subjects. The granddaughter of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who were executed in 1953 after being convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage, Meeropol has made it a central focus of her career to examine the legacy of her grandparents and the broader implications of their case. She is the daughter of Michael Meeropol and Ann Karus Meeropol, and the adoptive granddaughter of Abel Meeropol (pen name Lewis Allan), the songwriter famous for "Strange Fruit" and "The House I Live In." Meeropol graduated from Sarah Lawrence College and began her professional life as a legislative aide and speechwriter for Congressman Harry Johnston of Florida before transitioning into journalism, where she published articles in prominent outlets such as The New York Times, O, The Oprah Magazine, Premiere, and Paper, while also serving as the fiction editor for Provincetown Arts Magazine. Meeropol's directorial breakthrough came with her deeply personal documentary Heir to an Execution, in which she explored her family's conflicted views regarding the trial and execution of her grandparents. The film was featured at the Sundance Film Festival and was shortlisted for an Academy Award, establishing her as a formidable voice in political documentary filmmaking. She went on to direct the six-part Sundance Channel series The Hill in 2006, which followed four young congressional staffers responding to electoral defeat. In 2013, she was named a Sundance Institute Fellow and received grants from the Sundance Documentary Fund, the NY State Council for the Arts, and the MacArthur Foundation. Her 2016 documentary Indian Point examined the controversial Indian Point Energy Center located 35 miles from New York City. In 2019, she returned to her family's history with Bully. Coward. Victim. The Story of Roy Cohn, investigating the prosecutor of her grandparents and his influence on Donald Trump. More recently, she directed After the Bite (2023) for HBO about shark sightings in Cape Cod and Ask E. Jean (2025) about journalist E. Jean Carroll. Meeropol lives in the Hudson Valley with her husband, production designer Thomas Ambrose, and their two children.