Hallee Adelman

Hallee Adelman
Born
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
EducationPh.D., Drexel University
Occupations
  • Author
  • Film producer
  • Director
Years active2018–present
Notable workWay Past Mad (and the Great Big Feelings series); Our American Family
SpouseDavid J. Adelman

Hallee Adelman is an American children's book author and documentary filmmaker based in the Philadelphia area. Her Way Past series of picture books, marketed under the name Great Big Feelings, is published by Albert Whitman & Company. She co-founded the documentary production company World of HA Productions with Ivy Herman.

Adelman's producing credits include the Primetime Emmy Award–winning documentary The Social Dilemma (2020) and the Academy Award–nominated Writing with Fire (2021). She directed and produced Our American Family (2022), which was reviewed by critics at The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times and profiled by The Philadelphia Inquirer.[1][2] She is married to businessman David J. Adelman.[3]

Early life and education

Adelman was born and raised in Philadelphia.[4] She holds a Ph.D. in learning technology from Drexel University and taught at all levels, from elementary school through university, before pursuing writing and filmmaking full-time.[3][5] Adelman, who lives in Haverford, released her first children's book in 2019.[6]

Literary career

Adelman's debut picture book, My Quiet Ship (2018), illustrated by Sonia Sánchez, was reviewed by School Library Journal[7] and was named a finalist for the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators' Crystal Kite Award in the Atlantic region.[8][9] Her next project, the Way Past series for Albert Whitman & Company, focuses on children's emotional development. In 2022, The Philadelphia Inquirer profiled Adelman as part of a group of Philadelphia-area authors working to diversify children's literature.[10] That same year, Philadelphia Style highlighted Adelman's work across both children's literature and film.[11]

Several titles in the series have drawn reviews from trade publications, including Kirkus Reviews, Booklist, and School Library Journal.[12] The first book, Way Past Mad (2018), won a Parents' Choice Award.[13] A later book, Way Past Jealous (2021), received a starred review from Kirkus Reviews[14] and was named to Bank Street College of Education's annual list of the best children's books.[15] The series had grown to twelve titles by 2025. Adelman has given author talks and readings at institutions including the Free Library of Philadelphia.[16]

Selected bibliography
YearTitleNotes
2018My Quiet Ship2018 SCBWI Crystal Kite Award finalist (Atlantic region);[9] reviewed by School Library Journal[7]
2020Way Past Mad2020 Parents' Choice Award;[13] reviewed by Kirkus Reviews[12] and Booklist[17]
2020Way Past WorriedReviewed by Kirkus Reviews[18] and School Library Journal[19]
2021Way Past JealousStarred review, Kirkus Reviews;[14] also reviewed by Booklist;[20] named to Bank Street College's Best Children's Books of the Year, 2022[15]
2021Way Past Sad[21]
2022Way Past Lonely[22]
2022Way Past Afraid[23]
2022The Strongest ThingGold Award, 2022 Mom's Choice Awards[24][25]
2023Way Past SorryReviewed by Kirkus Reviews[26] and Booklist[27]
2023Way Past EmbarrassedReviewed by Kirkus Reviews[28]
2024Way Past MeanBookstagang Best of 2024 pick, "Best Conversation Starters";[29] reviewed by Booklist[30]
2025Way Past ShamePublished by Albert Whitman & Company[31]
2025After: A Survivor's StoryReviewed by Kirkus Reviews;[32] named to the Child Mind Institute's Best Kids' Books About Mental Health, 2025;[33] 2025 Foreword INDIES finalist, Picture Books;[34] named to Bank Street College's Best Children's Books of the Year, 2026[35]

Filmmaking career

Adelman co-founded the production company World of HA Productions with Ivy Herman.[2] Her early credits as producer or executive producer include The Social Dilemma (2020), a Primetime Emmy Award winner,[36] and Writing with Fire (2021), an Academy Award nominee for Best Documentary Feature.[37] She was also an executive producer on Art & Krimes by Krimes (2021), which went on to win a 2023 Emmy Award for Outstanding Arts & Culture Documentary.[38]

In 2022, Adelman directed and produced Our American Family together with Sean King O'Grady, a documentary following a Philadelphia family's experience with generational addiction. It won the Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 2021 Woodstock Film Festival; Natalia Winkelman of The New York Times and Noel Murray of the Los Angeles Times both reviewed the film.[39][40] Ahead of its streaming release on AMC+, The Philadelphia Inquirer profiled the film alongside Adelman's work directing it.[1]

Adelman went on to produce Daughters (2024), which won the U.S. Documentary Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival[41] and received a 2024 Peabody Award,[42] along with the short documentary Death by Numbers (2024), shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Film.[43] Two more of her executive-producing credits, The Librarians (2025) described by The Hollywood Reporter as a "powerful documentary about American book bans"[44] and Speak. (2025), both premiered at Sundance that year. Adelman was appointed to the board of directors of the International Documentary Association in 2020.[45]

Selected filmography
YearTitleRoleNotes
2020The Truffle HuntersAssociate producerWon the 2021 American Society of Cinematographers Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in Documentary Film[46]
2020The Social DilemmaExecutive producerNetflix; Primetime Emmy Award winner[47]
2020Us KidsExecutive producerWorld premiere at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival[48]
2021Writing with FireExecutive producerAcademy Award–nominated (Best Documentary Feature)[49]
2021Art & Krimes by KrimesExecutive producerWon the 2023 Emmy Award for Outstanding Arts & Culture Documentary[38]
2022Our American FamilyDirector, producerWoodstock Film Festival Audience Award; reviewed in The New York Times[39] and the Los Angeles Times[40]
2022AishaExecutive producerWon the Audience Award at the 2022 Cork International Film Festival; nominated for 10 Irish Film & Television Awards in 2023[50][51]
2022Your Friend, MemphisProducerWorld premiere at the 2022 SXSW Film Festival[52]
2022Broadway RisingExecutive producerPremiered at the 2022 Tribeca Festival[53]
2023Invisible BeautyExecutive producerWon the 2024 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Documentary (Film); nominated for the 2024 Cinema Eye Honors[54][55]
2023Late BloomersExecutive producerPremiered at the 2023 SXSW Film Festival[56]
2023Story & Pictures ByExecutive producerA documentary about children's picture book creators Christian Robinson, Yuyi Morales, and Mac Barnett[57]
2023Tomorrow, Tomorrow, TomorrowExecutive producerScreened in the U.S. Competition section at DOC NYC 2023[58]
2023No One Asked YouExecutive producerWorld premiere at DOC NYC 2023; Audience Award runner-up, DOC NYC 2023[59]
2024DaughtersExecutive producerNetflix; won the Audience Award, U.S. Documentary, 2024 Sundance Film Festival, and a 2024 Peabody Award
2024Death by NumbersExecutive producerShort documentary; Academy Award–shortlisted[60]
2024My Sweet LandExecutive producerNominated for three awards at the 2024 International Documentary Association Awards[61]
2025The LibrariansExecutive producerPremiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival[62]
2025Speak.Executive producerPremiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival[63]

Theater

Adelman, credited jointly with Ivy Herman, is a producer of Back to the Future: The Musical, which won the 2022 Olivier Award for Best New Musical.[64][65]

Personal life

Adelman is married to businessman David J. Adelman, CEO of Campus Apartments.[3]

References

  1. 1 2 "'Our American Family' documents one Ardmore woman's painful opioid recovery". The Philadelphia Inquirer. October 6, 2022.
  2. 1 2 "Hallee Adelman is on a mission to empower and inform today's youth". The Philadelphia Citizen. February 11, 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 "Hallee Adelman's adorable new children's book is a reminder that it's okay to get mad". The Philadelphia Citizen. February 28, 2020.
  4. ↑ "About". Hallee Adelman.
  5. ↑ "Hallee Adelman: New Book, New Movies". Main Line Tonight. May 15, 2024.
  6. ↑ "Haverford mom releases book to empower children". Delaware County Daily Times. February 12, 2019.
  7. 1 2 "My Quiet Ship". School Library Journal. November 2018.
  8. ↑ "My Quiet Ship". Albert Whitman & Company.
  9. 1 2 "Crystal Kite Finalists 2019". Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.
  10. ↑ "Meet the authors with Philadelphia ties working to diversify children's books". The Philadelphia Inquirer. July 14, 2022.
  11. ↑ "Philadelphia Innovators". Philadelphia Style. March 3, 2022.
  12. 1 2 "Way Past Mad". Kirkus Reviews. January 12, 2020.
  13. 1 2 "2020 Parents' Choice Award Winners for Picture Books". Barnes & Noble.
  14. 1 2 "Way Past Jealous". Kirkus Reviews.
  15. 1 2 Beaver, Ramarie (June 1, 2021). "Way Past Jealous". School Library Journal.
  16. ↑ "Virtual Children's Author Visit: Hallee Adelman". Free Library of Philadelphia. January 4, 2021.
  17. ↑ "Way Past Mad". Booklist. March 1, 2020.
  18. ↑ "Way Past Worried". Kirkus Reviews. July 14, 2020.
  19. ↑ "Way Past Worried". School Library Journal. October 1, 2020.
  20. ↑ "Way Past Jealous". Booklist.
  21. ↑ "Way Past Sad". Albert Whitman & Company.
  22. ↑ "Way Past Lonely". Albert Whitman & Company.
  23. ↑ "Way Past Afraid". Albert Whitman & Company.
  24. ↑ "The Strongest Thing". Mom's Choice Awards.
  25. ↑ "The Strongest Thing". Albert Whitman & Company.
  26. ↑ "Way Past Sorry". Kirkus Reviews. January 2023.
  27. ↑ "Way Past Sorry". Booklist. 2023.
  28. ↑ "Way Past Embarrassed". Kirkus Reviews. September 2023.
  29. ↑ "Way Past Mean (Great Big Feelings)". MIT Press Bookstore.
  30. ↑ "Way Past Mean". Booklist. April 15, 2024.
  31. ↑ "Way Past Shame". Albert Whitman & Company.
  32. ↑ "After". Kirkus Reviews. July 19, 2025.
  33. ↑ Cicero, Karen (November 17, 2025). "The Best Kids' Books About Mental Health of 2025". Child Mind Institute.
  34. ↑ "2025 Foreword INDIES Finalists in Picture Books (Children's)". Foreword Reviews.
  35. ↑ The Best Children's Books of the Year: 2026 Edition. Bank Street College of Education, Children's Book Committee. 2026.
  36. ↑ "2020 Sundance Docs in Focus: THE SOCIAL DILEMMA". what (not) to doc. January 16, 2020.
  37. ↑ "2021 Sundance Docs in Focus: WRITING WITH FIRE". what (not) to doc. January 19, 2021.
  38. 1 2 "ART & KRIMES BY KRIMES". AJNA Films.
  39. 1 2 Winkelman, Natalia (September 1, 2022). "Our American Family". The New York Times – via Rotten Tomatoes.
  40. 1 2 Murray, Noel (September 9, 2022). "Our American Family". Los Angeles Times – via Rotten Tomatoes.
  41. ↑ "'Daughters' Trailer: Netflix's Acclaimed, Kerry Washington-Produced Doc And Sundance Winner". Blavity. July 18, 2024.
  42. ↑ "Daughters". Peabody Awards.
  43. ↑ "Oscars 2025: Full list of nominations for 97th Academy Awards". ABC7 Los Angeles. January 23, 2025.
  44. ↑ "'The Librarians' Review: Powerful Documentary About American Book Bans". The Hollywood Reporter. January 25, 2025.
  45. ↑ "IDA Appoints Five New Members to Board of Directors". International Documentary Association. November 5, 2020.
  46. ↑ "Bringing a Poetic Vérité Style to Gaucho Gaucho". American Society of Cinematographers. May 31, 2025.
  47. ↑ "2020 Sundance Docs in Focus: THE SOCIAL DILEMMA". what (not) to doc. January 16, 2020.
  48. ↑ "Why March for Our Lives Documentary 'Us Kids' Is More Timely Than Ever, Before the 2020 Election". Variety. November 1, 2020.
  49. ↑ "2021 Sundance Docs in Focus: WRITING WITH FIRE". what (not) to doc. January 19, 2021.
  50. ↑ "Irish film Aisha wins 2022 Audience Award at the 67th Cork Film Festival". Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland. November 22, 2022.
  51. ↑ "Irish Film & Television Awards 2023: The Banshees of Inisherin and Aisha top nominations". The Irish Times. March 7, 2023.
  52. ↑ "Your Friend, Memphis Film Review". Deadline. March 12, 2022.
  53. ↑ "Broadway Rising Premieres June 13 at Tribeca Film Fest". Playbill. June 12, 2022.
  54. ↑ "2024 NAACP Image Awards Winners". Deadline. March 16, 2024.
  55. ↑ "Cinema Eye Honors Announces 2024 Nominees in Broadcast Categories, Shorts List". The Hollywood Reporter. October 19, 2023.
  56. ↑ "Karen Gillan Movie 'Late Bloomers' Acquired By Vertical". Deadline. March 2024.
  57. ↑ "Story & Pictures By". DC/DOX.
  58. ↑ "Tomorrow, Tomorrow, Tomorrow". DOC NYC.
  59. ↑ "No One Asked You". DOC NYC.
  60. ↑ "Oscars 2025: Full list of nominations for 97th Academy Awards". ABC7 Los Angeles. January 23, 2025.
  61. ↑ "International Documentary Association Announces Nominees For IDA Awards". Deadline. November 20, 2024.
  62. ↑ "'The Librarians' Review: Powerful Documentary About American Book Bans". The Hollywood Reporter. January 25, 2025.
  63. ↑ "Speak". The Film Collaborative.
  64. ↑ "Back to the Future: The Musical – Broadway Musical – Original". Internet Broadway Database.
  65. ↑ "Great Scott! BACK TO THE FUTURE THE MUSICAL Announces Broadway Dates". Shubert Organization.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.