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Filmmakers Craig (left) and Brent Renaud in Iraq during the filming of Off to War. Photo by Brent Stirton.

The Renaud Brothers were raised in Little Rock, Arkansas. In the mid-90's they  began working with award winning documentary filmmaker Jon Alpert in places like Kosovo, Afghanistan, Cambodia, Bolivia, China, Pakistan, Fiji, Russia, Armenia and Iraq.  Together they worked on programs for HBO, Discovery, Discovery Times, CNN, PBS, CBS, MTV and ESPN among others.  In 2001, the Renaud brothers produced a groundbreaking series of documentary specials on college football rivalries for ESPN. The specials became the popular ESPN series THE SEASON, and helped the brothers develop and showcase a raw cinema verite style, rarely seen on television at the time.

In 2005, their feature-length documentary DOPE SICK LOVE, followed two drug addicted couples on the streets of New York City for a full 18 months, and was nominated for an Emmy Award for Best Documentary.  When it aired, DOPE SICK LOVE received the highest ratings for a documentary in the history of HBO. Today DOPE SICK LOVE is used extensively by social workers and drug rehabilitation centers around the country as an educational tool.  The Renaud Brothers' next project, a 10 part television series called  OFF TO WAR, signified the first time in the history of television to that a single unit of soldiers was followed  throughout an entire deployment at war. OFF TO WAR won some of the most prestigious awards in documentary filmmaking including an International Documentary Association Award for best series, an Overseas Press Club Award for International Reporting, the Best TV Documentary Prize at the San Francisco International Film Festival, and the Grand Prize at the Tokyo Video Festival. In 2006, the Renaud Brothers were nominated by the Directors Guild of America for their Best Director prize in a documentary. OFF TO WAR received nearly unanimous praise from industry critics.

Upon their return from Iraq, the Renaud brothers continued to follow the stories of American combat veterans in a Discovery Times Channel documentary called TAKING THE HILL. In November 2006, more than 50 veterans of the U.S. armed forces from around the country vied for seats in Congress.  At no other time in history had so many veterans run for national office at the same time. From Eric Massa, a retired Navy commander in rural New York State; to Rick Bolanos, a Purple Heart recipient in Vietnam; to Tammy Duckworth, an Army captain who lost both her legs when a grenade hit her helicopter in Iraq, the documentary followed the stories of these veterans as they fought their respective political battles. There certainly is a Mr. Smith Goes to Washington quality to the film, but ultimately it is a coming home story about American military soldiers compelled by their combat experiences to take on the impossible mission of running for national office as no money, no name candidates.  

"Very moving, very poignant" – CNN

"Taking the Hill delivers it's own goods" – LA Times

"Powerful film" – Media Village

"A great documentary" – The Nation

"A must see" – Political Insider

"Another treat from Brent and Craig Renaud" – Arkansas Democrat Gazette

In 2006, Brent and Craig Renaud returned to their hometown of Little Rock, Arkansas to begin filming an HBO documentary, Little Rock Central; 50 Years Later.   In September of 1957, Little Rock Central High School became ground zero for the civil rights struggle for equal education in America. After Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus defied the Supreme Court's 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling and ordered the National Guard to prevent nine black teenagers from entering Central High School, President Dwight D. Eisenhower responded by sending troops from the 101st Airborne Division of the U.S. Army to protect the students as they entered the building.

To mark the 50th anniversary of the forced integration of Central High School, Brent and Craig Renaud followed the lives of contemporary Central High students, teachers and administration, as well as community leaders and members of the Little Rock Nine, over the course of a year, visiting classes, school meetings and assemblies, teenagers' homes and community events. Sharing the stories of both black and white students, the film explored the opportunities and challenges facing them in and out of the classroom. For many Americans, the desegregation of Central High is merely a chapter in history books. But the students of Little Rock Central High live in the ever-present wake of this historic event, growing up amidst complex race, class and socio-economic issues.  

Today, though the school is desegregated, some say it is still not fully integrated. The film debuted on HBO on September 25, 2007, the 50sth anniversary of the crisis at Central High, and received much critical acclaim.

"Provocative" – New York Times

"Sobering Documentary" – USA Today

"Adds something valuable to the discussion about race and education. Worthwhile contributions to that discussion are all too rare."  – NATIONAL REVIEW

"Powerful" – National Public Radio

"A fascinating documentary" – FOX Nws

"Hard-nosed and even-handed, the 90-minute documentary by Brent and Craig Renaud offers an illuminating - and ultimately depressing - look at race relations today in a historic Arkansas high school five decades after federal troops were used to integrate it." – Baltimore Sun

  "An intimate, deeply personal and thought-provoking documentary" – Arkansas Democrat Gazette

  "The one-hour documentary shines light on a hidden racial divide that lacks the hatred of the past but is taken for normal." – Associated Press

"The best chance to...motivate people across the country to consider the legacy of integration."  – Arkansas Times