Justine Shapiro

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Justine Shapiro
Born (1963-03-20) March 20, 1963 (age 62)
South Africa
Occupation(s)Actress, TV travel host, documentary filmmaker, director, producer, writer
Years active1992–present
WebsiteJustine Shapiro profile

Justine Shapiro (born March 20, 1963) is a South African-born American actress, filmmaker, writer, hostess and producer, who was one of several main hosts of the Pilot Productions travel/adventure series Globe Trekker (also called Pilot Guides in Canada and originally broadcast as Lonely Planet).

Television and film career

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Before hosting Globe Trekker (Pilot Guides), Shapiro appeared in various roles in film and television. Eventually, she was involved in several documentaries including co-production/direction duties on 2001's Promises, which won two 2002 Emmy Awards, for Best Documentary and Outstanding Background Analysis, and was nominated for best Documentary Feature at the 74th Academy Awards.[1][2][3] Promises attempts to humanize the Arab–Israeli conflict by examining it in microcosm, through the eyes of seven Palestinian and Israeli children living in or near the divided city of Jerusalem.[4]

She produced and directed a feature-length documentary entitled Our Summer in Tehran.[5]

In 2013 she became host of Time Team America, shown on PBS.[6][7]

In 2021, Shapiro's company Matlana Media secured the rights to the Globe Trekker show archive. In 2024, she launched a reboot of the show titled Globe Trekker Now with fellow original hosts Ian Wright, Saami Sabiti, and Megan McCormick as well as other original crew members.[8]

Personal life

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Shapiro was born in South Africa and grew up in Berkeley, California.[9] She is Jewish.[10]

Shapiro is a survivor of the World Airways Flight 30H airplane crash at Boston's Logan Airport on January 23, 1982.[11]

During an October 2006 broadcast of the Globe Trekker Venice City Guide episode, Shapiro revealed that she went to Tufts University (majoring in history and theater)[9] with Oliver Platt, who recognized her in the crowd while she was covering the Venice Film Festival, where Platt was promoting Casanova.

In her lead-up to a Globe Trekker visit to the Auschwitz concentration camp she stated "Like many Jewish Americans, I have Polish roots. And the Auschwitz concentration camp was where many of my relatives died during World War II."[12]

In Globe Trekker's "South Africa 2", Shapiro and co-host Sami Sabiti traveled to South Africa. While in Soweto, Shapiro visited the nanny she had as a child.[13]

Shapiro has an adult son and lives in San Francisco Bay Area.[14]

References

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  1. ^ "Promises (2001)". Seattle, Washington: IMDb. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
  2. ^ "ITVS Celebrates 20 Years of Funding and Service to Independent Filmmakers With the ITVS Indies Showcase". We Are Movie Geeks. Lanier Media. August 1, 2001. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
  3. ^ Promises Project Awards.
  4. ^ "Promises". The Hollywood Reporter. Los Angeles, California. March 15, 2002. Retrieved April 30, 2016. The movie is a collaboration among three filmmakers: Justine Shapiro, an American of South African descent; B.Z. Goldberg, an American who has lived in Israel for many years, and Carlos Bolado, a Mexican film editor. Together, they shot this effort on video, primarily between 1997 and 2000, during a period of relative calm in the region following the Oslo Accords.
  5. ^ "Our Summer in Tehran (2009)". Seattle, Washington: IMDb. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
  6. ^ "Justine Shapiro". PBS. Archived from the original on 29 November 2020. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
  7. ^ Obenson, Tambay A. (August 18, 2014). "PBS Goes on Archaeological Dig for Josiah Henson - Escaped Slave Who Inspired 'Uncle Tom's Cabin'". Indiewire. Los Angeles, California. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
  8. ^ "Globe Trekker Now". Globe Trekker Now. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  9. ^ a b Time Team America. "Host: Justine Shapiro". PBS. Arlington, Virginia. Archived from the original on November 29, 2020. Retrieved January 23, 2015.
  10. ^ "In Iran, Berkeley Jewish filmmaker finds plenty of love". 29 April 2011.
  11. ^ "Washingtonpost.com: Live Online". washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  12. ^ "Globe Trekker TV Shows World War II Special". Archived from the original on December 28, 2009. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
  13. ^ Globe Trekker TV Shows: South Africa 2, Pilot TV Shows, 2007. Archived August 13, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  14. ^ Alexander Howard (18 May 2020). ""We were all in a state of wonder": Globe Trekker host Justine Shapiro reflects on the show". Lonely Planet. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
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