# Phil Cousineau

Philip Robert Cousineau (born 1952) is an American author, lecturer, independent scholar, screenwriter, and documentary filmmaker. He lives in San Francisco, California.

## Early life and education

Phil Cousineau was born on 26 November 1952 in Columbia, South Carolina. He grew up Catholic just outside Detroit, with French Canadian roots. He studied journalism at the University of Detroit.

## Career

Before turning to writing books and films full-time, Cousineau’s peripatetic career also included playing semi-professional basketball in Europe, harvesting date trees on an Israeli kibbutz, painting 44 Victorian houses (also known as Painted Ladies in San Francisco), teaching, and leading art and literary tours to Europe. He has worked as a sportswriter and taught screenwriting at the American Film Institute (AFI).
American mythologist Joseph Campbell was a mentor and major influence; Cousineau wrote the documentary film and companion book about Campbell's life, The Hero's Journey. The author of more than 25 nonfiction books, and contributed to magazine publications including Parabola, and Paris magazine. Cousineau has more than 15 documentary screenwriting credits to his name, including the 1991 Academy Award-nominated Forever Activists.
His best known works include Soul: An Archaeology, Readings from Socrates to Ray Charles, which Los Angeles Times columnist Jonathan Kirsch reviewed as "Inspiring, often mind-blowing, sometimes even a little scary," and the best-selling book, The Art of Pilgrimage: The Seeker's Guide the Making Travel Sacred.
Cousineau worked with religion scholar Huston Smith on three books as well as four documentary films on contemporary Native American issues. His books have been translated into nine languages.
Cousineau is the host and co-writer of the Link TV television series, Global Spirit, interviewing guests such as Robert Thurman, Karen Armstrong, Andrew Harvey, Deepak Chopra, and Joanne Shenandoah. The first season of Global Spirit was presented by John Cleese and broadcast on PBS-TV stations nationwide in the United States in 2012 and 2013.
A self-avowed night owl, Cousineau published Burning the Midnight Oil, a book of essays and poems about finding inspiration in the night, in 2013.

## Filmography

Filmography of Cousineau :
| Date | Title | Role | Production | Notes |
| 1987 | The Hero's Journey: The World of Joseph Campbell | screenwriter | | Narrated by Peter Donat |
| 1990 | Forever Activists: Stories from the Abraham Lincoln Brigade | screenwriter | | film by Connie Field and Judith Montell. Narrated by Ronnie Gilbert, nominated for an Academy Award Best Documentary, Features. (1990). |
| 1992 | Wiping the Tears of Seven Generations | screenwriter | Kifaru Production | |
| 1993 | The Presence of the Goddess | screenwriter | | film by Christy Baldwin. Narrated by Isabel Allende |
| 1995 | The Red Road to Sobriety | screenwriter | Kifaru Production | Narrated by Benjamin Bratt, about the Native American Sobriety Movement. |
| 1995 | Ecological Design: Inventing the Future | screenwriter | Ecological Design Project production | Narrated by Linda Hunt, competed at Sundance Film Festival in 1995. |
| 1996 | The Peyote Road: Ancient Religion in Contemporary Crisis | screenwriter | Kifaru Production | Narrated by Peter Coyote. |
| 1996 | Your Humble Serpent: The Life of Reuben Snake | screenwriter | Kifaru Production | Awarded "Best Documentary", at Red Earth Film Festival |
| 1999 | Wayfinders: A Pacific Odyssey | screenwriter | Maiden Voyage Productions | PBS documentary, directed by Gail Evenari. Narrated by Napuanalani Cassidy and Patrick Stewart |
| 2005 | A Seat at the Table: Struggling for American Religious Freedom | screenwriter | Kifaru Production | Screened at the American Indian Film Festival, San Francisco in 2003. |
| 2006 | The Roots of Fundamentalism: A Conversation with Huston Smith and Phil Cousineau | self | GemsTone Production | |