Krainin was born in New York City, He was the son of David and Anne Krainin. After graduating from Forest Hills High School, he earned his bachelor’s degree from
Allegheny College. Inspired by
Lawrence of Arabia, he dropped out of
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons to pursue a career in film. At Columbia film school, he produced
The March, a chronicle of Martin Luther King’s Selma to Montgomery, Alabama march for civil rights. “We marched from that little town, Selma, at first with 500 to a thousand people. The next day it doubled and soon there were tens of thousands getting on planes, in cars, even coming from foreign countries to march,” recalled Krainin. In 1995, he shared an Academy Award nomination as co-producer with
Michael Jacobs,
Michael Nozik and
Robert Redford for
Quiz Show (1994). Earlier, he had produced a documentary about the quiz show scandal for PBS's
American Experience series, basing the story on interviews with participants who had not been interviewed in 30 years. ==Filmography==