Winter 2016
Set in a 1950s Britain rising from the ashes of the Blitz, David Walliams (Little Britain) as Christie’s Tommy and Jessica Raine (Call the Midwife) as his wife, Tuppence, stumble into a world of murder, undercover agents and Cold War conspiracy.
Producing organizations: Endor Productions, Agatha Christie Productions and BBC.
Distributor: Acorn Media.
Length: 6 x 60.
Status: complete.
Major funders: BBC, RLJ Entertainment.
Director: Edward Hall. Producer for Endor: Georgina Lowe. EP for Endor: Hilary Bevan Jones. EPs for Agatha Christie Productions: David Walliams, Hilary Strong. Contact: Dan Hamby, dhamby@rljentertainment.com, 301-830-6455.
Winter 2016
Four adults at different places on the autism spectrum open up their personal lives as they navigate romantic relationships and show that, despite many challenges, love can find a way.
Producing organizations: ITVS/Independent Lens.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 1 x 90.
Status: complete.
EP: Lois Vossen. Director: Matt Fuller. Contact: Shaady Salehi, shaady_salehi@itvs.org, 415-356-8383 ext. 260.
Winter 2016
Tells the story of Misty Copeland, a black woman who pulled herself up the American Ballet Theater ladder from studio company to featured soloist.
Producing organizations: ITVS/Independent Lens.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 1 x 90.
Status: postproduction.
EP: Lois Vossen. Director: Nelson George. Contact: Shaady Salehi, shaady_salehi@itvs.org, 415-356-8383 ext. 260.
Winter 2016
Police thriller stars Sheridan Smith (Accused) as a policewoman whose detective husband is killed in the line of duty while working undercover on a case. Her coworkers expect her to stay out of the investigation, but when alarming information about her husband comes to light, she sets out to find the killer herself.
Producing organizations: Mammoth Screen in association with Lip Sync Productions and Screen Yorkshire.
Distributor: Acorn Media.
Length: 3 x 60.
Status: complete.
Major funders: ITV, Yorkshire Content Fund.
EPs for Mammoth: Matt Charman, Rebecca Keane. EPs for Lip Sync: Peter Hampden, Norman Merry. EP for Screen Yorkshire: Hugh Heppell. Contact: Dan Hamby, dhamby@rljentertainment.com, 301-830-6455.
Winter 2016
All-star music tribute hosted by President and Mrs. Obama celebrates cultural resonance of art and literature in our unique American musical forms.
Producing organization: WETA; CoMedia; Mark Krantz Productions; and Cappy Productions.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 1 x 60.
Status: preproduction.
Major funders: LBJ Foundation, David M. Rubenstein, Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund, Howard Gilman Foundation, Carnegie Corporation of New York, Ford Foundation, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Spencer Foundation, American Airlines.
EPs: Dalton Delan, Bob Kaminsky. Director: Leon Knoles. Music Director: Crispin Cioe. Series Producer: Jackson Frost. Contact: Kate Kelly, kkelly@weta.org, 703-998-2072.
Winter 2016
Crime drama follows missing-persons unit lead by a troubled detective who struggles to collaborate with colleagues while investigating the disappearances of individuals.
Producing organization: ITV Studios Limited.
Distributor: Acorn Media.
Length: 4 x 50.
Status: complete.
EP: Francis Hopkinson. Creator/writer: Rob Williams. Directors: Christopher Menaul, Jim O’Hanlon. Contact: Dan Hamby, dhamby@rljentertainment.com, 301-830-6455.
Winter 2016
From Bangkok to Mandalay, captivating travel series takes British host Chris Tarrant (Who Wants to Be a Millionaire) on 2,000-mile journey aboard some of the world’s most extreme railway lines, along the way weaving the stories of drivers, engineers, local characters and his fellow passengers into those of the railways themselves.
Producing organization: Zodiak Rights.
Distributor: APT.
Length: 6 x 45.
Status: complete. Host: Chris Tarrant.
EPs: Nina Carbone, Dale Templar, Hugh Whitworth. Contact: Erin Couse, Erin_Couse@APTonline.org, 617-338-4455 ext. 150.
Winter 2016
In 1980s Romania, when thousands of Western films smashed through the Iron Curtain, a black-market VHS racketeer and a courageous female translator brought the magic of film to the people and sparked a revolution.
Producing organizations: ITVS/Independent Lens.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 1 x 56:46.
Status: complete.
EP: Lois Vossen. Director: Ilinca Calugareanu. Contact: Shaady Salehi, shaady_salehi@itvs.org, 415-356-8383 ext. 260.
Winter 2016
In the final season of PBS’s popular drama, the year is 1925 and momentous change — and past scandals — threaten the great house, its owners and servants.
Producing organizations: A Carnival Films/Masterpiece co-production.
Distributor: PBS. Presenting station: WGBH.
Length: 9 x TBD.
Status: postproduction.
EP for Masterpiece: Rebecca Eaton. Contact: Olivia Wong, Olivia_wong@wgbh.org, 617-300-5349.
Winter 2016
Series explores heritage and ancestries of today’s leading entertainers, athletes, media personalities and others, showing how the interactions of different racial, religious and ethnic groups has produced our diverse society.
Producing organizations: Inkwell Films, McGee Media and WETA, in association with Ark Media.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 10 x 60.
Status: postproduction.
Major funders: Ancestry.com, Johnson & Johnson, POM, Ford Motor Company, Ford Foundation, CPB, PBS.
EP/host/writer: Henry Louis Gates Jr. EPs: Dyllan McGee, Peter Kunhardt. EPs for WETA: Dalton Delan, Anne Harrington. Contact: Kate Kelly, kkelly@weta.org, 703-998-2072.
Winter 2016
Relays poignant, inspiring, yet often unknown stories of female jazz artists and big band instrumentalists from the late 1930s to the present day, highly skilled women who endured decades of sexism, racism and diminished opportunities to succeed in a field that seldom welcomed them.
Producing organization: Paradigm Consulting.
Distributor: APT.
Length: 1 x 57.
Status: complete. Director/producer: Judy Chaikin.
EP/producer: Michael Greene. Editor: Edward Osei-Gyimah. Producer/post-production supervisor: Nancy Kissock. Associate producer/new media strategist: Erin Li. Contact: Erin Couse, Erin_Couse@APTonline.org, 617-338-4455 ext. 150.
Winter 2016
Relates yet-untold story of the Polynesian football pipeline, from the Islands to Utah via the Mormon Church to the NFL.
Producing organizations: ITVS/Independent Lens.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 1 x 90.
Status: complete.
EP: Lois Vossen. Director: Tony Vainuku. Contact: Shaady Salehi, shaady_salehi@itvs.org, 415-356-8383 ext. 260.
Winter 2016
Emmy-winner Guy Pearce (Memento, Iron Man 3) stars in three feature-length mysteries as Jack Irish, the brooding antihero of Australian writer Peter Temple’s award-winning novels.
Producing organizations: Essential Media & Entertainment and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in association with Film Victoria and ZDF Enterprises.
Distributor: Acorn Media.
Length: 2 x 100; 1 x 90.
Status: complete.
Major funders: Australian Broadcasting Corp., Film Victoria, ZDF Enterprises.
Writer: Matt Cameron. Director: Jeffrey Walker. Producer: Ian Collie. EPs: Andrew Knight, Carole Sklan. Contact: Dan Hamby, dhamby@rljentertainment.com, 301-830-6455.
Winter 2016
Smart, quirky, bold performers at the intimate Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center in Old Saybrook, Conn. — including Ann Wilson of Heart, SNL’s Ana Gasteyer, Rickie Lee Jones, Jarrod Spector and Barb Jungr — follow the Hepburnian philosophy, “If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun.”
Producing organization: CPTV.
Distributor: APT.
Length: 6 x 60.
Status: postproduction. Major funder: Whelen Engineering Company.
EP: Jennifer Boyd. Producer/brand manager: Laura Savini. Associate producer: Meg Hurlburt. Contact: Laura Savini, lauracsavini@gmail.com, 516-922-0268. Jennifer Boyd, jboyd@cpbn.org.
Winter 2016
With 23 million Americans addicted to illegal drugs, and 40,000 a year dying from overdoses, Frontline special follows four hardcore drug users — on the streets and in rehab, drug court and prison.
Producing organization: RAINmedia, Inc. Presented by Frontline.
Distributor: PBS. Presenting station: WGBH.
Length: 1 x 120.
Status: production, postproduction.
Producer/director: Marcela Gaviria. Correspondent: Martin Smith. Contact: Patrice Taddonio, Patrice_taddonio@wgbh.org, 617-300-5375.
Winter 2016
Explores Loretta Lynn’s unconventional journey to stardom and the obstacles she has overcome along the way — from growing up in Appalachia to her first big break.
Producing organizations: Yap Films in association with Thirteen Productions LLC’s American Masters for WNET.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 1 x 120.
Status: complete.
Major funders: CPB, Rosalind P. Walter, Blanche & Irving Laurie Foundation, Rhoda Herrick, Michael & Helen Schaffer Foundation, Vital Projects Fund, Rolf and Elizabeth Rosenthal, Judith and Burton Resnick, André and Elizabeth Kertész Foundation, Jack Rudin, Philip and Janice Levin Foundation.
Producers: Elliott Halpern, Elizabeth Trojian. EP for American Masters: Michael Kantor. Series producer for American Masters: Julie Sacks. Supervising Producer for American Masters: Junko Tsunashima. Contact: Junko Tsunashima, Tsunashima@thirteen.org, 212-560-8079.
Winter 2016
First American drama to air on PBS in more than a decade follows lives of two volunteer nurses on opposing sides of the Civil War: New England abolitionist Mary Phinney and Confederate supporter Emma Green.
Producing organizations: Sawbone Films and Scott Free Productions.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 5 x 60.
Status: complete.
Major funders: Anne Ray Charitable Trust, Sloan Foundation, Virginia Motion Picture Opportunity Fund, Electric Entertainment.
EPs: Ridley Scott, David Zucker. EP/co-creator: Lisa Wolfinger. Co-creator/writer: David Zabel. Producer: David Rosemont. Contact: Jennifer Byrne, jrbyrne@pbs.org, 703-739-5487; Carrie Johnson, cjohnson@pbs.org; 703-739-5129.
Winter 2016
Recounts decades-long struggle for union recognition by miners in southern West Virginia in the face of diehard resistance from coal operators during the early decades of the 20th century.
Producing organizations: American Experience/Film Posse. Presenting station: WGBH.
Length: 1 x 120.
Status: complete.
Producer: Randall MacLowry. Contact: Susan Bellows, susan_bellows@wgbh.org, 617-300-5907.
Winter 2016
On the morning of July 2, 1881, a wildly delusional ne’er-do-well shot President James Garfield. Film tells story of the assassination and excruciating final months of Garfield’s life, as the North and South came together to pray for his recovery.
Producing organizations: American Experience/Apograph Productions. Presenting station: WGBH.
Length: 1 x 120.
Status: complete.
Major funders: NEH, CPB.
Producer/director: Rob Rapley. Contact: Susan Bellows, susan_bellows@wgbh.org, 617-300-5907.
Winter 2016
Investigates history of Mexican-American women who were coercively sterilized at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center during the late 1960s and 1970s.
Producing organizations: Latino Public Broadcasting, ITVS, Moon Canyon Films.
Distributor: Latino Public Broadcasting.
Length: 1 x 60.
Status: complete.
Budget: $390,558.
Major funders: Latino Public Broadcasting, California Council On Humanities, UC COR Faculty Grants, USA Broad Fellowship, Chicano/Latino Research Center, ITVS.
Co-producers: Renee Tajima Pena, Virginia Espino. Contact: Luis Ortiz, luis.ortiz@lpbp.org, 818-847-9656.
Winter 2016
Traces increasingly contentious relationship between America and Israel and their bitter clash over Iran’s nuclear program.
Producing organization: Kirk Documentary Group. Presented by Frontline.
Distributor: PBS. Presenting station: WGBH.
Length: 1 x 120.
Status: postproduction.
Director/writer: Michael Kirk. Writer: Mike Wiser. Reporter: Jim Gilmore. Contact: Patrice Taddonio, Patrice_taddonio@wgbh.org, 617-300-5375.
Winter 2016
Pledge special depicts the Potomac River as a reflection of the American story. Shot entirely from planes, film captures the river’s descent through the Appalachian Mountains, past the Great Falls and into the modern power center in D.C., with beautiful images of the nation’s monuments. Preview (password: mptpotomac).
Producing/presenting station: Maryland Public Television.
Length: 1 x 90.
Status: complete.
Budget: $80,000.
Major funders: MPT Initiatives Fund, Irene and Edward H. Kaplan.
EP: Mike English. Director: John Paulson. Executive in charge of production: Jay Parikh. Contact: Philip Guthrie, pgurthrie@mpt.org, 410-581-4187.
Winter 2016
All-star musical tribute celebrates Charles, one of the most prolific musical minds of our time, who moved seamlessly through every genre of American music.
Producing organizations: WETA; Smithsonian Institution; The Grammy Museum; TV One; CoMedia; Mark Krantz Productions; Cappy Productions; and Black and White TV Inc.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 1 x 60.
Status: fundraising, preproduction. Major funder: CPB.
EPs: Dalton Delan, Bob Santelli, Valerie Ervin, Consulting producer: Geovanni Brewer for Black & White TV. Series producer: Jackson Frost. Contact: Kate Kelly, kkelly@weta.org, 703-998-2072.
Winter 2016
Series examining year's most critically acclaimed Hollywood films features one-on-one conversations with actors discussing their craft and work, this season including Will Smith, Benicio Del Toro, Michael Keaton, Samuel L. Jackson, Rooney Mara and Steve Carell.
Producing organizations: Variety Media, LLC and PBS SoCaL.
Distrbutor: NETA. Presenting station: PBS SoCaL.
Length: 3 x 60.
Status: completed.
EPs: Brenda Brkusic, Andrew Russell, Donna Pennestri, John Ross. Host: Jenelle Riley. Contact: Brenda Brkusic, bbrkusic@pbssocal.org, 714-241-4141; Michelle Merker, mmerker@pbssocal.org, 714-241-4142.
Winter 2016
Pledge special collection of best-loved teachings and stories culled from Dyer’s 10 pubtv specials was originally developed as a retrospective and now is being produced as a tribute after his sudden and untimely passing in August 2015.
Producing organizations: RealityCheck Media Consulting/Hay House, Inc.
Length: 1 x 75 core length; 1 x 120 pledge event length.
Status: post-production.
EP: Niki Vettel. Editor: Scot Broderick. Pledge talent: BaBette Davidson. Contact: Niki Vettel, niki.vettel@gmail.com, 617-846-9788.
Winter 2016
Doc argues that retirement is as much about one’s own psychology as on generational influences and societal trends, and that our personal definitions of retirement should drive the retirements plan that too many of us fail to make.
Producing/presenting station: Detroit Public Television.
Length: 1 x 60.
Status: postproduction.
Producer: Ed Moore. Narrator: David Brancaccio. Contact: Ed Moore, emoore@dptv, 248-305-3726.
Winter 2016
A Southern grandmother struggles to help her granddaughter survive the health risks and social stigma of living with HIV in South Carolina.
Producing organizations: ITVS/Independent Lens.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 1 x 90.
Status: complete.
EP: Lois Vossen. Director: June Cross. Contact: Shaady Salehi, shaady_salehi@itvs.org, 415-356-8383 ext. 260.
Winter 2016
All-star tribute honors singer/songwriter Willie Nelson, 2015 recipient of the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song.
Producing organizations: WETA and Bounce AEG.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 1 x 90.
Status: preproduction.
Major funders: CPB, PBS, United Airlines
EPs: Dalton Delan, Michael Strunsky, Mark Rothbaum. Contact: Kate Kelly, kkelly@weta.org, 703-998-2072.
Spring 2016
Filmed over four years, doc interweaves stories of two promising young men growing up in low-income, high-risk families and communities in Chicago who have defied statistics predicting their slim chances for graduating high school and going to college.
Producing organizations: POV.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 1 x 90.
Contact: Chris While, cwhite@pov.org, 212-989-8121.
Spring 2016
Pledge special based on new book by Dr. Leo Galland, a visionary in the field of integrative medicine, offers allergy sufferers a new paradigm for dealing with — and reversing — their allergies: identifying and removing allergy triggers.
Producing organizations: RealityCheck Media Consulting/Hay House, Inc.
Length: 1 x 60; 1 x 90 or 1 x 120 pledge event.
Status: preproduction, scripting.
EP: Niki Vettel. Director: Bob Comiskey. Editor: Scot Broderick. Contact: Niki Vettel, niki.vettel@gmail.com, 617-846-9788.
Spring 2016
Examining the growing epidemic of soldier suicides and moral injury, doc follows Tom and Anthony on a journey of hope and healing as they walk across America — a passage of redemption, an outer transformation and an inner awakening brought on by a rediscovery of the power of community.
Producing organization: POV.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 1 x 90.
Status: postproduction.
Director: Michael Collins. Producer: Marty Syjuco. Contact: Chris While, cwhite@pov.org, 212-989-8121.
Spring 2016
Three-part historical documentary relates untold stories about what happened when the ordinary people of America were given the opportunity to make records for the first time — changing the world, sparking a technological and cultural revolution in popular music, and giving Americans of all races unprecedented musical impact.
Producing organizations: BBC Arena; Lo-Max Films Ltd.; Wildwood Enterprises; Thirteen Productions LLC for WNET.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 2 x 60; 1 x 90; 1 x 150.
Status: fundraising, postproduction.
Major funders: PBS, Anne Ray Charitable Trust, Ann Tenenbaum and Thomas H. Lee, Laura and Robert Sillerman, Jody and John Arnhold, Rosalind P. Walter, V&L Marx Foundation, Pacific Islanders in Communications.
Writer/director/producer: Bernard MacMahon. Writer/producers: Allison McGourty, Duke Erikson. Producer: Bill Holderman. EPs: T Bone Burnett, Robert Redford, Jack White. Contact: Ben Phelps, phelpsb@thirteen.org, 212-560-3059.
Spring 2016
Two people of faith from very different backgrounds — an Evangelical anti-abortion activist and an African-American mother whose son was murdered — find common ground in fight against rising tide of gun violence.
Producing organizations: ITVS/Independent Lens.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 1 x 86:46.
Status: complete.
EP: Lois Vossen. Director: Abigail Disney. Contact: Shaady Salehi, shaady_salehi@itvs.org, 415-356-8383 ext. 260.
Spring 2016
Filmed in locations John James Audubon explored — from Newfoundland and Texas to Key West and Montana —doc tells story of self-taught painter and ornithologist whose legacy of art and science endures to this day.
Producing organizations: Rara Avis Productions, LLC and WETA.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 1 x 60.
Status: fundraising, postproduction.
Major funders: New York Historical Society, Cornell Ornithology Lab; Audubon State Park and Museum, John James Audubon Center, Audubon State Historical Site.
EP: Cina Alexander. EP for WETA: Dalton Delan. Writer/director: Al Reinert. Editor: John Aldrich. Contact: Kate Kelly, kkelly@weta.org, 703-998-2072.
Spring 2016
Home improvement show for first-time parents and grandparents addresses transition from couple to family by focusing on creating a safe, nurturing and stimulating environment for baby.
Producing organization: Fresh Cut Sight & Sound.
Distributor: APT. Presenting station: Rhode Island PBS.
Length: 10 x 30.
Status: complete.
Budget: $400,000.
Major funders: Lysol, Plum Organics.
EP/director: Chip Howell; EP (WNED): Kathryn Larsen. EP: Selena Lauterer. Contact: Webb Howell, webb.howell@babymakes3.tv, 919-945-0702; Selena Lauterer, selena@artemisindependent.com, 828-386-1337.
Spring 2016
Explores last five decades of African-American history, examining the forces and events that have shaped our nation, our culture and our society since the end of the Civil Rights Movement.
Producing organizations: Inkwell Films, McGee Media and WETA, in association with Ark Media.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 2 x 120.
Status: production, postproduction.
Major funders: Bank of America, Johnson & Johnson, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Abby and Howard Milstein Foundation in partnership with Hoover Milstein and Emigrant Bank, Ford Foundation.
EP/writer/host: Henry Louis Gates Jr. EPs: Dyllan McGee, Peter Kunhardt. EPs for WETA: Dalton Delan, Anne Harrington. Contact: Kate Kelly, kkelly@weta.org, 703-998-2072.
Spring 2016
Through emotional stories of black ballerinas of different generations, doc raises questions about inclusion and equal opportunity in the art world and explores how cultural standards of beauty prevent young women of color from breaking into the overwhelmingly white world of ballet.
BLACK BALLERINA Trailer from Shirley Road Productions on Vimeo.
Producing organization: Shirley Road Productions.
Length: 1 x 60.
Status: postproduction.
Budget: $300,000.
Major funders: NEA, Pennsylvania Partners in the Arts Montgomery County Foundation, Leeway Foundation.
Producer/director: Frances McElroy. Editor: Meg Sarachan. Outreach producer: Nadine Patterson. Content consultant: Joselli Deans. Contact: Frances McElroy, info@hsirleyroadproductions.org, 610-667-9348.
Spring 2016
Describes how the “black middle class” — once an impossibility, then an aspiration, then for some a reality — is today slipping away as black America faces an economic depression and the black middle class goes on life support.
Producing organizations: POV.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 1 x 90.
Status: production.
Directors: Tom Casciato, Bob Herbert. Contact: Chris White, cwhite@pov.org, 212-989-8121.
Spring 2016
Two rival politicians attempt to make history by creating a constitution that would give birth to a democratic Zimbabwe.
Producing organizations: ITVS/Independent Lens.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 1 x 90.
Status: complete.
EP: Lois Vossen. Director: Camilla Nielsson. Contact: Shaady Salehi, shaady_salehi@itvs.org, 415-356-8383 ext. 260.
Complex dynamics of race, class and systemic poverty are explored in story of four recyclers in Oakland, Calif., who struggle to survive in a neighborhood already decimated by unemployment, addiction and violence.
Producing organizations: ITVS/Independent Lens.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 1 x 60.
Status: complete.
EP: Lois Vossen. Director: Amir Soltani. Contact: Shaady Salehi, shaady_salehi@itvs.org, 415-356-8383 ext. 260.
Spring 2016
Doc charts one teacher’s commitment to giving migrant farm kids a sense of life beyond the fields.
Producing organizations: Latino Public Broadcasting, ITVS.
Length: 1 x 60.
Status: postproduction.
Budget: $242,877.
Major funders: Latino Public Broadcasting, ITVS, Sundance, Fledging Fund.
Producers/directors: Laura Pacheco, Jackie Mow. Contact: Luis Ortiz, luis.ortiz@lpbp.org, 818-847-9656.
Spring 2016
Beyond the genteel galleries and upmarket auction houses of the art world lies a darker dimension: Detective Philip Mould, journalist Fiona Bruce and a team of scientists investigate a new batch of potential fine art forgeries.
Producing organization: All3Media International.
Distributor: APT.
Length: 4 x 58.
Status: complete. Series producer: Robert Murphy.
EP: Simon Shaw. Contact: Erin Couse, Erin_Couse@APTonline.org, 617-338-4455 ext. 150.
Spring 2016
Tells story of world-famous magician, escape artist, and renowned enemy of deception James “The Amazing” Randi, bringing to life his intricate investigations that with quasi-religious fervor publicly exposed psychics, faith healers and con artists.
Producing organizations: ITVS/Independent Lens.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 1 x 93.
Status: complete.
EP: Lois Vossen. Directors: Tyler Meason, Justin Weinstein. Contact: Shaady Salehi, shaady_salehi@itvs.org, 415-356-8383 ext. 260.
Spring 2016
Retraces epic journey of first modern humans, who left Africa and colonized every continent — and reveals latest evidence of the skills and resilience of our ancient ancestors.
Producing organizations: WGBH, Nova.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 2 x 60.
Status: production.
Senior EP: Paula Apsell. Contact: Pamela Rosenstein, pamela_rosenstein@wgbh.org, 617-300-4328.
Spring 2016
Frederick Wiseman’s 40th documentary profiles the racially and ethnically diverse neighborhood of Jackson Heights in Queens, New York.
Producing organizations: Frederick Wiseman/Zipporah.
Distributor: PBS. Presenting station: WGBH.
Length: 1 x 190.
Status: complete.
Producer/director: Frederick Wiseman. Senior executive in charge: Denise DiIanni. Senior program producer for Studio 6: Anne Adams. Coordinating producer and production manager for Studio 6: Salme López. Contact: Denise Dilanni, denise_diianni@wgbh.org, 617-300-3404; Sinead Keirans, sinead_keirans@wgbh.org, 617-300-3405.
Spring 2016
Documents life and times of Jack Roosevelt Robinson, who in 1947 lifted an entire race and nation on his shoulders when he crossed baseball’s color line.
Producing organizations: Florentine Films and WETA.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 2 x 120.
Status: postproduction.
Major funders: Bank of America, Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, Better Angels Society, CPB, PBS.
Executive-in-charge for WETA: Dalton Delan. Director/producer: Ken Burns. Producer/writer: Sarah Burns. Producer/writer: David McMahon. Contact: Kate Kelly, kkelly@weta.org, 703-998-2072.
Spring 2016
Documents how Janis Joplin channeled her painful teenage years of alcohol and drug abuse and experiences growing up as an outcast into a unique and powerful sound that still reverberates today.
Producing organizations: Thirteen Productions LCC’s American Masters for WNET and Disarming Films, in association with Jigsaw Productions, Sony Music Entertainment and Union Entertainment Group.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 1 x 103.
Status: complete.
Major funders: CPB, Rosalind P. Walter, Blanche & Irving Laurie Foundation, Rolf and Elizabeth Rosenthal, Jack Rudin, Vital Projects Fund, André and Elizabeth Kertész Foundation, Michael & Helen Schaffer Foundation.
Director/producer: Amy Berg. Producers: Alex Gibney, Jeff Jampol, Katherine LeBlond. EP: Michael Kantor. Contact: Junko Tsunashima, Tsunashima@thirteen.org, 212-560-8079.
Spring 2016
Seventy years after her death in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, doc examines why the words of an innocent young girl continue to resonate with so many.
Producing organization: All3Media International.
Distributor: APT.
Length: 1 x 60.
Status: complete. Director: Simonka de Jong. Producers: Bernard Krikke, Maartje van der Sande. Contact: Erin Couse, Erin_Couse@APTonline.org, 617-338-4455 ext. 150.
Spring 2016
Charming real-life romantic comedy introduces Ravi Patel, a single 30-year-old Indian-American actor whose parents pull out all the stops to find him a bride.
Producing organizations: ITVS/Independent Lens.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 1 x 60.
Status: complete.
EP: Lois Vossen. Directors: Geeta Patel, Ravi Patel. Contact: Shaady Salehi, shaady_salehi@itvs.org, 415-356-8383 ext. 260.
Spring 2016
Return to the world of manners with Alastair Bruce, Downton Abbey’s historical advisor, with exclusive interviews with cast members Hugh Bonneville and Michelle Dockery, focusing on the social protocol of Jazz Age aristocrats and servants. A Carnival Films/Chocolate Media/Masterpiece co-production.
Distributor: PBS. Presenting station: WGBH.
Length: 1 x 60.
Status: postproduction.
EP for Masterpiece: Susanne Simpson. Contact: Olivia Wong, Olivia_wong@wgbh.org, 617-300-5349.
Spring 2016
Fourth season of series starring Jeremy Piven as the flamboyant American entrepreneur who founded Selfridge’s department store picks up the story in 1928. A co-production of ITV Studios and Masterpiece.
Distributor: PBS. Presenting station: WGBH.
Length: 8 x TBD.
Status: production.
EP for Masterpiece: Rebecca Eaton. Contact: Olivia Wong, Olivia_wong@wgbh.org, 617-300-5349.
Spring 2016
Sons of two Nazi war criminals responsible for thousands of deaths men reflect on the crimes of their fathers and the price of forgiveness.
Producing organizations: ITVS/Independent Lens.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 1 x 90.
Status: complete.
EP: Lois Vossen. Director: David Evans. Contact: Shaady Salehi, shaady_salehi@itvs.org, 415-356-8383 ext. 260.
Spring 2016
Documents how New Zealanders, once mired in a bureaucratic maze of subsidies and tariffs, endured a painful revolution to produce one of the freest and most profitable economic systems in the world.
Producing organization: Free To Choose Media.
Distributor: NETA. Presenting station: WTTW.
Length: 1 x 60.
Status: fundraising, preproduction.
Budget: $640,000. Major funder: Donald and Paula Smith Foundation.
EPs: Thomas Skinner, Bob Chitester. Producers: Jim Tusty, Maureen Castle Tusty. Host: Johan Norberg. Contact: Ellen Woodward, eaw47@freetochoosenetwork.org, 814-833-7140.
Spring 2016
In intimate portrait of three generations of an Italian-American family, 89-year-old Phyllis Sabatini realizes that sometimes the best way to say “I love you” is to say “goodbye.”
Producing organizations: ITVS/Independent Lens.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 1 x 30.
Status: complete.
EP: Lois Vossen. Director: Alicia Dwyer. Contact: Shaady Salehi, shaady_salehi@itvs.org, 415-356-8383 ext. 260.
Spring 2016
Tells story of two New York City detectives who are convicted of the sensational murder of a businessman — and their decades-long fight to clear their names.
Producing organization: Ten Thirteen Productions. Presented by Frontline.
Distributor: PBS. Presenting station: WGBH.
Length: 1 x 120.
Status: postproduction.
Producers: Steve London, Sheldon Wilson, Joe Jenckes. Contact: Patrice Taddonio, patrice_taddonio@wgbh.org, 617-300-5375.
Spring 2016
Profiles Dub Lawrence, the crusading former sheriff who established Utah’s first SWAT team, only to see that same unit kill his son-in-law in a controversial standoff.
Lawrence uses his own investigation skills to highlight the increasingly militarized state of American police.Producing organizations: ITVS/Independent Lens.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 1 x 90.
Status: complete.
EP: Lois Vossen. Directors: Brad Barber, Scott Christopherson. Contact: Shaady Salehi, shaady_salehi@itvs.org, 415-356-8383 ext. 260.
Spring 2016
In pledge special, yoga instructor Peggy Cappy shows how yoga and the right diet can help improve the lives of people battling diabetes, focusing on the real-life struggles of several powerful characters making positive life changes.
Producing organizations: WGBH Studio 6.
Distributor: PBS. Presenting station: WGBH.
Length: 1 x 60.
Status: production.
Budget: $125,000.
Major funder: PBS.
Senior executive in charge: Denise DiIanni. EP: Laurie Donnelly. Senior program producer for Studio 6: Anne Adams. Coordinating producer/production manager for Studio 6: Salme López.
Contact: Denise Dilanni, denise_diianni@wgbh.org, 617-300-3404; Sinead Keirans, sinead_keirans@wgbh.org, 617-300-3405.
Spring 2016
Ambitious live-to-air, cross-platform series that champions civil debate and deploys public engagement, new media voices and audience interactivity to produce a provocative and informed exchange of ideas about the most pivotal issues of our time.
Producing organizations: WGBH Studio 6.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 10 x 30.
Status: fundraising, preproduction.
Budget: $1.7 million.
Major funders: PBS, Pew Charitable Trust. Senior executive in charge: Denise DiIanni. Senior program producer for Studio 6: Anne Adams. Coordinating producer/production manager for Studio 6: Salme López. Contact: Denise Dilanni, denise_diianni@wgbh.org, 617-300-3404; Sinead Keirans, sinead_keirans@wgbh.org, 617-300-3405.
Spring 2016
Drawing upon unpublished memoirs, archival photographs and interviews with members of the royal family, doc reveals inside story of the royal union — from the strategic matchmaking efforts of Philip’s ambitious uncle, Lord Mountbatten, to the political and personal strain caused by the prince’s German heritage.
Producing organization: Digital Rights Group.
Distributor: APT.
Length: 1 x 45.
Status: complete. Director/producer: Richard Sanders.
EP: Denys Blakeway. Contact: Erin Couse, Erin_Couse@APTonline.org, 617-338-4455 ext. 150.
Spring 2016
Reveals the “real” Adam Smith, the world’s first economist and a moral philosopher with revolutionary ideas, who first foresaw the tension between morality and markets we live with today.
Producing organization: Free To Choose Media.
Distributor: NETA. Presenting station: WTTW.
Length: 2 x 60.
Status: Production.
Budget: $1,284,220. Major funder: John Templeton Foundation.
EPs: Thomas Skinner, Bob Chitester. Producers: Jim Taylor, Barbara Potter. Writer: Roger Brown. Host: Johan Norberg. Contact: Ellen Woodward, eaw47@freetochoosenetwork.org, 814-833-7140.
Spring 2016
Toby Jones (Detectorists) stars in adaptation of Joseph Conrad’s novel, with cast members Vicky McClure (Line of Duty), Stephen Graham (Boardwalk Empire), Ian Hart (Boardwalk Empire), Tom Goodman-Hill (Mr. Selfridge) and David Dawson (Peaky Blinders).
Producing organizations: World Productions for BBC One.
Distributor: Acorn Media.
Length: 3 x 60.
Status: production. Major funder: BBC.
Director: Charles McDougall. Producer: Priscilla Parish. EP for World Productions: Simon Heath. EP for BBC One: Polly Hill One. Contact: Dan Hamby, dhamby@rljentertainment.com, 301-830-6455.
Spring 2016
Set in suburbs of black middle class, doc chronicles the director’s investigation into her brother’s violent death in 1992, accumulating details of the night he was shot through interviews with characters that hold unique perspectives on his death.
Producing organizations: POV.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 1 x 90.
Status: postproduction.
Director: Yance Ford. Contact: Chris While, cwhite@pov.org, 212-989-8121.
Spring 2016
Doc follows the creation and growing success of unusually poetic video game created by Ryan Green to document his experiences raising a 4-year-old child dying of cancer, and to honor his son while he is still alive.
Producing organization: POV.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 1 x 90.
Status: complete.
Directors: David Osit, Malika Zouhali-Worrall. Contact: Chris While, cwhite@pov.org, 212-989-8121.
Spring 2016
British crime series based on the novels by Ann Cleeves stars Academy Award nominee and BAFTA winner Brenda Blethyn (Secrets and Lies, Atonement, Saving Grace) as Chief Inspector Vera Stanhope, a brilliant murder investigator and kindhearted loner with a tendency to become obsessed with her job.
Producing organizations: ITV Global Entertainment.
Distributor: APT.
Length: 4 x 89.
Status: complete.
EPs: Kate Bartlett, Michael Dawson.
Contact: Erin Couse, Erin_Couse@APTonline.org, 617-338-4455 ext. 150.
Spring 2016
Series focuses on Vietnam vets’ accounts of U.S. involvement from the mid-1950s to 1967, the turbulent and tide-turning period of 1968–69, the drawdown of forces until America’s departure in 1973 and the fall of Saigon in 1975. Producing/presenting station: Maryland Public Television.
Length: 3 x 60.
Status: production.
Budget: $600,000.
EP: Ken Day. Producer: Rich Borenstein. Contact: Philip Guthrie, pguthrie@mpt.org, 410-581-4187.
Spring 2016
Chronicles attempted takeover of a small North Dakota town by notorious white supremacist Craig Cobb, as residents desperately look for ways to expel their unwanted neighbor.
Producing organizations: ITVS/Independent Lens.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 1 x 90.
Status: complete.
EP: Lois Vossen. Directors: Michael Nichols, Christopher Walker. Contact: Shaady Salehi, shaady_salehi@itvs.org, 415-356-8383 ext. 260.
Summer 2016
Traces today’s conservation and climate-change movements back to post-World War I culture of trophy-hunting, eugenics and the great scientific safari expeditions in Africa and Asia. Website
Producing organization: Interlock Media, Inc. Distributors: PBS, APT.
Length: 1 x 56:40.
Status: scripting, postproduction.
Budget: $300,000.
EP: Eric Stange. Director: Jonathan Schwartz. Lead researcher: Rebecca Hardin. Writer: Frank Kosa. Contact: Jonathan Schwartz, jonathan.director@gmail.com, 617-201-2728.
Summer 2016
Profiles America’s first international correspondent, a 19th-century thought leader and an outspoken voice for the world’s disenfranchised who influenced events in war-torn Italy and spurred a movement for women’s equality.
Producing organization: Interlock Media, Inc.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 1 x 90.
Status: preproduction, scripting.
Producer: Jonathan Schwartz. Writer: Frank Kosa. Contact: Jonathan Schwartz, jonathan.director@gmail.com, 617-201-2728; Corey Popowski, corey_popowski@emerson.edu, 843-725-8932.
Summer 2016
Showcases history of clothing industry in Rochester, N.Y., from contributions of immigrants, to labor strikes, to Hickey Freeman, one of the country’s oldest clothiers.
Producing organization: WXXI Public Broadcasting, Rochester, N.Y.
Length: 1 x 60.
Status: postproduction.
EP: Todd McCammon. Contact: Todd McCammon, tmccammon@wxxi.org, 585-258-0241.
Summer 2016
Doc draws on work of filmmakers around the world to explore religious experiences and rituals as they relate to the lifecycle: birth, adolescence, marriage, old age, death and other key class of life.
Producing organization: WLIW21, Long Island, N.Y. Presenting station: WNET.
Length: 1 x 90.
Status: production, postproduction.
Director/producer: Thomas Lennon. EPs: William Baker, Julie Anderson. Executive in charge: Stephen Segaller. Contact: Ben Phelps, phelpsb@thirteen.org, 212-560-3059.
Summer 2016
The story of Claressa “T-Rex” Shields, who won an Olympic gold medal in boxing in 2012, is a coming-of-age tale of a girl whose athletic achievements don’t always make life easier in Flint, Mich.
Producing organizations: ITVS/Independent Lens.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 1 x 90.
Status: complete.
EP: Lois Vossen. Directors: Drea Cooper, Zackary Canepari. Contact: Shaady Salehi, shaady_salehi@itvs.org, 415-356-8383 ext. 260.
Summer 2016
Series analyzes year’s most critically acclaimed TV programs through one-on-one conversations with actors discussing their craft and work. Screener (Contact bbrkusic@pbssocal.org for password)
Producing organizations: Variety Media LLC and PBS SoCaL.
Distributor: NETA.
Length: 2 x 60.
Status: preproduction. Major funder: PBS SoCaL.
EPs: Brenda Brkusic, Andrew Russell, Donna Pennestri, John Ross. Host: Jenelle Riley. Contact: Brenda Brkusic, bbrkusic@pbssocal.org, 714-241-4141; Michelle Merker, mmerker@pbssocal.org, 714-241-4142.
Fall 2016
Forgotten photographs prompt a search for an unsung heroine, Maria Moreno, a migrant worker and mother of 12 who became the spokesperson for a multiethnic farmworker movement in the pre-Chavez era.
Producing organization: Latino Public Broadcasting.
Length: 1 x 60.
Status: postproduction.
Budget: $539,168.
Major funders: NEH, Cal Humanities, Lafetra Foundation, SFAC.
EP: Laurie Coyle. Contact: Luis Ortiz, luis.ortiz@lpbp.org, 818-847-9656.
Fall 2016
Wall Street Journal foreign affairs bureau chief Brett Stephens hosts program based on his bestselling book that probes America’s international leadership from the end of World War II until the present.
Producing organization: Free To Choose Media.
Distributor: NETA. Presenting station: WTTW.
Length: 1 x 60.
Status: R&D, fundraising, production.
Budget: $645,000.
EPs: Thomas Skinner, Bob Chitester. Producer: Kip Perry. Host: Brett Stephens. Contact: Ellen Woodward, eaw47@freetochoosenetwork.org, 814-833-7140.
Fall 2016
Feature-length doc relates previously untold story of the early days of underground radio station WBCN-FM in Boston, set against the profound social, political and cultural changes that took place in the late 1960s and early ’70s, as “a radio station, politics and rock and roll changed everything.”
Producing organization: Center for Independent Documentary.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 1 x 83.
Status: postproduction.
Budget: $510,000.
Major funders: Mass Humanities, Mitchell Kertzman, RAGS Foundation, Kickstarter Campaign ($114,419 campaign complete).
Producer: Bill Lichtenstein. Camera: Boyd Estus. Film animation: Lisa Crafts. Digital restoration: Paul Adams/Mass Productions. Story editor/consulting producer: Peter Miller. Contact: Bill Lichtenstein, Bill@LCMedia.com, 917-635-2538.
Fall 2016
Profiles Lumet, in many ways a quintessential American director who embodies the spirit of independent filmmaking, with remarkably candid interviews of Lumet reflecting on his life and work. A co-production of Augusta Films and Thirteen Productions LLC’s American Masters for WNET.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 1 x 120.
Status: postproduction. NEH, CPB, Rosalind P. Walter, Philip and Janice Levin Foundation, Judith and Burton Resnick, Elizabeth and Rolf Rosenthal, Blanche & Irving Laurie Foundation, Vital Projects, Michael & Helen Schaffer Foundation, Jack Rudin, André and Elizabeth Kertész Foundation.
Filmmaker: Nancy Buirski. Producer: Daniel Anker. EP for American Masters: Michael Kantor. Contact: Junko Tsunashima, Tsunashima@thirteen.org, 212-560-8079.
Fall 2016
Examines work of anthropologist John Peabody Harrington, who died in 1961 at the age of 77 and whose obsessively driven career was dedicated to preserving Native America’s dying languages.
Producing organization: Hokan Media Productions.
Length: 1 x 60.
Status: production.
Major funders: Visions Maker Media, California Council for the Humanities, Advocates for Indigenous California Language Survival, ITVS Diversity Fund.
Producer/director: Daniel Golding. Contact: Georgiana Lee, glee@netad.unl.edu, 402-472-0497.
Fall 2016
Film Based on Eric Schlosser’s groundbreaking book interweaves story of 1980 accident at a Titan II missile complex in Damascus, Ark., with an examination of how technological complexity and human fallibility has repeatedly brought the nation and world to the brink of nuclear disaster.
Producing organizations: American Experience/Robert Kenner Films, Inc. Presenting station: WGBH.
Length: 1 x 120.
Status: postproduction.
Producer/director: Robert Kenner. Contact: Susan Bellows, susan_bellows@wgbh.org, 617-300-5907.
Fall 2016
Doc tells untold story of unsung hero who opened a path for Latinos to take part in the U.S. political system and gain representation.
Producing organizations: Latino Public Broadcasting, Galán Inc.
Length: 1 x 60.
Status: R&D.
Budget: $416,162.
Directors: Hector Galán, Evy Galán. Contact: Luis Ortiz, luis.ortiz@lpbp.org, 818-847-9656.
Fall 2016
Examines endangered American carnival and the Mexican town of Taplacoyan, which provides one-third of U.S. carnival labor.
Producing organizations: Latino Public Broadcasting, ITVS, Firelight Media.
Length: 1 x 75.
Status: complete.
Budget: $282,167.
Major funders: Latino Public Broadcasting, ITVS, PBS.
Director/producer/cinematographer: Jamie Sisley. Director/cinematographer: Miguel Martinez. Editor: Eugene Yi. Contact: Luis Ortiz, luis.ortiz@lpbp.org, 818-847-9656.
Fall 2016
Film documents crew of undocumented workers who face long odds — and the threat of deportation — when they take on a well-known New York restaurant chain.
Producing organizations: Latino Public Broadcasting, Jubilee Films
Length: 1 x 60.
Status: complete.
Budget: $437,270.
Major funders: Latino Public Broadcasting, Independent Filmmaker Project, Sundance Doc Fund, Movement Source, Brit Doc/NY Times.
Writers/directors/producers: Rachel Lears, Robin Blotnick. Contact: Luis Ortiz, luis.ortiz@lpbp.org, 818-847-9656.
Fall 2016
Presents life and legend of 19th-century Mexican who gained notoriety during the California Gold Rush.
Producing organization: Latino Public Broadcasting.
Distributor: WETA.
Length: 1 x 30.
Status: complete.
Budget: $206,867.
Major funders: Latino Public Broadcasting, NEH, Cal Humanities.
Filmmaker: John Valadez. Contact: Luis Ortiz, luis.ortiz@lpbp.org, 818-847-9656.
Fall 2016
Nine short films use a mix of animation, music and real Native voices to create a thought-provoking collage of reflections on modern America from a contemporary Native perspective.
Producing organization: Adrian Baker.
Length: 1 x 30.
Status: production. Major funder: Vision Maker Media.
Producer/director: Adrian Baker. Contact: Georgiana Lee, glee@netad.unl.edu, 402-472-0497.
Fall 2016
Examines lives of one of America’s last indigenous cultures trying to survive in the modern Arctic and struggling with inextricably intertwined challenges of poverty, climate change and culture.
Producing organization: The Kivalina Project LLC.
Length: 1 x 60.
Status: postproduction.
Budget: $126,000. Crowdfunding campaign complete.
Producers: Gina Abatemarco, Anne Takahashi. Contact: Georgiana Lee, glee@netad.unl.edu, 402-472-0497.
Fall 2016
Tells story of loss, displacement, hope and survival in the Seneca Nation as it explores the construction of the Kinzua Dam, which flooded Seneca lands on the Allegany Reservation.
Producing organizations: Toward Castle Films, LLC, and Skipping Stone Pictures, Ltd.Length: 1 x 60.
Status: production. Major funder: Vision Maker Media.
Producers/directors: Paul Lamont, Scott Sackett. Editor: Chris Bove, Cinematographer: Stephen McCarthy. Sound Design: Shaun Mullins. Contact: Georgiana Lee, glee@netad.unl.edu, 402-472-0497.
Fall 2016
Doc explores life and leadership of Wilma Mankiller, first female principal chief of a tribal nation, who led the Cherokee people in building one of the strongest Indian tribes in America. Preview
Producing organization: Red-Horse Native Productions, Inc.
Length: 1 x 60.
Status: production. Crowdfunding campaign complete.
Director/producer: Valerie Red-Horse Mohl. EP: Gale Anne Hurd. Contact: Georgiana Lee, glee@netad.unl.edu, 402-472-0497.
Fall 2016
Reveals how one person committed to making a change can inspire a whole generation of leaders to make changes in their own communities.
Producing organization: Reel Indian Films.
Length: 1 x 60.
Status: postproduction. Major funder: Vision Maker Media.
Writer/director/director of photography: Ramona Emerson. Producer/camera/sound: Kelly Byars. Contact: Georgiana Lee, glee@netad.unl.edu, 402-472-0497.
Fall 2016
Doc interweaves lives of Native American women healers of today with the story of America’s first Native doctor, Susan La Flesche Picotte (1865–1915). Producing/presenting station: NET Television.
Length: 1 x 60.
Status: postproduction.
Major funders: NET Television, Vision Maker Media, Shakopee, Hawks Foundation, Humanities Nebraska.
Producer/writer/director: Christine Lesiak, Co-producer/director: Princella RedCorn. Editor: Pat Aylward. Videographer: Brian Seifferlein. Audio engineer: Emily Kreutz. Contact: Georgiana Lee, glee@netad.unl.edu, 402-472-0497.
Fall 2016
Explores dynamics of work and family life through the lens of a Navajo trackman, one of thousands who worked the railroads, maintaining the transcontinental network.
Producing organization: Aboriginal Lens LTD.
Length: 1 x 60.
Status: production.
Major funders: ITVS, Vision Maker Media.
Director: Sarah Del Seronde. Producer: Leighton Peterson. Contact: Georgiana Lee, glee@netad.unl.edu, 402-472-0497.
Fall 2016
Documents the meeting of two worlds when some of the country’s most accomplished mathematicians collaborate with children and teachers in the underserved, largely rural Navajo educational system.
Producing organization: Zala Films.
Length: 1 x 60.
Status: postproduction.
Major funders: Mathematical Sciences Research Institute, Vision Maker Media.
Producer: George Csicsery. Cinematographer: Ashley James. Audio recordist: Kathryn Golden. Contact: Georgiana Lee, glee@netad.unl.edu, 402-472-0497.
Fall 2016
Explores history of Indian gaming, from the first bingo halls to today’s destination resorts.
Producing organization: Candoux Productions, LLC.
Length: 1 x 60.
Status: production.
Major funders: Americans for Indian Opportunity, Vision Maker Media.
Director: Pierre Barrera. Producers: Jeff Franken, Daniel Montano. EPs: Edwin Stepp, Ernest Stevens III. Contact: Georgiana Lee, glee@netad.unl.edu, 402-472-0497.
Fall 2016
National broadcast production explores critical issue of painkiller abuse and addiction.
Producing organization: WNED-TV, Buffalo, N.Y.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 1 x 60.
Status: preproduction. Major funder: BlueCross and BlueShield Association.
Producer: John Grant. Contact: John Grant, jajgrant@aol.com, 814-234-5210.
Fall 2016
Film tells story of the writer and scientist whose seminal book, Silent Spring, helped transform the ethic of conservation into the modern environmental movement and sparked a nationwide debate about pesticide use. A 42nd Parallel Films production for American Experience/WGBH.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 1 x 120.
Status: production.
Major funders: Liberty Mutual Insurance, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Arthur Vining Davis Foundation, PBS, CPB.
EP: Mark Samels. Senior Producer: Susan Bellows. Writer/producer/director: Michelle Ferrari. Contact: Susan Bellows, susan_bellows@wgbh.org, 617-300-5907.
Fall 2016
Provocative film reframes today’s controversial energy debate from the American Indian perspective, while the fate of the environment hangs in the balance. Producing/presenting station: Rocky Mountain PBS.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 1 x 60.
Status: production.
Major funders: Rocky Mountain PBS, Vision Maker Media.
Producer: Lisa Olken. Director: Larry Pourier. Director of photography: Boots Kennedye. Contact: Georgiana Lee, glee@netad.unl.edu, 402-472-0497.
Fall 2016
Doc based on life of Pulitzer Prize–winning author N. Scott Momaday is seen through the lens of his filmmaker daughter, Jill Momaday Gray.
Producing organization: Return to Rainy Mountain LLC.
Length: 1 x 60.
Status: production. Major funder: Vision Maker Media.
Director/producer/writer: Jill Momaday Gray. Producer/film and production attorney: Lisa Condon. Cinematography/editor: Doug Crawford. Contact: Georgiana Lee, glee@netad.unl.edu, 402-472-0497.
Fall 2016
Series takes viewers to Germany, Bulgaria, Romania, South England and the heart of Italy in wide-screen hi-def.
Producing organizations: Rick Steves’ Europe, Inc.
Distributor: APT. Presenting station: OPB.
Length: 10 x 30.
Status: production.
Host/writer: Rick Steves. Producer: Simon Griffith. Contact: Lisa Werner, lisaw@ricksteves.com, 425-608-4236.
Fall 2016
Doc reveals role Native Americans have played in popular music history, an unknown story built around the lives and careers of some of the greatest music legends.
Producing organization: Rezolution Pictures.
Length: 1 x 60.
Status: production.
Major funders: Rezolution Pictures, Vision Maker Media.
Co-director/co-writer/e.p./producer: Catherine Bainbridge. Co-director/co-writer: Alfonso Maiorana. EPs/producers: Christina Fon, Linda Ludwick. Contact: Georgiana Lee, glee@netad.unl.edu, 402-472-0497.
Fall 2016
British historian Michael Wood’s series examines the history of the world’s oldest continuous state, from its ancient past to the present day, exploring what 4,000 years of history reveal about today’s superpower. Website
Producing organization: Maya Vision International Ltd.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 6 x 60.
Status: postproduction.
Budget: $3.2 million.
Major funders: PBS/CPB Challenge Fund, BBC, BBC Worldwide.
Writer/presenter: Michael Wood. Producer/director: Rebecca Dobbs. Line producer: Sally Thomas. EP: Leo Eaton. Contact: Rebecca Dobbs, Rebecca@mayavisionint.com; Sally Thomas, sally@mayavision.com.
Fall 2016
Doc explores conversations on race, community and identity in the face of recent high-profile incidents involving law enforcement and people of color — primarily young African American men — through first-person stories and commentary from academics, police force members, celebrities, teachers and family members.
Producing organizations: Thirteen Productions LLC for WNET.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 1 x 120.
Status: preproduction. Major funder: CPB.
EP: Julie Anderson. Executive in charge: Stephen Segaller. Contact: Ben Phelps, phelpsb@thirteen.org, 212-560-3059.
Fall 2016
Two Native American judges reach back to traditional concepts of justice in order to reduce incarceration rates, foster greater safety for their communities and create a positive future for their youth.
Tribal Justice: A work-in-progress documentary film by Anne Makepeace from Makepeace Productions on Vimeo.
Producing organization: Anne Makepeace Productions, Inc.
Length: 1 x 60.
Status: production.
Budget: $496,335.
Major funders: Morris & Ruth B. Cowan Foundation, Vision Maker Media, Cal Humanities, Awesome without Borders, ITVS.
Producer: Anne Makepeace. EP: Ruth Cowan. Production consultant: Jennifer Walter. Co-producer: Daniel Golding. Production consultant: Lori Nesbitt. Contact: Georgiana Lee, glee@netad.unl.edu, 402-472-0497.
Fall 2016
Tells story of Unitarian minister Waitstill Sharp and his wife, Martha, a social worker, who left their home in Wellesley, Mass., to help Jews and anti-Nazi dissidents escape Czechoslovakia and France.
Producing organizations: Journey To Freedom, Florentine Films and WETA.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 1 x 90.
Status: postproduction. Major funder: Better Angels Society.
EP: Ken Burns. Producer: Matthew Justus. Executive-in-charge for WETA: Dalton Delan. Director: Artemis Joukowsky. Contact: Kate Kelly, kkelly@weta.org, 703-998-2072.
Fall 2016
Documents biggest land claims settlement in American history — how through a collision of Washington bullying, big business and Native naiveté, the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act sparked a 20-year logging frenzy.
Walking in Two Worlds Documentary Trailer from Bo Boudart Productions on Vimeo.
Producing organizations: Bo Boudart Production & Beau Monde Image Foundation.
Length: 1 x 60.
Status: postproduction. Major funder: Vision Maker Media.
Producer: Bo Boudart. Co-producer: Wanda Culp. Contact: Georgiana Lee, glee@netad.unl.edu, 402-472-0497.
Fall 2016
Relates untold history of women’s activism in the Red Power Movement from perspective of Lakota activist Madonna Thunder Hawk.
Producing organization: Castle-King LLC.
Length: 1 x 60.
Status: postproduction.
Budget: $275,810.
Major funders: ITVS, Vision Maker Media.
Producers/directors: Christina King, Elizabeth Castle. Contact: Georgiana Lee, glee@netad.unl.edu, 402-472-0497.
Fall 2016
As part of national election–year roadshow tour, Ifill moderates a live-audience special hosted by Colorado College during the fall campaign season. Producing/presenting station: WETA.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 1 x 60.
Status: R&D, fundraising.
Major funders: Ford Foundation, Ethics & Excellence in Journalism Foundation.
Managing editor/moderator: Gwen Ifill. Senior producer: Chris Guarino. EPs: Jeff Bieber, Dalton Delan. Producer: Alla Lora. Contact: Kate Kelly, kkelly@weta.org, 703-998-2072.
Fall 2016
With suicide affecting Alaska Natives at six times the national average, four Alaska Native individuals wrestle with impacts of suicide and illuminate a path towards healing. Online preview: vimeo.com/46032413
Producing organization: Indigenous Leadership Institute.
Length: 1 x 60.
Status: production.
Budget: $285,495.
Major funders: Firebath Films, Gwanzhii LLC, Crawl Walk Run, Indigenous Leadership Institute, Vision Maker Media.
Director/producer/cinematographer/editor: Marsh Chamberlain. Producer: Enei Begaye Peter. Contact: Georgiana Lee, glee@netad.unl.edu, 402-472-0497.
Fall 2016
A young Northern Arapaho journalist, when asked to tell the story of his reservation for a small tribal museum, joins elected tribal elders — including Vietnam veteran Philbert McCleod (Shoshone) — on a journey to return lost artifacts taken by collectors at the turn of the 20th century.
Producing organization: Alpheus Media.
Length: 1 x 60.
Status: postproduction.
Budget: $377,200.
Major funders: Dragovich Foundation; ITVS, Vision Maker Media.
Co-producer: Jordan Dresser. Producer: Beth Hames. Contact: Georgiana Lee, glee@netad.unl.edu, 402-472-0497.
Sometime in 2016
Drama follows U.K. Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill’s battle to recover from a life-threatening stroke, as his long-suffering wife, Clementine, desperately hopes he will retire and his political friends and foes plot to choose his successor. A Co-Production of Daybreak Pictures and Masterpiece.
Distributor: PBS. Presenting station: WGBH.
Length: 1 x 120.
Status: production.
EP for Masterpiece: Rebecca Eaton. Contact: Olivia Wong, Olivia_wong@wgbh.org, 617-300-5349.
Sometime in 2016
Doc profiles Kent Hovind, or “Dr. Dino,” who built a ministry and creationist theme park evangelizing the evils of evolution and promoting the conspiracy theories of the sovereign citizen movement and militias.
Producing organization: Interlock Media, Inc. Distributors: PBS, NETA.
Length: 1 x 56:40.
Status: production, postproduction.
Budget: $200,000.
Director: Jonathan Schwartz. Editor: Andrienne Haspel. Writer: Frank Kosa. Director of photography: Everett Gorel. Music: Ken Field. Contact: Jonathan Schwartz, jonathan.director@gmail.com, 617-201-2758.
Sometime in 2016
Endeavour Morse must deal with aftermath of tragic events that left him languishing in prison and his senior officer D.I. Fred Thursday with a life-threatening injury. A Mammoth Screen and Masterpiece co-production in association with ITV Studios.
Distributor: PBS. Presenting station: WGBH.
Length: 4 x 90.
Status: production.
EP for Masterpiece: Rebecca Eaton. Contact: Olivia Wong, Olivia_wong@wgbh.org, 617-300-5349.
Sometime in 2016
Whiskey-drinking, jazz-loving vicar Sidney Chambers (James Norton) returns alongside his friend and veteran cop Inspector Geordie Keating (Robson Green) for more crime-solving in small country parish of Grantchester. A Lovely Day/Masterpiece co-production for ITV.
Distributor: PBS. Presenting station: WGBH.
Length: 6 x 60.
Status: production.
EP for Masterpiece: Rebecca Eaton. Contact: Olivia Wong, Olivia_wong@wgbh.org, 617-300-5349.
Sometime in 2016
Series focuses on reclaiming traditional knowledge and foodways to address critical issues of health and wellness, the environment and human rights. Screener
Producing organization: Vision Maker Media.
Length: 3 x 60.
Status: production.
Producers: Charles Kennedye, Brandon Verzal. EP: Shirley Sneve. Contact: Georgiana Lee, glee@netad.uni.edu, 402-472-0497.
Sometime in 2016
As World War II rages, the Women’s Institute in the rural English village of Great Paxford carries on. A co-production of ITV Studios and Masterpiece.
Distributor: PBS. Presenting station: WGBH.
Length: 6 x 60.
Status: production.
EP for Masterpiece: Rebecca Eaton. Contact: Olivia Wong, Olivia_wong@wgbh.org, 617-300-5349.
Sometime in 2016
Showcases remarkable men’s and women’s wheelchair basketball teams as they prepare for, and compete at, the 2016 Paralympic Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Producing organizations: LeeLee Films, Inc.; WGBH Studio 6.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 2 x 60.
Status: fundraising.
Budget: $1.2 million.
Director for LeeLee Films: Grace Lee. EP for WGBH: Judith Vecchione. Senior executive in charge for WGBH: Denise DiIanni. Coordinating producer/production manager for WGBH: Salme López. Business manager for WGBH: Tara Mahoozi. Contact: Denise Dilanni, denise_diianni@wgbh.org, 617-300-3404; Sinead Keirans, sinead_keirans@wgbh.org, 617-300-3405.
Sometime in 2016
Kevin Whately and Laurence Fox return as Inspector Lewis and Inspector Hathaway to investigate new cases of murder and other crimes in the seemingly perfect academic haven of Oxford. A co-production of ITV Studios and Masterpiece.
Distributor: PBS. Presenting station: WGBH.
Length: 3 x 90.
Status: production.
EP for Masterpiece: Rebecca Eaton. Contact: Olivia Wong, Olivia_wong@wgbh.org, 617-300-5349.
Sometime in 2016
Biopic charts Davis’s many lives, careers, complexities and contradictions, from childhood prodigy to civil rights pioneer.
Producing organizations: Thirteen Productions LCC’s American Masters for WNET and MHJ Productions.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 1 x 90.
Status: production.
Major funders: NEH, CPB, Rosalind P. Walter, Philip and Janice Levin Foundation, Judith and Burton Resnick, Elizabeth and Rolf Rosenthal, Blanche & Irving Laurie Foundation, Vital Projects, Michael & Helen Schaffer Foundation, Jack Rudin, André and Elizabeth Kertész Foundation.
Director: Marc Henry Johnson. Writer: Larry Maslon. EP for American Masters: Michael Kantor. Series producer for American Masters: Julie Sacks. Supervising producer for American Masters: Junko Tsunashima. Contact: Junko Tsunashima, Tsunashima@thirteen.org, 212-560-8079.
Sometime in 2016
Drama and romance return for a second season of series based on the novels by Winston Graham set in 18th-century Cornwall, with Aidan Turner (The Hobbit Trilogy) and Eleanor Tomlinson (Death Comes to Pemberley) as dashing Ross Poldark and fiery Demelza. A Mammoth Screen production for BBC and Masterpiece.
Distributor: PBS. Presenting station: WGBH.
Length: 10 x 60.
Status: production.
EP for Masterpiece: Rebecca Eaton. Contact: Olivia Wong, Olivia_wong@wgbh.org, 617-300-5349.
Sometime in 2016
Doc embarks on journey of discovery into the brain to understand the biology and chemistry of bipolar disorder, exploring cutting-edge brain science while telling stories of attorneys, pastors, authors and a stay-at-home mom who subvert stereotype by successfully managing the disease. Online screener: bit.ly/Pipeline-RideTiger Producing/presenting station: Detroit Public Television.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 1 x 60.
Status: postproduction.
Producer: Ed Moore. Host: Andrew Solomon. Featuring: Congressman Patrick Kennedy, NIMH Director Thomas Insel. Contact: Ed Moore, emoore@dptv.org, 248-305-3726.
Sometime in 2016
In two-hour special, Nova investigates the science of learning to determine what schools based on solid, up-to-date scientific research would look like.
Producing organizations: WGBH, Nova.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 2 x 60.
Status: preproduction.
Major funders: CPB, Carnegie Corporation of New York.
Senior EP: Paula Apsell. Contact: Pamela Rosenstein, pamela_rosenstein@wgbh.org, 617-300-4328.
Sometime in 2016
Explores how precious gems, metals and minerals were forged in extraordinary circumstances deep within the Earth, and how their unique properties have made them coveted across the ages.
Producing organizations: WGBH, Nova.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 3 x 60.
Status: production.
Senior EP: Paula Apsell. Contact: Pamela Rosenstein, pamela_rosenstein@wgbh.org, 617-300-4328.
Sometime in 2016
In three-part series, scientists uncover clues to ancient natural catastrophes on a scarcely imaginable scale — volcanic super-eruptions, colossal hurricanes and megafloods that scoured the landscape for hundreds of miles.
Producing organizations: WGBH, Nova.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 3 x 60.
Status: preproduction.
Senior EP: Paula Apsell. Contact: Pamela Rosenstein, pamela_rosenstein@wgbh.org, 617-300-4328.
Sometime in 2016
Kenneth Branagh returns to his Emmy-nominated role as soul-searching Swedish cop Kurt Wallander for a fourth and final season of crime dramas based on the books by Henning Mankell. A Left Bank Pictures/Yellow Bird/TKBC series co-produced with BBC, Masterpiece, TV4, FiSK, Copenhagen Film Fund, Degeto.
Distributor: PBS. Presenting station: WGBH.
Length: 3 x 90.
Status: postproduction.
EP for Masterpiece: Rebecca Eaton. Contact: Olivia Wong, Olivia_wong@wgbh.org, 617-300-5349.
Winter 2017
Follow-up to F.S. Key and the Song that Built America begins with Andrew Jackson’s victory in New Orleans in 1814 and continues through 1840s America’s growth and struggles with slavery, as reflected in the life of Francis Scott Key.
Producing organizations: A production of American Photoplay and Kismetic Productions, in association with Maryland Public Television.
Distributor: APT. Presenting station: Maryland Public Television.
Length: 3 x 60.
Status: production.
Budget: $500,000
Major funder: Delaplaine Foundation.
EP/writer/director/host: Philip J. Marshall. Contact: Philip Guthrie, pguthrie@mpt.org, 410-581-4187.
Winter of 2017
Tells remarkable story of journey taken by President Theodore Roosevelt and legendary Brazilian explorer Candido Rondon into heart of the South American rainforest to chart an unexplored tributary of the Amazon.
Producing organizations: American Experience/Ark Media. Presenting station: WGBH.
Length: 1 x 120.
Status: preproduction. Major funder: NEH.
Writer/Producer/Director: John Maggio. Contact: Susan Bellows, susan_bellows@wgbh.org, 617-300-5907.
Winter of 2017
Marking the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation (1517), doc tells the story of the Reformation, with filming across Germany and in Rome.
Producing organization: Rick Steves’ Europe, Inc.
Distributor: APT. Presenting station: OPB.
Length: 1 x 60.
Status: postproduction.
Writer/host: Rick Steves. Producer: Simon Griffith. Contact: Lisa Werner, lisaw@ricksteves.com, 425-608-4236.
Winter of 2017
With work becoming more than a paycheck and directly related to individual Americans’ self-esteem and ultimate happiness, doc explores whether efforts to help the country’s s poorest citizens actually penalize those who work.
Producing organization: Free To Choose Media.
Distributor: NETA. Presenting station: WTTW.
Length: 1 x 60.
Status: fundraising.
Budget: $560,000.
Major funders: L.E. Phillips Foundation.
EPs: Thomas Skinner, Bob Chitester. Producer: Erin Miller. Host: Johan Norberg. Contact: Ellen Woodward, eas47@freetochoosenetwork.org, 814-833-7140.
Winter of 2017
Drawing upon rich visual archive, evocative live cinematography and the most recent scholarship, series chronicles American experience during World War I, from Woodrow Wilson’s vision for a new democratic world order to the mass mobilization of an army to fight in the battlefields of France, and the often-violent crosscurrents the war unleashed on the home front.
Producing organizations: American Experience/Insignia Films.
Distributor: PBS. Presenting station: WGBH.
Length: 3 x 120.
Status: production.
Major funders: Liberty Mutual, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, PBS, CPB.
EP: Mark Samels. Senior producer: Susan Bellows. Producers: Stephen Ives, Amanda Pollak, Rob Rapley. Contact: Susan Bellows, susan_bellows@wgbh.org, 617-300-2383.
Spring of 2017
Beginning with Africa’s ancient history as the cradle of mankind, series brings to life the epic stories of both little-known and celebrated kingdoms and cultures.
Producing organizations: Inkwell Films, McGee Media and WETA, in association with Nutopia Productions.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 3 x 120.
Status: preproduction.
Major funders: Bank of America, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Ford Foundation.
EP/host/writer: Henry Louis Gates Jr. EPs: Dyllan McGee, Peter Kunhardt. EPs for WETA: Dalton Delan, Anne Harrington. Contact: Kate Kelly, kkelly@weta.org, 703-998-2072.
Spring of 2017
Charts ragtime music’s illustrious and notorious history, with roots in slave music and New Orleans’s red-light districts, and a focus on the roles of Eubie Blake, Scott Joplin, Jelly Roll Morton and the Gershwins in the story of ragtime. Online preview: vimeo.com/43932715
Producing organization: This Is Ragtime Productions. Presenting station: CPTV.
Length: 2 x 60.
Status: R&D, fundraising, preproduction.
Budget: $450,000/episode.
EP: William Nix. Writer/producer: Charles Hobson. Producer: Janice Lee. Musical supervisor: Terry Waldo. Production advisor: Laura Savini. Contact: Laura Savini, lauracsavini@gmail.com, 516-922-0268; Willaim Nix, wnix@thisisragtime.com.
Fall of 2017
Charts McCarthy’s remarkable rise and precipitous fall, from his childhood in Wisconsin, to his years in the Senate, to his eventual censure and subsequent descent into alcoholism and death in 1957. Producing station: WGBH. Presented by American Experience.
Distributor:
Length: 1 x 120.
Status: R&D.
EP: Mark Samels. Contact: Susan Bellows, susan_bellows@wgbh.org, 617-300-5907.
Fall of 2017
Marks the 500th anniversary (in 2017) of the cataclysm that birthed our modern view of politics, family, civil rights and religion with biography of man whose movement reshaped Western civilization.
Producing organizations: Boettcher+Trinklein Inc. in association with Big Book Media (UK).
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 2 x 60.
Status: production.
EPs: Michael Trinklein, Steven Boettcher. Director: David Batty. Producer: Hannah Leader. Cast: Padraic Delaney as Martin Luther. Contact: Michael Trinklein, mike@btmedia.us, 262-323-1999.
Fall of 2017
Examines events leading up to bombing of Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995, shedding light on the rise of the militia movement that rose to prominence in the early 1990s. An Ark Media production for American Experience/WGBH.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 1 x 120.
Status: production.
Major funders: Liberty Mutual Insurance, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, PBS, CPB.
EP: Susan Bellows. Contact: Susan Bellows, susan_bellows@wgbh.org, 617-300-5907.
Fall of 2017
Series follows National Geographic photographer Joel Sartore on year-long quest to photograph some of the rarest animals in the world, telling stories of nine rare species.
Producing organization: So World Media, LLC.
Distributor: PBS. Presenting station: WGBH.
Length: 3 x 60.
Status: production.
Budget: $2.07 million.
Major funders: PBS, CPB.
Producers for So World Media, Stella Cha, Chun Wei Yi. Denise Dilanni. EP, National Productions: Laurie Donnelly. Coordination producer for WGBH: Salme López. Contact: Denise Dilanni, denise_diianni@wgbh.org, 617-300-3404; Sinead Keirans, sinead_keirans@wgbh.org, 617-300-3405.
Fall of 2017
Examines military, political, cultural, social and human dimensions of tragedy of epic proportions that took the lives of 58,000 Americans and as many as three million Vietnamese.
Producing organizations: Florentine Films and WETA.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 18.5 hours.
Status: postproduction.
Major funders: Bank of America, Park Foundation, Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, Pew Charitable Trusts, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Ford Foundation, NEH, Better Angels Society, CPB, PBS.
Executive-in-charge for WETA: Dalton Delan. Producers/directors: Ken Burns, Lynn Novick. Writer: Geoffrey Ward. Producer: Sarah Botstein. Contact: Kate Kelly, kkelly@weta.org, 703-998-2072.
2017
Through the lens of history, social science, biology and the brain, Nova investigates whether violence is in decline and if science helps us build a safer world.
Producing organizations: WGBH, Nova.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 2 x 60.
Status: fundraising.
Senior EP: Paula Apsell. Contact: Pamela Rosenstein, pamela_rosenstein@wgbh.org, 617-300-4328.
2017
Series uses latest archaeological science and scholarship to explore how the New Testament emerged from Judaism to become the creed of millions.
Producing organizations: WGBH, Nova.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 2 x 60.
Status: fundraising.
Senior EP: Paula Apsell. Contact: Pamela Rosenstein, pamela_rosenstein@wgbh.org, 617-300-4328.
2017
Astrophysicist Janna Levin embarks on mind-bending quest to examine the bizarre science of black holes.
Producing organizations: WGBH, Nova.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 2 x 60.
Status: fundraising.
Senior EP: Paula Apsell. Contact: Pamela Rosenstein, pamela_rosenstein@wgbh.org, 617-300-4328.
2017
Doc explores personal and intellectual transformation of incarcerated men and women in a highly successful New York State prison education program, the Bard Prison Initiative.
Producing organizations: Skiff Mountain Films, Florentine Films and WETA.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 1 x 120.
Status: fundraising, preproduction.
Major funders: New York Community Trust, Lise Strickler and Mark Gallogly Charitable Fund.
EP: Ken Burns. Executive-in-charge for WETA: Dalton Delan. Director/producer: Lynn Novick. Producer: Sarah Botstein. Contact: Kate Kelly, kkelly@weta.org, 703-998-2072.
2017
Follows transformation of a struggling, impoverished neighborhood in Atlanta over several years as community members apply a radical, holistic revitalization program to improve the lives of every resident.
Producing organizations: Florentine Films and WETA.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 2 x 120.
Status: production. Major funder: Better Angels Society.
EP: Ken Burns. Executive-in-charge for WETA: Dalton Delan. Producers/directors: Dave McMahon, Sarah Burns. Contact: Kate Kelly, kkelly@weta.org, 703-998-2072.
2017
Series examines weather and climate machine that is planet Earth to explore how and why our climate is changing and how might science help us adapt.
Producing organizations: WGBH, Nova.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: TBD.
Status: R&D.
Senior EP: Paula Apsell. Contact: Pamela Rosenstein, pamela_rosenstein@wgbh.org, 617-300-4328.
2017
Series examines water and its impact on the Earth and everyday life.
Producing organizations: Passion Planet, LTD; WGBH Studio 6.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 3 x 60.
Status: R&D.
Producer, Passion Planet: David Allen. Senior executive in charge: Denise Dilanni. EP: Laurie Donnelly. Senior program producer for Studio 6: Anne Adams. Coordination producer for WGBH: Salme López. Contact: Denise Dilanni, denise_diianni@wgbh.org, 617-300-3404; Sinead Keirans, sinead_keirans@wgbh.org, 617-300-3405.
2017
Doc explores how the Medicare Act of 1965 integrated hospitals throughout the nation.
Producing organizations: BLB Productions and WETA.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 1 x 60.
Status: fundraising. Major funder: NEH.
EP: Dalton Delan. Producer: Tammy Robinson. Contact: Kate Kelly, kkelly@weta.org, 703-998-2072.
2017
Examines U.S. diplomacy through experiences of the seven living secretaries of state charged with carrying out foreign policy from the ’70s through 2013: Henry Kissinger, George Shultz, James Baker, Madeleine Albright, Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice and Hillary Clinton.
Producing organizations: Room 608, WGBH.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 3 x 60.
Status: preproduction.
Producers for Room 608: Mark Mannucci, Jonathan Halperin. Senior executive in charge for WGBH: Denise Dilanni. EP, national productions: Laurie Donnelly. Coordination producer for WGBH: Salme López. Contact: Denise Dilanni, denise_diianni@wgbh.org, 617-300-3404; Sinead Keirans, sinead_keirans@wgbh.org, 617-300-3405.
2017
Film presents life of Eleanor Rosalynn Carter, first lady of the United States from 1977 to 1981 and a leading advocate for mental health research. Producing/presenting station: WETA.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 1 x 60.
Status: preproduction.
Contact: Kate Kelly, kkelly@weta.org, 703-998-2072.
2017
Doc profiles visual artist Alfaro Siqueiros and the resurrection of his Los Angeles mural.
Producing organizations: Latino Public Broadcasting, ITVS, Andes Media, LLC.
Length: 1 x 60.
Status: postproduction.
Budget: $655,500.
Major funders: Latino Public Broadcasting, California Humanities, ITVS.
Producer/director: Lorena Manríquez. Director: Miguel Picker. Contact: Luis Ortiz, luis.ortiz@lpbp.org, 818-847-9656.
2017
Definitive doc on the science, economics, business and history of pot examines the many unknowns surrounding this polarizing plant, as those both in favor and against legalization present biased perspectives and create a culture of fear and confusion.
Producing organizations: Coneflower, WGBH Studio 6.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 1 x 60.
Status: R&D.
Producer for Conflower: Ann Prum. Senior executive in charge for WGBH: Denise Dilanni. EP, national productions: Laurie Donnelly. Coordination producer for WGBH: Salme López. Contact: Denise Dilanni, denise_diianni@wgbh.org, 617-300-3404; Sinead Keirans, sinead_keirans@wgbh.org, 617-300-3405.
2017
A medical mystery story with a human heart, doc examines diabetes, a devastating health crisis that affects more than 29 million Americans, exploring clues to this disease through intimate portraits of individuals on the frontlines.
Producing organizations: Structure Films; WGBH Studio 6.
Distributor: PBS. Presenting station: WGBH.
Length: 1 x 120.
Status: fundraising.
Budget: $1.3 million.
Producer/director/writer: David Alvarado. EP for WGBH: Judith Vecchione. Senior executive in charge for WGBH: Denise Dilanni. EP, national productions: Laurie Donnelly. Coordination producer for WGBH: Salme López. Contact: Denise Dilanni, denise_diianni@wgbh.org, 617-300-3404; Sinead Keirans, sinead_keirans@wgbh.org, 617-300-3405.
Winter 2018
Doc offers in-depth look at dynamic era in American history, when the nation’s exploding industrial economy created extremes of wealth and poverty, social upheaval, financial panics, class conflict, nativism and vigorous debate over the role of government.
Producing organizations: A Sarah Colt Productions film for American Experience/WGBH.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 2 x 120.
Status: R&D.
Major funders: Liberty Mutual Insurance, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, PBS, CPB.
EP: Mark Samels. Senior producer: Susan Bellows. Producer/director: Sarah Colt. Writer: Mark Zwonitzer. Contact: Susan Bellows, susan_bellows@wgbh.org, 617-300-5907.
Spring 2018
Sheds new light on geopolitical hot spot considered a “forgotten war” but actually an important turning point in world history that still reverberates today.
Producing organizations: WETA and Center for Asian American Media, in association with Ark Media.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 2 x 120.
Status: R&D, fundraising.
EPs: Jeff Bieber, Dalton Delan. Series producer: John Maggio. Writer: Ken Chowder. Contact: Kate Kelly, kkelly@weta.org, 703-998-2072.
Fall 2018
Commander Chris Hadfield, famed astronaut and test pilot, takes viewers on an epic journey through the history of aviation, profiling the audacious dreamers and risk-takers who changed the world.
Producing organizations: WETA, Lion TV and Handel Productions (Canada).
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 2 x 120.
Status: fundraising.
EPs: Jeff Bieber, Nick Catliff, Dalton Delan, Alan Handel. Contact: Kate Kelly, kkelly@weta.org, 703-998-2072.
2018
Three-part series charts unique and evolving identity, contributions and challenges experienced by Asian-Americans in the U.S. over past 150 years.
Producing organizations: WETA, Center for Asian American Media, Pacific Islanders in Communication.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 3 x 120.
Status: R&D, fundraising.
Major funders: Wallace H. Coulter Foundation, NEH.
EPs: Jeff Bieber, Dalton Delan, Leanne Ferrer, Stephen Gong. Series Producers: Renee Tajima-Pena. Contact: Kate Kelly, kkelly@weta.org, 703-998-2072.
2018
Investigates three enduring engineering mysteries of the ancient world with the help of hands-on experiments: India’s Taj Mahal, Egypt’s pyramids and China’s Forbidden City.
Producing organizations: WGBH, Nova.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 3 x 60.
Status: fundraising.
Senior EP: Paula Apsell. Contact: Pamela Rosenstein, pamela_rosenstein@wgbh.org, 617-300-4328.
2018
The Cold War, a half-century global struggle, produced an unforeseen boon: surprising advances in genetics, GPS, arctic science — even dolphin sonar.
Producing organizations: Nova, WGBH Educational Foundation. Distributor: PBS.
Length: 3 x 60.
Status: R&D.
Senior EP: Paula Apsell. Contact: Pamela Rosenstein, pamela_rosenstein@wgbh.org, 617-300-4328.
2018
Charts history and modern innovations in medicine and patient care from the Mayo Clinic, through the 19th century to today.
Producing organizations: Florentine Films, WETA.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 1 x 120.
Status: fundraising. Major funder: Better Angels Society.
EP: Ken Burns. Executive-in-charge for WETA: Dalton Delan. Directors: Erik and Christopher Loren Ewers. Contact: Kate Kelly, kkelly@weta.org, 703-998-2072.
2018
Spectacular journey through solar system reveals latest secrets of our cosmic neighborhood.
Producing organizations: Nova, WGBH Educational Foundation.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: TBD.
Status: R&D.
Senior EP: Paula Apsell. Contact: Pamela Rosenstein, pamela_rosenstein@wgbh.org, 617-300-4328.
2018
New York’s longest bridge is perilously close to crumbling. This doc follows the $4 billion race against time to design and build a replacement.
Producing organizations: Nova, WGBH Educational Foundation.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 2 x 60.
Status: preproduction.
Senior EP: Paula Apsell. Contact: Pamela Rosenstein, pamela_rosenstein@wgbh.org, 617-300-4328.
Fall 2019
From rural honky-tonks to Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry, film chronicles the evolution of the uniquely American art form over the course of a century.
Producing organizations: Florentine Films and WETA.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 7 x 120.
Status: production.
Major funders: Bank of America, Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, Annenberg Foundation, Better Angels Society, CPB, PBS.
Executive-in-charge for WETA: Dalton Delan. Producer/director: Ken Burns. Producer/director/writer: Dayton Duncan. Contact: Kate Kelly, kkelly@weta.org, 703-998-2072.
2020
Examines visionary work and turbulent life of Ernest Hemingway, one of the greatest and most influential writers America has ever produced.
Producing organizations: Florentine Films and WETA.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 2 x 120.
Status: Preproduction.
Major funders: Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, Annenberg Foundation, Better Angels Society, CPB, PBS.
Executive-in-charge for WETA: Dalton Delan. Producers/directors: Ken Burns, Lynn Novick. Writer: Geoffrey Ward. Producer: Sarah Botstein. Contact: Kate Kelly, kkelly@weta.org, 703-998-2072.
Season to be determined
Doc visually captures surge of antisemitism in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia through first-person interviews and hidden camera, bringing this threatening phenomenon to the American public through investigative video of antisemites in action.
Producing organizations: Thirteen Productions LLC for WNET, Vigilance Productions Ltd.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 1 x 120.
Status: fundraising, preproduction.
Director: Martin Himel. Writer: Daniel Jonah Goldhagen. EP: Julie Anderson. Executive in charge: Stephen Segaller. Contact: Ben Phelps, phelpsb@thirteen.org, 212-560-3059.
Season to be determined
Released a century ago, the controversial film Birth of a Nation transformed Hollywood with pioneering new techniques created by director D.W. Griffith, but was also castigated for being flagrantly racist and for glorifying the Ku Klux Klan. This film tells both stories, and illustrates how the protests that stemmed from the film paved the way for the Civil Rights Movement.
Producing organizations: Northern Light Productions; Thirteen Productions LLC for WNET.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 1 x 120.
Status: fundraising; production.
Director: Bestor Cram. Producer: Susan Gray. EPs: Sam Pollard; Henry Louis Gates Jr. EP for Thirteen: Julie Anderson. Contact: Ben Phelps, phelpsb@thirteen.org, 212-560-3059.
Season to be determined
Doc examines perilous state of the American Dream by retracing journey of Alexis de Tocqueville, who helped popularize the idea of the dream in his book Democracy in America.
Producing organization: Public Policy Productions.
Distributor: PBS. Presenting station: WNET.
Length: 1 x 120.
Status: production.
Major funders: Spunk Fund, Charles A. Frueauff Foundation, Silverweed Foundation, Odyssey Fund, Mitzvah Foundation, Park Foundation, Alda Foundation.
Producer/director: Roger Weisberg. EP: Julie Anderson. Executive in charge: Stephen Segaller. Contact: Ben Phelps, phelpsb@thirteen.org, 212-560-3059.
Season to be determined
Doc captures importance of Great Lakes by telling story of their past, present and future.
Producing organization: WNED-TV, Buffalo, N.Y.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 1 x 120.
Producer: John Grant. Contact: John Grant, jagrant@aol.com, 814-234-5210.
Season to be determined
Documents U.S. State Department mid-1950s program that sent jazz legends — including Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman and Dizzy Gillespie — to the USSR, Asia and Africa to celebrate U.S. diversity and culture, and help America win the Cold War — all while battling Jim Crow and racial conflict at home. (Previous article in Current)
Producing organizations: Antelope, Normal Life Pictures, Thirteen Productions LLC for WNET.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 1 x 90.
Status: preproduction.
Director: Hugo Berkeley. Producer: Mick Csáky. EP: Julie Anderson. Executive in charge: Stephen Segaller. Contact: Ben Phelps, phelpsb@thirteen.org, 212-560-3059.
Season to be determined
In series about startup businesses and the people who founded them, Robert X. Cringely plants himself in the middle of 12 companies spread over 20 states and nearly as many industries, hanging out with employees, finding out what they do, how successful they’ve been and what their strategies are.
Producing organizations: NerdTV, Thirteen Productions LLC for WNET.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 8 x 30.
Status: preproduction.
Major funders: PBS, Salesforce.com.
Host: Robert X. Cringely. EP: Julie Anderson. Executive in charge: Stephen Segaller. Contact: Ben Phelps, phelpsb@thirteen.org, 212-560-3059.
Season to be determined
Longitudinal doc spotlights stories of seven kids in seven countries who are fighting against the odds for a basic education, focusing on a critical turning point in the children’s lives: their hoped-for high school graduation.
Producing organization: Thirteen Productions LLC for WNET.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 1 x 90.
Status: fundraising, production.
Major funders: Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Foundation, Rosalie Stahl.
Executive in charge: Stephen Segaller. EP: Julie Anderson. Producers: Nina Chaudry, Pamela Hogan, Frederick Rendina. Contact: Ben Phelps, phelpsb@thirteen.org, 212-560-3059.
Season to be determined
Follow-up to 2011’s Women, War & Peace highlights how crucial it is that women’s rights be reframed as fundamental to both human rights and global security, illuminating Extraordinary new triumphs and telling the stories of women who relentlessly stand up to ever-shifting backlash in order to have a voice in politics and a seat at the table. Producing organizations: Fork Films in association with Thirteen Productions LLC for WNET.
Distributor: PBS.
Length: 3 x 60.
Status: fundraising, production.
EPs: Abigail Disney, Gini Reticker, Tom Casciato. EP for Thirteen: Julie Anderson. Executive in charge: Stephen Segaller. Contact: Ben Phelps, phelpsb@thirteen.org, 212-560-3059.