Slated for broadcast winter/spring 2008, the HD doc Gates of the Arctic surveys one of the most remote wilderness areas in the country, Alaska's Brooks Range. Pictured: an inhabitant ice fishing.

Current’s annual survey of national programs in preparation for public television

Updated Dec. 17, 2007 from the list
published in Current, Nov. 5, 2007
Compiled by Theodore Fischer

It won’t cause as many lumps in throats as the highly concentrated preview reel that PBS displays at its Showcase conference each spring, but it offers many jolts of promise for upcoming seasons of public television.

Responding to Current’s annual Pipeline survey, producers and their distributors supplied most information for this list of about 140 completed, scripted, proposed and dreamt-of productions. Thanks to all who responded to the survey.

Please direct inquiries about specific programs to the contact people listed with each title.

Included: only noninstructional projects one hour or longer that will debut nationally in January 2008 or later.

Winter/Spring '08 | Summer '08 | Sometime in '08
Winter/Spring '09 | Fall '09
Sometime in '10 | Sometime in '11
Airdate to be determined

Winter/Spring '08

The Adirondacks

Producing organizations: WNED-TV (Buffalo, N.Y.) and Working Dog Productions. Episodes: 1 x 120 (HD). Status: preproduction. Budget: $1 million. Major funders: PBS, Kevin T. Keane, the Adirondack Council, and New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Executive producers: John Grant, David Rotterman. Producer: Tom Simon. Contact: John Grant, jajgrant aol.com, 814-234-5210. Definitive television record of some of the nation’s most breathtaking places and the fascinating people shaped by these surroundings.

Animalia

Producing organizations: Burberry/Lux Monkey/DoubleBase Productions in association with PorchLight Entertainment. Presenting station: WETA. Distributors: PBS (U.S.), BBC (U.K.), CBC (Canada) and Network Ten (Australia). Episodes: 40 x 28:46 (HD). Status: postproduction. Budget: $20 million. Executive producers: Graeme Base, Ewan Burnett, Bruce Johnson, Murray Pope, Tom Ruegger. Contact: Jamie Wong, 310-477-8400. Two children slip away to Animalia, a parallel world in which animals possess all the powers of language and communication and have created a society all their own. CGI-animated series offers a “bridge to literacy” for children ages 6 to 9.

Appalachia

Producing organization: Agee Films. Presenting station: Oregon Public Broadcasting. Episodes: 4 x 60. Status: production. Major funders: NEH, Arthur Vining Davis Foundations. Executive producer for OPB: David Davis. Executive producer: Ross Spears. Contact: David Davis, ddavis opb.org, 503-293-1959. Primetime series about Earth’s oldest mountains and the region’s people, past and present. [Three years ago, the project was one of three on the region that were in preparation for public TV.]

Artist’s Table

Producing organization: Full Plate Media. Presenting station: KQED. Episodes: 4 x 60. Status: postproduction. Major funders: Cuisinart, Microsoft. Host: Jacques Pépin. Director: Bruce Franchini. Executive producers: Harry Bernstein, Susie Heller. Contact: Suzanne Romaine, 415-553-2366. Viewers visit the creative intersection between the culinary and nonculinary arts, featuring guest artists including violinist Itzhak Perlman.

Beijing, Are You Ready?

Producing organization: D3 Productions Inc. Presenting station: KCSM (San Mateo, Calif.). Distributor: APT. Episodes: 13 x 30. Status: postproduction. Executive producer/director: Duffy Wang. Host/narrator: Mary Windishar. Cinematographer/editor: Alex Chiang. Contact: Nicole Marsh, nikki insidechina.org, 510-635-8603, ext. 104. Travel to Beijing and witness its transformation for the 2008 Olympics. Visit Olympic grounds, meet athletes and learn how Olympics-mania affects the entire city—from school curricula to traffic jams.

Biz Kid$

Producing organizations: Biz Kid$ LLP in association with JA Worldwide and WXXI (Rochester, N.Y.). Distributor: APT. Episodes: 26 x 30 (HD). Status: postproduction. Budget: $5.2 million. Major funder: America’s Credit Unions. Executive producer: Jamie Hammond. Series directors: James McKenna, Erren Gottlieb. Contact: Jill Kemp, jkemp wxxi.org, 585-258-0306. Teaches school-aged children about saving, budgeting and giving back to the community. Young entrepreneurs share their success stories, empowering kids to take action. Web.

The Botany of Desire

Producing organization: Kikim Media. Presenting station: KQED (San Francisco). Episodes: 1 x 120 (HD). Status: postproduction. Major funders: NSF, PBS. Producer/ director: Michael Schwarz. Contact: Suzanne Romaine, 415-553-2366. Doc based on Michael Pollan’s book, The Botany of Desire: A Plant’s-Eye View of the World, analyzes the relationship between humans and four successful plants: apples, tulips, marijuana and potatoes.

Caring for Your Parents

Producing organizations: WGBH and the Kirk Documentary Group. Episodes: 1 x 90 plus 1 x 30 follow-up, presented together. Status: production. Major funders: Harrah’s Foundation, PBS, CPB. Executive producer: Laurie Donnelly. Producer/writer/director: Michael Kirk. Contact: Meredith Nierman, meredith_nierman wgbh.org. Doc and follow-up studio show examine—from personal, intimate viewpoints—the realities of caring for elderly parents.

Carnegie Hall Celebrates Berlin

Producing organizations: WNET and Carnegie Hall. Presented by Great Performances. Episodes: 1 x 120. Status: preproduction. Major funders: Irene Diamond Fund, NEA, Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Arts Fund, CPB, PBS. Director: Brian Large. Producer: John Walker. Executive producer: David Horn. Contact: Lisa Braun, braun thirteen.org, 212-560-2715. A tribute to Berlin, featuring the Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Simon Rattle and the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel. Performances include Mahler’s Symphony No. 9 and Bartok’s Concerto for Orchestra.

Cinema’s Exiles: From Hitler to Hollywood

Producing organizations: Film Odyssey and WNET. Episodes: 1 x 120. Status: postproduction. Major funders: NEH, Skirball Foundation, PBS, Norman & Rosita Winston Foundation, Dorothy and Lewis Cullman, Lemberg Foundation, NEA. Producer/writer/director: Karen Thomas. Executive producer for WNET: Margaret Smilow. Contact: Lisa Braun, braun thirteen.org, 212-560-2715. After Hitler took power in Germany, one of his earliest actions was to ban Jews from the German movie industry, forcing film pioneers to flee to Paris, London and America, where they would transform Hollywood cinema.

Clemente

Producing organizations: A Quiet Pictures film for American Experience. Presenting station: WGBH. Episodes: 1 x 60 (HD). Status: preproduction. Major funders: Liberty Mutual, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, PBS, CPB. Executive producer: Mark Samels. Series producer: Sharon Grimberg. Producer: Bernardo Ruiz. Contact: Meredith Nierman, meredith_nierman@wgbh.org. Bio of Roberto Clemente, one of the first Hispanic superstars in baseball, a game now dominated by Latinos. Focuses on his life and career to shed light on larger issues of immigration, civil rights and cultural change.

Collector’s Café

Producing organization: Public Media Production. Distributor: APT. Episodes: 21 x 60 (HD). Status: pilot and second episode completed, fundraising. Budget: $175,000 per episode. Hosts: Bob Goen, Marianne Curan. Executive producers: Seth Isler, Gary Farrell, Mykalai Kontilai. Co-executive producer: Glenn Kirschbaum. Producer: Susan Sullivan. Contact: Seth Isler, 310-566-7821. In a European-style coffee house, some of the rarest collectibles ever found are presented to the world’s foremost appraisers and historians.

Colorblind

Producing organization: Pamela Peak Productions. Presenting station: Detroit Public Television. Distributor: APT. Episodes: 1 x 60. Status: completed. Budget: $250,000. Executive producer: Ray Bernard. Writer/producer/director: Pamela Peak. Contact: Pamela Peak, Pamela pamelapeakproductions, 949-305-5496. Scattered by the 1967 Detroit riots, a group of predominantly white grade-school classmates reunite and discover how their lives were profoundly impacted by a beloved African-American teacher. Web.

Company

Producing organizations: Ellen M. Krass Production with WNET in association with NHK/NHK Enterprises. Presented by Great Performances. Episodes: 1 x 150 (HD). Status: postproduction. Major funders: Irene Diamond Fund, NEA, CPB, PBS. Music/lyrics: Stephen Sondheim. Book: George Furth. Direction/musical staging: John Doyle. Director for television: Lonny Price. Producers: Ellen M. Krass, Mort Swinsky, Nagamitsu Endo (NHK Enterprises). Executive producers: Darren Bagert, Robert G. Bartner, Bonnie Comley, Stewart F. Lane, Madoka Imura for NHK Enterprises, David Horn for WNET. Contact: Lisa Braun, braun thirteen.org, 212-560-2715. Recorded at end of its run, Stephen Sondheim’s groundbreaking musical Company, winner of the Tony for best revival in 2006-07, comes to television for the first time, starring Broadway sensation Raúl Esparza.

The Complete Jane Austen

Persuasion, Northanger Abbey, Mansfield Park, Miss Austen Regrets, Sense and Sensibility, Emma and Pride and Prejudice. Producing organizations: Persuasion: A Clerkenwell Films production for ITV in association with WGBH. Northanger Abbey: A co-production of Granada and WGBH. Mansfield Park: A co-production of Company Productions and WGBH. Miss Austen Regrets: A BBC and WGBH co-production. Sense and Sensibility: A BBC and WGBH co-production. Emma: Produced by United Film and Television Productions in association with Chestermead Ltd. and A&E Networks. Presented by Masterpiece Theatre. Episodes: Persuasion, Northanger Abbey, Mansfield Park, Miss Austen Regrets: 1 x 90. Sense and Sensibility: 2 x 90. Emma: 1 x 120. Pride and Prejudice: 3 x 120. Status: varied—completed, preproduction and postproduction. Major funders: PBS, CPB. Executive producer: Rebecca Eaton. Screenwriter for Northanger Abbey, Sense and Sensibility, Emma: Andrew Davies. Actors: Rupert Penry-Jones, Sally Hawkins (Persuasion); Billie Piper (Mansfield Park); Olivia Williams, Greta Scacchi (Miss Austen Regrets); Kate Beckinsale (Emma). Contact: Meredith Nierman, meredith_nierman wgbh.org. PBS presents a first in U.S. television: weekly adaptations of all of Austen’s novels plus a new biopic about the novelist. Web. See feature article.

Crane Song

Producing organization: NET Television. Distributor: PBS Plus. Episodes: 1 x 60 (HD). Status: postproduction. Budget: $230,000. Major funders: Sandhills Publishing, Elizabeth Rubendall Foundation, Theordore G. Baldwin Foundation, Chief Industries Inc., Platte River Whooping Crane Maintenance Trust. Producer/writer: Perry Stoner. Videographer/editor: Ralph Hammack Jr. Contact: David Feingold, dfeingold netnebraska.org, 402-472-9333, ext. 440. A stunning visual essay on the sandhill crane’s annual migration through the center of the Great Plains, weaving together images and sounds of the birds’ journey with the insights of people moved by the presence of the cranes and their primordial quest.

Cranford

Producing organizations: A co-production of the BBC and WGBH. Presented by Masterpiece Theatre. Episodes: 5 x 60 (HD). Status: postproduction. Budget: Major funders: PBS, CPB. Executive producer: Rebecca Eaton. Actors: Judi Dench, Michael Gambon, Eileen Atkins, Imelda Staunton, Francesca Annis, Greg Wise. Contact: Meredith Nierman, meredith_nierman wgbh.org. Major new miniseries based on Elizabeth Gaskell’s Wives and Daughters—witty, poignant novels about a village on the cusp of change.

Curious

Producing organizations: WNET and the California Institute of Technology. Distributor: APT. Episodes: 2 x 60. Status: postproduction. Major funder: TIAA-CREF. Executive in charge: William R. Grant. Executive producer: Jared Lipworth. Contact: Lisa Braun, braun thirteen.org, 212-560-2715. An artistic and creative deep immersion into cutting-edge research performed at Caltech, one of the world’s most dynamic institutions.

Daniel O’Donnell at Home in Ireland (w.t.)

Producing organization: Brockwell Ltd. Presenting station: Detroit Public Television. Episodes: 1 x 60, 1 x 90 pledge event (HD). Status: postproduction. Executive producers: Diane Bliss, Sean Reilly. Contact: Josette Marano, jmarano dptv.org, 313-876-8104. Taped in a new concert hall in Donegal, O’Donnell’s home town, he and longtime partner Mary Duff sing familiar Irish tunes and American standards.

Depression (w.t.)

Producing organizations: A co-production of Twin Cities Public Television and WGBH. Episodes: 1 x 90 plus 1 x 30 follow-up show (HD). Status: production. Major funders: CPB, PBS. Producer: Larkin McPhee. Executive producers: Laurie Donnelly, Phylis Geller. Contact: Heidi Van Heel, hvanheel tpt.org. Doc uses history, science, treatment and personal stories to create comprehensive and—for American television—unprecedented portrait of the mental illness.

Emile Norman: By His Own Design

Producing organization: Emile Norman Documentary Film Project. Presenting station: KQED (San Francisco). Episodes: 1 x 60. Status: complete. Budget: $200,000. Major funders: Union Bank Tag, Wells Fargo Bank, Fleishhacker Foundation, LEF Foundation, Community Foundation for Monterey County. Producer/director: Will Parrinello. Producers: Michael Tucker, Jill Eikenberry. Writer: Doris Baizley. Contact: Suzanne Romaine, 415-553-2366. Portrait of self-taught California artist Emile Norman who, at age 89, is still working with the same passion for life, art, nature and freedom that inspired him through seven decades of a changing art scene and turbulent times for a gay man in America.

The 5-Minute Workout with Dell-Maree Day

Producing organizations: Method One Pty. Ltd./Delmarcol Pty. Ltd. (Australia). Presenting station: Detroit Public Television. Distributor: NETA. Episodes: 1 x 40, 1 x 60 pledge event. Status: completed. Executive producers: Diane Bliss, Dell-Maree Day. Producer: Michele Ford. Contact: Josette Marano, jmarano dptv.org, 313-876-8104. Day demonstrates simple five-minute exercises that can be performed almost anywhere, at any time, to tone the body and eliminate back pains.

Gates of the Arctic: Alaska’s Brooks Range

Producing organization: North Shore Productions Inc. Distributor: APT. Episodes: 1 x 60 (HD). Status: postproduction. Executive producer: Rory Banyard. Contact: Tom Davison, Tom_Davison APTonline.org. Explores the rich history of one of the wildest and most remote places in North America, Alaska’s Brooks Range, an area now protected as public lands.

George H.W. Bush (w.t.)

Producing organizations: An Austin Hoyt Productions film for American Experience. Presenting station: WGBH. Episodes: 1 x 120, 1 x 90 (HD). Status: postproduction. Major funders: Liberty Mutual, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, PBS, CPB. Executive producer: Mark Samels. Series producer: Sharon Grimberg. Producer: Austin Hoyt. Contact: Meredith Nierman, meredith_nierman@wgbh.org. Two-part biography examines life and career of often-overlooked 41st president.

Girls 6-on-6 Basketball (w.t.)

Producing organization: Iowa Public Television. Episodes: 2 x 60. Status: production. Producers: Andrea Coyle, Laurel Burgmaier. Contact: Wayne Bruns, 515-242-3100. Doc examines now-historic game of girls’ six-on-six basketball, a phenomenon that brought rural townspeople together.

Global Harbors

Producing organizations: A production of Ivy Media, LLC, in association with Maryland Public Television. Episodes: 1 x 60 (HD). Status: production. Budget: $500,000. Major funders: T. Rowe Price Investment Group, Urban Land Institute, Whiting-Turner, Struever Bros., Mullan Foundation and Legg, Mason Charitable Foundation. Executive producer: Cari Stein. Contact: Steven J. Schupak, sschupak mpt.org, 410-581-4130. An urban adventure story set in Baltimore: How its downtown harbor revitalization became—and continues to be—a model for rescuing city centers around the world.

Heat (w.t.)

Producing organizations: A Frontline co-production with RAINMedia Inc. Presenting station: WGBH. Episodes: 1 x 120. Status: production. Major funders: John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Park Foundation, PBS. Producer/reporter/writer: Martin Smith. Co-producer: Chris Durrance. Frontline executive producer: David Fanning. Contact: Meredith Nierman, meredith_nierman wgbh.org. How energy companies, car manufacturers, insurers and other big businesses have manipulated the debate over and response to global warming in America and around the globe.

How to Keep Your Brain Young,
with Dr. Majid Fotuhi (w.t.)

Producing organization: Maryland Public Television. Distributor: APT. Episodes: 1 x 90 pledge special. Status: preproduction, scripting. Budget: $134,350. Writer/host: Majid Fotuhi. Contact: Steven J. Schupak, sschupak mpt.org, 410-581-4130. Based on his university and public seminars and research on brain health, Fotuhi offers positive steps to extend the functional life of the brain.

Kung Fu Journey to the East

Producing organization: D3 Productions Inc. Presenting station: KCSM (San Mateo, Calif.). Distributor: APT. Episodes: 1 x 60. Status: postproduction. Executive producer/director: Duffy Wang. Cinematographer/editor: Alex Chiang. Contact: Nicole Marsh, nikki insidechina.org, 510-635-8603, ext. 104. Two American martial arts students travel to China to learn from kung fu masters, visiting China’s revered martial-arts sites, including Shaolin Temple. Web.

Jam! The Best of Live Music

Producing organization: Jam LLC. Distributor: APT. Episodes: 6 x 60. Status: production. Executive producer: Ross Elliot. Contact: Tom Davison, Tom_Davison APTonline.org, 617-338-4455, ext. 160. Once-in-a-lifetime performances by big names in popular music, including legendary concerts, exclusive artist interviews, one-time-only collaborations and classic jam sessions.

The Jewish Americans

Producing organizations: A production of JTN Productions, WETA and David Grubin Productions in association with WNET. Episodes: 3 x 120. Status: postproduction. Major funders: NEH, CPB, PBS, Nash Family Foundation, Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, Paul & Irma Milstein Foundation, Skirball Foundation, Chais Family Foundation, Harry & Belle Krupnick Endowment Fund of the Jewish Community Foundation. Director/writer/producer: David Grubin. Executive producers: Jay Sanderson (JTN Productions), Jeff Bieber, Dalton Delan (WETA), Stephen Segaller (WNET). Contact: Cecily Van Praagh, cvanpraagh weta.com. Chronicles contributions and triumphs—as well as the struggles to assimilate—of a successful American immigrant group.

The Journey to Palomar

Producing organization: Mason Productions Inc. Episodes: to be determined. Status: completed. Budget: $560,000. Major funders: Mason Productions Inc., Richard H. Driehaus Foundation. Producers/writers/directors: Todd Mason, Robin Mason. Narrator: Maurice La Marche. Contact: Todd and Robin Mason, masonproductions ca.rr.com, 310-313-6005. Traces the personal and professional struggle of astronomer George Ellery Hale to build the 20th century’s biggest telescopes at the Yerkes and Mount Wilson observatories and, finally, the 20-year effort to build the million-pound telescope on Palomar Mountain.

Landscapes Through Time with David Dunlop

Producing organization: SimmonsArt Inc. and Connecticut Public Television. Distributor: PBS Plus. Episodes: 13 x 30 (HD). Status: postproduction. Host: David Dunlop. Producer: Connie Simmons. Executive producer: Larry Rifkin. Contact: Lee Newton, lnewton cptv.org, 860-275-7285. Noted painter and teacher David Dunlop travels to U.S. and European sites painted by celebrated artists—i.e., Monet’s water lily garden in Giverny, Van Gogh’s asylum in Provence—setting his easel on same spots where they put theirs and painting the landscapes in the same styles.

Made in Spain

Producing organization: Full Plate Media. Presenting station: KQED (San Francisco). Episodes: 26 x 30. Status: postproduction. Budget: $2.5 million. Major funders: Trade Commission of Spain, Freixenet USA, Turespaña. Executive producers: Harry Bernstein, Susie Heller. Director: Bruce Franchini. Contact: Suzanne Romaine, 415-553-2366.  Restaurateur José Andrés hosts a series on Spain’s culinary traditions, each episode opening as he begins preparing the featured meal, then intercutting scenes from Spain and the United States.

Martin Yan’s China

Producing organization: A La Carte Communications. Distributor: APT. Episodes: 26 x 30. Status: postproduction. Host: Martin Yan. Executive producers: Nat Katzman, Geoffrey Drummond. Contact: Hope Reed, hreed gmail.com.  Yan takes a culinary and cultural journey through China, discovering the vast country’s sights, sounds, tastes, cooks and eaters.

Monarchy: A Year in the Life (w.t.)

Producing organizations: RDF Television (U.K.), Oregon Public Broadcasting. Episodes: 6 x 60. Status: production. Budget: Major funder: PBS. Executive producers: David Davis (OPB), Andy Goodsir (for RDF Television). Contact: David Davis, ddavis opb.org, 503-293-1959. Behind-the-scenes look at the life of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II in her 80th year, with exclusive access granted to film the royal household for BBC One broadcast.

The Morgan Lacrosse Story

Producing organization: Team Creations. Episodes: 1 x 60. Status: postproduction. Executive producer: Brian Frydenlund. Producers: Luke David and Casey Costello. Director/editor: Luke David. Photography: Casey Costello, Joe Tyler, Luke David. Contact: Carrie Johnson, cjohnson pbs.org. How the first and only lacrosse team at a historically black college, Baltimore’s Morgan State University, achieved one of the greatest upsets in intercollegiate sports.

The Mother Road

Producing organization: Running Down Dreams Productions LLC. Distributor: PBS Plus. Episodes: 1 x 60. Status: completed. Producer/writer: Lauren F. Cardillo. Editor: Gary Westphalen. Contact: Lauren Cardillo, learlc aol.com, 703-799-6665.  For a Mother’s Day broadcast, filmmaker Lauren Cardillo and her mother take a Mustang convertible on the road trip of their lives, along the famed Route 66 from Chicago to Los Angeles.

Mountain Stage HD

Producing organization: West Virginia Public Broadcasting. Distributor: NETA. Episodes: 8 x 60 (HD). Status: postproduction. Budget: $560,000. Major funders: Verizon, Birthplace of Country Music Alliance, West Virginia Department of Commerce. Host/artistic director: Larry Groce. Executive producers: Mike Youngren, John Nakashima, Andy Ridenour, Fred McClellan, Larry Groce. Contact: Andy Ridenour, 304-556-4911. Specials taped during the popular Mountain Stage radio program feature rural roots and contemporary music, including performances and interviews with artists such as Martina McBride, Arlo Guthrie, Uncle Earl. Web.

Murder House

Producing organization: Nebraska’s NET Television. Distributor: APT. Episodes: 1 x 60. Status: postproduction. Budget: $105,000. Major funders: NET Foundation for Television. Producer/writer: Bill Kelly. Videographer/editor: Jim Underwood. Executive producer: Joe Turco. Contact: David Feingold, dfeingold netnebraska.org, 402-472-9333, ext. 440. Tracks CSI students training on staged, realistic homicides and illustrates how a real-life CSI unit solves a murder mystery whose young victim has never been found. Web.

My Boy Jack

Producing organizations: An Ecosse Films and WGBH co-production. Presented by Masterpiece Theatre. Episodes: 1 x 90 (HD). Status: postproduction. Major funders: PBS, CPB. Executive producer: Rebecca Eaton. Contact: Meredith Nierman, meredith_nierman wgbh.org.  Jack, the son of British literary giant Rudyard Kipling, triggers a bitter family conflict when he joins the Irish Guard at the outset of World War I. Daniel Radcliffe, star of the Harry Potter movies, and Kim Cattrall are featured.

Nanotechnology: The Power of Small

Producing organizations: Fred Friendly Productions and ICAN Productions in association with Oregon Public Broadcasting. Distributor: APT. Episodes: 3 x 60. Status: production. Budget: $2 million. Major funder: NSF. Executive producers: David Davis (OPB); Cynthia Needham, Ken McPherson (ICAN Productions). Producers: Richard Kilberg, Barbara Margolis (Fred Friendly Seminars). Contact: David Davis, ddavis opb.org, 503-293-1959. Employs the format of the late Fred Friendly’s hypothetical discussions featuring prominent thinkers and doers to explore the social, legal and political implications of advances in nanotechnology. The TV series is accompanied by a radio series and a national outreach campaign.

The Oneida Speak

Producing organization: Wisconsin Public Television, co-presented by WPT and Native American Public Telecommunications. Distributor: NETA. Episodes: 1 x 60. Status: complete. Budget: $166,000. Major funder: NAPT. Executive producer: Kay Klubertanz. Producer: Michele Danforth. Contact: Penny Costello, visionmaker unl.edu, 402-472-0496. Accounts of Native American life in the past, based on journals by elders of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin for the WPA Writers Project, recreated with a blend of modern and traditional storytelling.

The Pact

Producing organizations: Spark Media in Association with Duke Media. Presenting station: National Black Programming Consortium. Distributor: APT. Episodes: 1 x 60. Status: postproduction. Executive producer: Bill Duke. Producer/director, Andrea Kalin. Contact: Leslie Fields-Cruz, leslie nbpc.tv, 212-234-8200, ext. 222. True-life story of three friends from the ’hood who made a pact in high school to find a way to go to college and then medical school.

Pavlo’s Passion (w.t.)

Producing organization: Detroit Public Television. Distributor: APT. Episodes: 1 x 60, 1 x 90 pledge event (HD). Status: fundraising, preproduction. Executive producer: Diane Bliss. Producer: Josette Marano. Contact: Josette Marano, jmarano dptv.org, 313-876-8104. The guitarist Pavlo’s first public TV special features Mediterranean scenery and flamboyant Mediterranean music that combines Greek, Spanish and classical elements.

Perfect Day

Producing organization: Tellus Works. Distributor: APT. Episodes: 13 x 30 (HD). Status: production. Hosts: Andreas Viestad, Tina Nordström, Claus Meyer, Sara La Fountain. Contact: Tom Davison, Tom_Davison APTonline.org. Four of Scandinavia’s best-known chefs and food writers take turns as hosts of a food, travel and lifestyle series featuring delicious recipes, intriguing locales and rich imagery.

Pioneers of Television

Producing organization: Boettcher/Trinklein Media Inc. Episodes: 4 x 60 (HD). Status: postproduction. Producers: Steven J. Boettcher, Michael J. Trinklein. Director: Steven J. Boettcher. Writers: Michael J. Trinklein, Jack Jones. Contact: Christine Haye, chaye pbs.org. Four-parter melds new interviews with archival clips to offer a fresh take on TV’s first stars. Each episode focuses on different genre: sitcoms, late-night, variety, game shows.

Prince Among Slaves

Producing organizations: Unity Productions Foundation, in association with Spark Media and Duke Media. Episodes: 1 x 60 (HD). Status: completed. Major funders: NEH, National Black Programming Consortium. Executive producers: Alex Kronemer, Michael Wolfe. Producer/writer/director: Andrea Kalin. Reenactment director: Bill Duke. Narrator: Mos Def. Contact: Alex Kronemer, alex upf.tv, 301-438-3993. Forgotten true story of an African prince who was enslaved in Mississippi for 40 years before he finally achieved freedom and became one of the most famous men in America.

Rudy Maxa’s World

Producing organization: RMW Productions Ltd. Presenting station: Twin Cities Public Television. Distributor: APT. Episodes: 13 x 30 (HD). Status: production. Host: Rudy Maxa. Contact: Ana Scofield, RMW Productions, 800-387-8025. Maxa’s travel series updated to feel more journalistic, focusing on people and politics, while continuing to offer travel tips and discuss each destination’s culture, architecture and cuisine.

Stand Up: Muslim American Comics
Come of Age

Producing organization: Potomac Media Works. Episodes: 1 x 60. Status: completed. Major funders: CPB, ITVS. Producer/director: Glenn Baker. Co-director: Omar Naim. Co-producer: Lauren F. Cardillo. Editor: Sam Green. Contact: Glenn Baker, glenn azimuthmedia.org, 202-797-5265. In one of CPB’s America at a Crossroads docs, American Arab and Muslim comedians respond to 9/11 through comedy. Facing challenges from fellow Muslims as well as mainstream Americans, they strive to escape typecasting and achieve comedy success.

Still Life: The Pursuit of Parkinson’s

Producing organizations: A Kikim Media production for Frontline and ITVS. Episodes: 1 x 60. Status: production, fundraising. Major funder: John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Frontline, ITVS. Producers: Michael Schwarz, Dave Iverson. Contact: Michael Schwarz, Schwarz kikim.com, 650-617-0550. Tracks the mystery underlying Parkinson’s disease, a condition that eventually may be controlled with the help of embryonic stem cell research, providing breakthrough insights into other brain disorders. Segments on specific topics will be prepared early in production process for outreach to organizations involved with the disorder.

The Transformation Age

Producing organizations: Maryland Public Television and Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland. Episodes: 1 x 60. Status: production. Budget: $400,000. Major funder: NYMEX (New York Mercantile Exchange). Writer/host: Robert X. Cringely. Executive producer: Steven Schupak. Producer/director: Frank Batavick. Contact: Steven J. Schupak, sschupak mpt.org, 410-581-4130. Explores the past, present and immediate future impact of information technology, introducing viewers to people who are striving to remain competitive and survive in this age of constant technological change.

The Trial of Saddam Hussein

Producing organization: Great Projects Film Co. Inc. Presenting station: WETA. Episodes: 1 x 60. Status: production. Budget: $675,000. Major funder: CPB. Executive producers: Daniel B. Polin, Kenneth Mandel. Contact: Kenneth Mandel, kmandel greatprojects.com, 212-581-1700. The Iraqi dictator’s defense lawyers, prosecutors and judges discuss his trial. Was it fair? That depends on who’s asked.

The Truth About Cancer

Producing organizations: WGBH and Carousel Films LLC. Episodes: 1 x 90 plus 1 x 30 follow-up show. Status: production. Major funders: PBS, CPB, Susan G. Komen Foundation, John Wayne Foundation. Executive producer: Laurie Donnelly. Producer/writer/director: Linda Garmon. Contact: Meredith Nierman, meredith_nierman wgbh.org. Doc followed by 30-minute studio-based program explores how far we’ve come—and how far we need to go—in battle against cancer.

Walt Whitman

Producing organizations: A Storyteller Films production in association with HiddenHill Productions for American Experience. Presenting station: WGBH. Episodes: 1 x 120 (HD). Status: postproduction. Major funders: NEH, Liberty Mutual, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, PBS, CPB. Executive producer: Mark Samels. Series producer: Sharon Grimberg. Producers: Patrick Long, Jamila Wignot. Writer: Mark Zwonitzer. Contact: Meredith Nierman, meredith_nierman @wgbh.org. The life and work of one of America’s most influential poets.

What Females Want and Males Will Do

Producing organizations: WNET and Pangolin Pictures Inc. Presented by Nature. Episodes: 2 x 60. Status: R&D. Major funders: Canon, Toyota, CPB. Executive producer: Fred Kaufman. Producer: Kevin Bachar. Writer: Jaime Bernanke. Contact: Lisa Braun, braun thirteen.org, 212-560-2715. The most bizarre and interesting animal behavior is usually associated with attracting a mate: Two-hour special examines science of courtship in the natural world.

Woodsmith Shop

Producing organizations: Iowa Public Television and August Home Publishing. Distributor: NETA. Episodes: 13 x 30 (HD). Status: postproduction. Executive producer: Duane Huey. Host: Don Peschke. Contact: Wayne Bruns, 515-242-3100, wayne iptv.org. Series designed to meet the needs of the 11 million U.S. woodworkers—with tips and techniques for all, even beginners. Web.

Summer '08

AfroPoP: The Ultimate Cultural Exchange

Producing organization: National Black Programming Consortium. Distributor: APT. Episodes: 6 x 60. Status: postproduction. Budget: $250,000. Major funders: NBPC, CPB. Executive producer: Jacquie Jones. Series producer: Leslie Fields-Cruz. Contact: Leslie Fields-Cruz, leslie nbpc.tv, 212-234-8200, ext. 222. Six independent docs about life and art in contemporary Africa take American audiences on a tour unlike any they’ve seen before. Web.

Age of Uncertainty: The Story of
Global Aging (w.t.)

Producing organizations: Becker Entertainment for WNET and SBSi (Australia). Episodes: 2 or 3 x 60 (HD). Status: R&D. Executive in charge: Stephen Segaller. Executive producer: Charles Hannah. Series producer: Stefan Moore. Contact: Lisa Braun, braun thirteen.org, 212-560-2715. For the first time in human history, old people outnumber the young on our planet. Series looks at dramatic challenges the world now faces.

Casino Nation

Producing organization: Ignition Pictures. Presenting station: KNME (Albuquerque, N.M.). Episodes: 1 x 60. Status: production. Budget: $392,000. Major funders: Native American Public Telecommunications, P.O.V., ITVS, Lucias and Eva Eastman Fund. Executive producer: Terry Jones. Producer/editor: Laure Sullivan. Cinematographer: Paul Wilson. Contact: Penny Costello, visionmaker unl.edu, 402-472-0496. After a long and bloody struggle over tribal gaming, the Seneca Nation has entered the casino business. P.O.V. presents this snapshot of a Native American tribe at a crossroads. See feature article.

Inspector Lewis, Series I

Producing organizations: A co-production of Granada and WGBH. Presented by Masterpiece Mysteries. Episodes: 3 x 90. Status: completed. Major funders: PBS, CPB. Executive producer: Rebecca Eaton. Contact: Meredith Nierman, meredith_nierman wgbh.org. In a spinoff of the popular Inspector Morse series, Kevin Whately returns as Detective Inspector Robbie Lewis, who has transferred back to Oxford following the tragic death of his wife.

The Last Conquistador

Producing organization: Kitchen Sync Productions. Presented by P.O.V. Episodes: 1 x 60. Status: postproduction. Budget: $551,000. Major funders: ITVS, Latino Public Broadcasting, Sundance Documentary Fund, Native American Public Telecommunications, NEA, P.O.V., PBS, NEH, New York State Council for the Arts, Humanities Texas. Executive producer/producer/director: John J. Valadez. Producer/director: Christina Ibarra. Associate producer/videographer: Dustinn Craig. Contact: Penny Costello, visionmaker unl.edu, 402-472-0496. How construction of a monument to conquistador Juan de Ònate evokes entirely different responses from artist John Houser, the citizens of El Paso and the people of Acoma Pueblo.

The Music Instinct: Science and Song

Producing organizations: WNET and Mannes Productions. Episodes: 1 x 120 (HD). Status: fundraising. Major funders: NSF, NEA, International Foundation of Music, Rita Fritz, Bob Menschel, Markus Foundation. Producer/ writer/ director: Elena Mannes. Executive producer for WNET: Margaret Smilow. Contact: Lisa Braun, braun thirteen.org, 212-560-2715. Explores the impact of music on human physiology, psychology and the functioning of the brain, revealing connections between music and the natural world.

Making It (w.t.)

Producing organizations: A Frontline co-production with Ambrica Productions. Episodes: 1 x 120. Status: editing. Major funders: Henry Luce Foundation, Cheng Kingdon Foundation, Shoreland Foundation, David & Gina Chu Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Park Foundation, PBS. Writer/ producer/ director: Sue Williams. Co-producer: Kathryn Dietz. Executive producers: Judith Vecchione (Making It); David Fanning (Frontline). Contact: Meredith Nierman, meredith_nierman wgbh.org. First film in series planned to follow nine Chinese Gen-Xers through the year 2024 as they scramble to keep pace with a society changing faster than any in history. (See story on longitudinal documentaries, Current, Oct. 22.)

Fall '08

Digging the Bible (w.t.)

Producing organization: WGBH/Nova. Episodes: 2 x 60 (HD). Status: production. Major funders: PBS, CPB, Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund, Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, Skirball Foundation, Solow Art and Architecture Foundation, David H. Koch, Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Senior executive producer: Paula S. Apsell. Producer/director: Gary Glassman. Contact: Melanie Wallace, melanie_wallacewgbh.org, 617-300-4418. Explores roots of ancient Judaism, Old Testament traditions and recent findings of Biblical archaeologists.

A Girl’s Life

Producing organization: Powderhouse Productions. Presenting station: Oregon Public Broadcasting. Episodes: 1 x 60. Status: development. Budget: $500,000. Executive producers: David Davis (OPB); Tug Yourgrau, Joel Olicker (Powderhouse Productions). Host: Rachel Simmons. Contact: David Davis, ddavis opb.org, 503-293-1959. Simmons, a noted author, hosts sequel to critically acclaimed Raising Cain, exploring what it means to grow up female in America today.

Great Projects: The Building of Alaska

Producing organization: Great Projects Film Co. Inc. Episodes: 1 x 120 or 2 x 60 (HD). Status: production. Budget: $2.5 million. Major funders: U.S. Department of Transportation (FHWA), American Society of Civil Engineers. Executive producers: Kenneth Mandel, Daniel B. Polin. Contact: Kenneth Mandel, kmandel greatprojects.com, 212-581-1700. Examines how Alaska’s transportation infrastructure was built in the difficult, cold, remote, vast construction environment.

The Last Enemy

Producing organizations: A co-production of Box TV, WGBH and BBC. Presented by Masterpiece Contemporary. Episodes: 1 x 90, 4 x 60. Status: completed. Major funders: PBS, CPB. Executive producer: Rebecca Eaton. Contact: Meredith Nierman, meredith_nierman wgbh.org. Benedict Cumberbatch appears as mathematician Stephen Ezard, whose life begins to unravel when he returns to a technologically paranoid London to attend the funeral of his activist brother.

Louisa Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women (w.t.)

Producing organizations: WNET/American Masters and Nancy Porter Productions. Episodes: 1 x 90. Status: production, postproduction. Budget: $1.7 million. Major funders: NEH, American Masters, CPB/PBS, Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, Simons Foundation, NEA. Executive producer: Susan Lacy. Producers: Nancy Porter, Harriet Reisen. Director: Nancy Porter. Writer: Harriet Reisen. Contact: Harriet Reisen, hreisen mac.com. Alcott, a self-made woman of the 19th century, was an abolitionist, suffragist and feminist who not only wrote Little Women but also thrillers—a secret during her lifetime. Web.

Make:TV

Producing organization: Twin Cities Public Television. Distributor: APT. Episodes: 13 x 30 (HD). Status: fundraising. Executive producer: Richard Hudson. Contact: Richard Hudson, rhudson tpt.org, 651-229-1317. Produced in partnership with Make magazine, the series showcases new national movement of “Makers” creating their own practical or playful technological gadgets. Web.

Martha Speaks (w.t.)

Producing organizations: WGBH and Studio B Productions (Vancouver, B.C.). Episodes: 40 x 30 (HD). Status: production. Major funders: U.S. Department of Education Ready to Learn Initiative through CPB, PBS. Executive producer: Carol Greenwald. Head writer: Ken Scarborough. Contact: Karen Barss, karen_barss wgbh.org, 617-300-3353. Based on Susan Meddaugh’s children’s books, this vocabulary-enriching children’s show stars Martha, a dog whose appetite for alphabet soup gives her the gift of speech. Outreach will target parents and caregivers through partnerships with public libraries and HIPPY USA (Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters).

Nutcracker

Producing organizations: Co-production of KQED (San Francisco) and the San Francisco Ballet in association with WNET. Presented by Great Performances. Episodes: 1 x 120 (HD). Status: fundraising, preproduction. Budget: $1.24 million. Major funder: First Republic Bank. Executive producer: Michael Isip. Director: Judy Flannery. Contact: Rebecca Krouner, rkrouner ncpb.com, 415-553-2820. Full 92-minute Nutcracker plus material providing historical and creative context of the San Francisco Ballet, which will celebrate its 75th anniversary season in 2008.

A Ride Along the Lincoln Highway (w.t.)

Producing organization: WQED. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 1 x 60 (HD). Status: production. Budget: $300,000. Major funders: PBS, CPB. Producer/writer: Rick Sebak. Editor: Kevin Conrad. Director of Photography: Bob Lubomski. Vice President of production: Darryl Ford Williams. Contact: Rick Sebak, 412-622-1389. Darryl Ford Williams, 412-622-1393. Rosemary Martinelli, 412-622-6433. Journey along America’s first coast-to-coast highway, visiting people and places from Manhattan’s Times Square to Lincoln Park in San Francisco. Sebak’s blog chronicles the team’s travels at wqed.org/tv.

Veteran Stories

Producing organization: Veteran Stories LLC. Episodes: 13 x 30. Status: R&D. Budget: $1.8 million. Executive producer: Leo Eaton. Producers: Jeffrey Hughes, Abbie Kealy. Contact: Abbie Kealy, abbiekealy comcast.net, 443-570-9482. Explores the many issues American veterans, past and present, face when they return from military service. Companion website with video diaries and web postings will connect veterans and viewers with resources and with each other.

What’s the Big Idea?

Producing organizations: Jim Henson Co. and KCET (Los Angeles). Episodes: 40 x 30. Status: production. Executive producers: Brian Henson, Lisa Henson and Halle Stanford of the Jim Henson Co.; Joyce Campbell of KCET. Contact: Nicole Goldman, 323-802-1500. Teaches concepts of science and exploration to preschoolers using computer-animated sketch comedy. Josh, an inquisitive young comedian, tries to understand how things work in the world around him. Why, for example, do bananas get brown spots? See feature article.

Sometime in '08

Carrier

Producing organizations: Icon Productions, Carrier Project Inc. Presenting station: WETA. Episodes: 10 x 60 (HD). Status: completed. Major funders: Icon Productions Inc. Executive producers: Mel Gibson, Bruce Davey, Nancy Cotton, Mitchell Block, Maro Chermayeff. Executive producers for WETA: Dalton Delan, David S. Thompson. Producers: Deborah Dickson, Jeff Dupre. Creators: Maro Chermayeff, Mitchell Block. Director: Maro Chermayeff. Contact: Christine Haye, chaye pbs.org. Chronicles life aboard the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Nimitz, during deployments in the Pacific and then in the turbulent Persian Gulf. Ninety-minute companion feature for theatrical release, Another Day in Paradise, will condense some storylines from series. See feature article.

Cats Are People, Too!

Producing organization: Two Cats Productions. Episodes: 1 x 60 (HD). Status: preproduction. Budget: $950,000. Executive producer: Andrew Goldberg. Producer: Amy Brillhart. Contact: Joyeux F. Noel, Joy twocatstv.com. A celebration of the cat in all aspects—cat history, celebrity cats, world’s cutest cat, cats in religions and much more.

Critical Condition

Producing organizations: A co-production of WNET and Public Policy Productions. Presented by P.O.V. Presenting station: WNET. Episodes: 1 x 90. Status: postproduction. Major funders: Silverweed Foundation, PBS, Spunk Fund Inc., Annie E. Casey Foundation, New York Community Trust, Park Foundation, Public Welfare Foundation, Charles A. Frueauff Foundation, Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation, Kaiser Permanente, Trull Foundation. Executive producer: Stephen Segaller. Director: Roger Weisberg. Contact: Lisa Braun, braun thirteen.org, 212-560-2715. To look at today’s health insurance crisis, the producers follow four uninsured patients for two years as they cope with serious illness.

Faces of Change

Producing organizations: Rada Film Group in association with Firelight Media. Presenting station: National Black Programming Consortium. Distributor: APT. Episodes: 1 x 60. Status: postproduction. Major funder: Ford Foundation. Executive producer: Stanley Nelson. Producer/director: Michelle Stephenson. Contact: Leslie Fields-Cruz, leslie nbpc.tv, 212-234-8200, ext. 222. Examines discrimination in various parts of the world through the eyes of its victims.

The Fractal Dimension (w.t.)

Producing organization: Kikim Media and Quest Productions. Episodes: 1 x 60 (HD). Status: postproduction. Major funder: Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Producer/director: Michael Schwarz. Producer/director: Bill Jersey. Contact: Michael Schwarz, mschwarz kikim.com, 650-617-0550. Explores the revolution in mathematics that’s already changing everything from computer animation to cardiology, as well as the way we understand nature itself.

Good Meat

Producing organization: Buffalo Gap Television Co. Distributor: Native American Public Telecommunications. Episodes: 1 x 60. Status: production. Budget: $158,500. Major funders: NAPT, National Bison Cooperative. Producer: Sam Hurst. Co-producer: Larry Pourier. Contact: Penny Costello, visionmaker unl.edu, 402-472-0496. Beau LeBeau, obese and diabetic, embarks on a 200-day odyssey, kicking soda and fast food and returning to the ancient diet of his ancestors on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival

Producing organizations: A co-production of KQED (San Francisco) and Austin City Limits. Episodes: 1 x 60 (HD). Status: production. Budget: $650,000. Executive producer: Louise Lo. Coordinating producer: Lori Halloran. Contact: Rebecca Krouner, rkrouner ncpb.com, 415-553-2820. Special shot live on location in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park captures the music and spirit of the free annual music festival. Performers may include Emmylou Harris, Earl Scruggs, Los Lobos.

A Home for Christy Rost

Producing organization: Eagle Ridge Media. Distributor: APT. Episodes: 13 x 30 (HD). Status: production. Executive producer: Christy Rost. Producer: Jonathan Clark. Contact: Tom_Davison APTonline.org, 617-338-4455, ext.160. In a series that blends home renovation, decor, history and cooking, chef/home-entertaining expert Christy Rost restores a historic but neglected Colorado mountain estate.

Hubert H. Humphrey: A Public Life

Producing organizations: A production of WETA and South Hill Films. Episodes: 1 x 90. Status: postproduction. Producer: Mick Caouette. Senior producer: Phylis Geller. Executive producers for WETA: Dalton Delan, Karen Kenton. Writers: Mick Caouette, Phylis Geller. Contact: Cecily Van Praagh, cvanpraagh weta.com. Moving, in-depth doc about one of the 20th century’s most significant politicians and legislative leaders.

Jacques Pépin: More Fast Food My Way

Producing organization: KQED. Episodes: 26 x 30 (HD). Status: production. Budget: $900,000. Major funders: OXO, Cuisinart, Spectrum Organics. Host: Jacques Pépin. Executive producer: Michael Isip. Producer: Tina Salter. Contact: Rebecca Krouner, rkrouner@ncpb.com, 415-553-2820. In the time it takes to pick up a ready-made meal from the supermarket, Jacques Pépin fills the table with his extraordinary quick-and-easy creations.

Jerusalem

Producing organization: Two Cats Productions. Presenting station: Oregon Public Broadcasting. Episodes: 1 x 120 (HD). Status: postproduction. Budget: $1.3 million. Major funders: Aimwell Foundation, Stanley and Pamela Chais Foundation, Double H Foundation. Executive producer: Andrew Goldberg. Executive in charge of production: David Davis. Host/narrator: Ray Suarez. Producer: Amy Brillhart. Contact: David Davis, Ddavis opb.org, 503-293-1959.  From Abraham to King David to Jesus, Mohammed and beyond, the producers hightlight the 4,000-year history of what may be the world’s most influential city.

The Linguists

Producing organization: Ironbound Films Inc. Episodes: 1 x 60. Status: postproduction. Budget: $520,000. Major funders: NSF, Nonprofit Media Group. Producers/directors: Seth Kramer, Daniel A. Miller, Jeremy Newberger. Contact: Daniel A. Miller, miller ironboundfilms.com. America’s first look at how languages become endangered and the intrepid scientists who race to record them in the face of overwhelming odds. Web.

Longevity Factors for Extending Your Warranty with Dr. Michael Roizen

Producing organization: Detroit Public Television. Episodes: 1 x 60, 1 x 90 pledge event. Status: fundraising, preproduction, scripting. Executive producers: Diane Bliss, Michael Roizen. Producer: Jamie Jendrzejewski. Contact: Jamie Jendrzejewski, jamiej dptv.org, 313-876-9506. Roizen, a physician and author, shares medical findings about biological processes that control how and why we age the way we do. He shows how to control your genes and slow the aging process.

March’s Point

Producing organization: Longhouse Media. Distributor: Native American Public Telecommunications (NAPT). Episodes: 1 x 60. Status: production. Budget: $380,000. Major funders: NAPT, Muckleshoot Tribe. Executive producers: Tracy Rector, Annie Silverstein. Contact: Penny Costello, visionmaker unl.edu, 402-472-0496. The Swinomish Tribe of Washington state has relied on the natural resources of Skagit Valley for centuries. Since the 1950s, however, the tribe’s water, land and cultural tradition have been affected by two oil refineries built on March’s Point.

The Return of the Cuyahoga

Producing organizations: A co-production of Florentine Films/Hott Productions Inc., America’s River Communities Inc. and WVIZ/PBS ideastream, Cleveland. Episodes: 1 x 60 (HD). Status: postproduction. Budget: $400,000. Producer: Lawrence R. Hott. Executive producer: Len Materman. Co-executive producer: Ted Esborn. Editor: Diane Garey. Writer: Ken Chowder. Contact: Mark Smukler, 216-916-6220. When the Cuyahoga River caught on fire June 22, 1969, it sparked a chain of events that included the creation of the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, Earth Day, environmental protection agencies at the federal and state levels, and a rapidly growing consciousness about the environment in America.

Weaving Worlds

Producing organization: Trickster Films. Distributor: A co-presentation of ITVS/ Native American Public Telecommunications (NAPT). Episodes: 1 x 60. Status: production. Budget: $327,000. Major funders: NAPT, ITVS. Co-producers: Leighton C. Peterson, Kristina Mann. Director/writer: Bennie Klain. Director of photography: Nancy Schiesari. Contact: Penny Costello, visionmaker unl.edu, 402-472-0496. A look at the making and selling of Navajo rugs reveals the delicate balance of cultural continuity, ongoing globalization and artistic motivation.

Winter/Spring '09

Antarctica’s Icy Secrets. (w.t.)

 Producing organizations: Nebraska’s NET Television and WGBH/Nova. Episodes: 1 x 60 (HD). Status: production. Budget: $1.3 million. Major funders: NSF International Polar Year Fund, PBS, CPB, David H. Koch, Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Executive in charge for NET: Mike Farrell. Producer: Gary Hochman. Director: Kirk Wolfinger. Executive producer: Paula S. Apsell. Contact: David Feingold, dfeingold netNebraska.org, 402-472-9333, ext. 440. Geological sleuths unearth rock and fossil records deep beneath the Antarctic ice to determine how cycles of icescapes may affect future global climate and coastlines. Outreach activities include inquiry-based middle school modules in collaboration with the University of Nebraska State Museum and National 4-H, and “flexibits” for science museums nationwide.

The Death of Lincoln (w.t.)

Producing organizations: An Arc Media film for American Experience. Presenting station: WGBH. Episodes: 1 x 90 (HD). Status: preproduction. Major funders: Liberty Mutual, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, PBS, CPB. Executive producer: Mark Samels. Series producer: Sharon Grimberg. Producer: Barak Goodman. Contact: Meredith Nierman, meredith_nierman@wgbh.org. Story of Lincoln’s final tumultuous months, including his murder and the manhunt for John Wilkes Booth.

Forbidden Fruit: America During Prohibition

Producing organizations: A co-production of Florentine Films and WETA. Episodes: 2 x 120 (HD). Status: production. Major funders: General Motors, PBS, Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, Park Foundation Inc. Producers/directors: Ken Burns, Lynn Novick. Executive-in-charge for WETA: Dalton Delan. Project director: David S. Thompson. Contact: Cecily Van Praagh, cvanpraagh weta.com. The years of Prohibition—perhaps America’s greatest social experiment—are examined in series from the producers of The War.

Ground War

Producing organizations: A Granada production for WNET. Episodes: 4 x 60 (HD). Status: fundraising. Major funder: Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Executive in charge: William R. Grant. Executive producer: Jared Lipworth. Contact: Lisa Braun, braun thirteen.org, 212-560-2715. Explores the technological innovations that define the ways countries wage war.

The Human Spark

Producing organizations: A Chedd Angier production for WNET. Presenting station: WNET. Episodes: 3 x 60 (HD). Status: preproduction. Major funders: NSF, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Templeton Foundation. Executive in charge: William R. Grant. Executive producers: Jared Lipworth (WNET), Graham Chedd (Chedd Angier Productions). Contact: Lisa Braun, braun thirteen.org, 212-560-2715. Alan Alda hosts series that explores one central question — what does it mean to be human? — by presenting work of top scientists in fields as diverse as evolution, genetics, cognitive neuroscience, anthropology, artificial intelligence and more.

Latin Music U*S*A (w.t.)

Producing organizations: WGBH and BBC. Episodes: 4 x 60. Status: fundraising, production. Major funder: BBC. Executive producer: Elizabeth Deane. Senior producer: Adriana Bosch. Contact: Meredith Nierman, meredith_niermanwgbh.org. Explores history of Latin music—mambo, salsa, tejano, Latin pop and more — in the United States and its influence on mainstream music from rock to hip-hop.

Oppenheimer

Producing organizations: A David Grubin Productions film for American Experience. Presenting station: WGBH. Episodes: 1 x 120 (HD). Status: preproduction. Major funders: Liberty Mutual, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, PBS, CPB. Executive producer: Mark Samels. Series producer: Sharon Grimberg. Producer: David Grubin. Contact: Meredith Nierman, meredith_nierman@wgbh.org. Portrait of one of the most important 20th-century American scientists, Robert Oppenheimer, from the heady world of international physics to the top-secret Manhattan Project and the dark days of McCarthyism.

Make ’Em Laugh: The Funny Business of America

Producing organizations: Ghost Light Films and WNET. Presenting station: WNET. Episodes: 6 x 60 (HD). Status: production. Major funders: CPB/PBS Challenge Fund, Dorothy and Lewis Cullman, LuEsther T. Mertz Charitable Trust, NEA, Judith B. Resnick, Mary and Marvin Davidson, DuBose and Dorothy Heyward Memorial Fund, Mary Duke Biddle Foundation. Writer/producer/director: Michael Kantor (Ghost Light Films). Executive producer: David Horn (WNET). Contact; Lisa Braun, braun thirteen.org, 212-560-2715. From the producers of Broadway: The American Musical, series examines what has made American laugh—and why—from the turn of the 20th century to today’s contemporary comedy. See feature article.

Nate the Great

Producing organizations: WNET and co-producer to be determined. Episodes: 40 x 30. Status: production. Executive producer: Sandra Sheppard. Contact: Lisa Braun, braun thirteen.org, 212-560-2715. In daily animated strip for PBS Kids Go! based on a popular book series, kid detective Nate the Great and quirky friends solve mysteries involving science, math, social studies and language arts. WNET will organize Nate the Great family days at libraries, after-school community groups and children’s and science museums. In advance of broadcasts, website will offer an original mystery kids can solve with Nate.

The Nova Energy Special (w.t.)

Producing organization: WGBH/Nova. Episodes: 2 x 60 (HD). Status: preproduction. Major funders: PBS, CPB, David H. Koch, Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Producer/director, Larry Klein. Senior executive producer: Paula S. Apsell. Contact: Meredith Nierman, meredith_nierman wgbh.org. Objectively assesses major technologies and policies that have the potential to create a new energy future for America.

The Old Curiosity Shop

Producing organizations: A Carnival/WGBH/Ingenious Broadcasting co-production. Presented by Masterpiece Classics. Episodes: 1 x 90. Status: postproduction. Major funder: PBS. Executive producer: Rebecca Eaton. Contact: Meredith Nierman, meredith_nierman wgbh.org.  Derek Jacobi, Zoë Wanamaker, Gina McKee star in an adaptation of Charles Dickens’ novel about the tragic misfortunes that befall the virtuous Little Nell and her shopkeeper grandfather and lead to the loss of their beloved store.

A Room with a View

Producing organizations: An IWC/WGBH co-production. Presented by Masterpiece Classics. Episodes: 1 x 90. Status: postproduction. Major funder: PBS. Executive producer: Rebecca Eaton. Contact: Meredith Nierman, meredith_nierman wgbh.org. Famed screenwriter Andrew Davies (Bleak House) adapts E.M. Forster’s classic tale of a young woman struggling with her love for a free-spirited man in the oppressive culture of Edwardian England. With actors Elaine Cassidy, Timothy Spall, Rafe Spall.

Seduced by Tango

Producing organization: Tatge/Lasseur Productions. Episodes: 1 x 90 (HD). Status: preproduction, fundraising. Budget: $1.3 million. Host: Robert Duvall. Talent: Pablo Veron. Producer/director: Catherine Tatge. Producer: Dominique Lasseur. Composer/music supervisor: Tom Montgomery. Writer: Glenn Berenbeim. Coordinating producer: Bunny Tavares. Contact: Bunny Tavares, bunny@ tavaresmedia.com, 831-462-6004. Program explains why tango is not just a dance but a refuge, a way of life and a philosophy. Tango artist Pablo Veron prepares dancers for a pilgrimage to Argentina. The producers are soliciting dance couples on website: www.seducedbytango.com.

The Shadow in the North

Producing organizations: A BBC/WGBH co-production. Presented by Masterpiece Classics. Episodes: 1 x 90. Status: completed. Major funder: PBS. Executive producer: Rebecca Eaton. Contact: Meredith Nierman, meredith_nierman wgbh.org. Billie Piper reprises her role as author Philip Pullman’s young sleuth Sally Lockhart, who discovers a pattern of seemingly unconnected events that leads her to recognize an unimaginable evil. J.J. Field also appears.

U.S. Army Chorus Concert Special (w.t.)

Producing organization: Twin Cities Public Television. Episodes: 1 x 60 (HD). Status: R&D. Contact: Richard Hudson, rhudson tpt.org. More than 100 former Army Chorus members are reunited with present members for a live concert of patriotic, pop, Broadway, folk and classical music.

We Shall Remain

Producing organizations: WGBH in association with Native American Public Telecommunications (NAPT). Presented by American Experience. Presenting station: WGBH. Episodes: 5 x 90 (HD). Status: production. Major funders: Liberty Mutual, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, CPB, PBS, Ford Foundation, NEH. Executive producers: Mark Samels (American Experience), Sharon Grimberg (We Shall Remain). Producers/directors: Ric Burns, Sarah Colt, Dustinn Craig, Chris Eyre, Stanley Nelson, Mark Zwonitzer. Contact: Meredith Nierman, meredith_nierman@wgbh.org. Provocative multimedia project establishes Native American history as an essential part of U.S. history. Unprecedented collaborations between Native and non-Native filmmakers place Indian voices at heart of five heartbreaking yet inspiring stories.

Fall '09

Alzheimer’s: A Disease of the Mind
... and the Heart (w.t.)

Producing organization: Terra Nova Films. Episodes: 4 x 60 (HD). Status: fundraising. Budget: $1.25 million. Executive producer: Jim Vanden Bosch. Coordinating series producer: Ed Menaker. Contact: Ed Menaker, ed terranova.org, 773-881-6940. Explores Alzheimer’s, a disease with no cure or effective treatment that is likely to touch most of us, as patients or as caregivers, during our lives. Outreach includes educational DVDs and print guides for the health-care field and caregivers, possible online video streaming of educational material.

The Calling

Producing organization: The Kindling Group. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 4 x 60. Status: production. Budget: $2.2 million. Major funders: ITVS, CPB/PBS Program Challenge Fund, Hartley Film Foundation, Irving Harris Foundation. Producer/ director: Daniel Alpert. Contact: Bunny Tavares, bunny@tavaresmedia.com, 831-462-6004. Daniel Alpert, dannyatkindlinggroup.org, 773-728-8489. Explores the experience of faith in the United States from the perspectives of those preparing to enter the clergy of various faiths. Outreach led by Active Voice and Working Films targeting the general public, values-based organizations, religious and interfaith institutions and educational institutions will include discussion guides, community activities, video modules, website and other components.

Exploring World Art (w.t.)

Producing organization: WNET. Episodes: 13 x 30. Status: R&D, preproduction. Major funder: Annenberg Media. Executive producer: Jill Peters. Contact: Lisa Braun, braun thirteen.org, 212-560-2715. Takes global and thematic approach to illuminate the breadth, complexity and beauty of art produced around the world, during various eras. Outreach includes downloadable course guide, companion DVD.

Human Nature (w.t.)

Producing organizations: WGBH Science Unit and Vulcan Productions Inc. Episodes: 3 x 120 (HD). Status: R&D, funding. Senior executive producer for WGBH: Paula S. Apsell. Executive producer for Vulcan: Richard Hutton. Contact: Lisa Mirowitz, lisa_mirowitzwgbh.org, 617-300-4272. Experts in neuroscience, psychology, anthropology, evolutionary biology and other disciplines examine the science of emotions and therapeutic breakthroughs that are helping people improve their lives today.

The National Parks (w.t.)

Producing organizations: A co-production of Florentine Films and WETA. Episodes: 5 x 120 (HD). Status: production. Major funders: General Motors, Evelyn & Walter Haas Jr. Fund, PBS, CPB, Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, Park Foundation Inc., National Park Foundation, Peter J. Sharp Foundation, Pew Charitable Trusts. Producers/directors: Ken Burns, Dayton Duncan. Executive in charge for WETA: Dalton Delan. Project director: David S. Thompson. Contact: Cecily Van Praagh, cvanpraagh weta.com. Chronicles the human story behind the creation of U.S. national parks, from the team that produced Lewis & Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery.

Patti Smith: Dream of Life

Producing organizations: WNET and Clean Socks. Presented by P.O.V. Presenting station: WNET. Episodes: 1 x 90 (HD). Status: postproduction. Producer/executive producer/director: Steven Sebring. Producer/executive producer: Margaret Smilow. Contact: Lisa Braun, braun thirteen.org, 212-560-2715. P.O.V. version of full-length theatrical film is a loosely structured road movie that captures the personal and professional arc of poet/composer/singer Patti Smith since 1975.

Search for the First Human (w.t.)

Producing organization: WGBH/Nova. Presented by Nova. Episodes: 3 x 60 (HD). Status: preproduction. Major funders: PBS, CPB, David H. Koch, Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Senior executive producer: Paula S. Apsell. Contact: Meredith Nierman, meredith_nierman wgbh.org. Investigates a series of recent discoveries that is transforming our understanding of humanity’s origins.

Sometime in '09

An American Genius: Benjamin Henry Latrobe

Producing organizations: A co-production of Kunhardt Productions and WETA. Episodes: 1 x 60 (HD). Status: preproduction. Major funder: NEH. Executive producers: Dalton Delan, David S. Thompson. Producer/director: Peter Kunhardt. Contact: Cecily Van Praagh, cvanpraagh weta.com.  Chronicles the life and work of early American architect Benjamin Latrobe and his lasting impact on his country.

Country Lawyer: The Life and Legacy
of Robert H. Jackson (w.t.)

Producing organization: Main Street Media. Episodes: 1 x 60 (HD). Status: fundraising, preproduction, scripting. Budget: $350,000. Major funders: Pennsylvania Humanities Council, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Community Foundation of Warren County. Co-producer/writer/chief researcher: Lisa Gensheimer. Co-producer/director: Rich Gensheimer. Contact: Lisa Gensheimer, lisa onmainstreet.com, 814-725-2775. nIntimate portrait of small-town lawyer who became U.S. attorney general, Supreme Court justice and chief U.S. prosecutor of Nazi war criminals, in the context of past and current events.

Darwin +200 (w.t.)

Producing organization: WGBH/Nova. Episodes: 2 x 60 (HD). Status: scripting. Major funders: PBS, CPB, David H. Koch, Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Producer/director: Sarah Holt. Senior executive producer, Paula S. Apsell. Contact: Meredith Nierman, meredith_nierman wgbh.org. To celebrate Charles Darwin’s 2009 bicentennial, biologist Sean B. Carroll leads viewers on an exploration of the inner workings of natural selection and the exciting new field of evolutionary developmental biology, or “Evo-Devo.”

Dolley Madison (w.t.)

Producing organizations: Twin Cities Public Television in association with Middlemarch Films. Episodes: 1 x 90 (HD). Status: fundraising. Major funder: NEH. Executive producer: Catherine Allan. Producer/director: Muffie Meyer. Contact: Catherine Allan, callan tpt.org, 651-229-1374. Explores life and career of the celebrated first lady whose backstage political prowess helped unite the country in turbulent times.

Great Giving: The Quest to Make a Difference

Producing organization: Great Giving Inc. Episodes: 6 x 60 (HD). Status: production, fundraising. Budget: $3.8 million for production, additional funds for website, curricula, educational outreach and promotion. Major funders: Altria, Carnegie Corp., Surdna Foundation, an anonymous donor, Sarah Klingenstein Foundation, Tomlinson Family Foundation, Nathan Cummings Foundation, Ms. Foundation. Executive producer/director/writer: Gail Freedman. Contact: Gail Freedman, gfreedman hvc.rr.com, 845-255-3668. Chronicles the history, mission and legacy of American philanthropy. Explores transformational as well as problematic dimensions of giving, illuminating larger truths about our history—and future. Extensive education and outreach activities will include curricula from K-12 to postgrad level and a campaign to encourage viewers to examine their potential to be “great givers.”

The History of Television (w.t.)

Producing organizations: A production of The Documentary Group and WETA in association with the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Episodes: 4 x 60 (HD). Status: fundraising. Executive producers: Tom Yellin for the Documentary Group; Dalton Delan and David S. Thompson for WETA. Producer/director: Richard Robbins. Contact: Cecily Van Praagh, cvanpraagh weta.com. Chronicles the history of television from its inception to today’s multichannel universe. See feature article.

Horse Tribe

Producing organization: Janet Kern. Distributor: Native American Public Telecommunications. Episodes: 1 x 60. Status: production. Budget: $375,000. Major funders: NAPT, Idaho Council for the Humanities. Producer: Janet Kern. Writer: M. Scott Momaday. Editor: Lawrence Silk. Contact: Penny Costello, visionmaker unl.edu, 402-472-0496. n In creating a new breed of horse, the Nez Perce tribe also created employment opportunities and established academic and equestrian programs for their children. The producers explore the role of heritage in community, commerce and character.

Paris: The Luminous Years

Producing organizations: The Eloquent Image and WNET. Episodes: 2 x 60. Status: R&D, fundraising. Major funders: NEH, NEA, Rosalind P. Walter, Brooke and Daniel Neidich. Writer/producer/director: Perry Miller Adato. Executive producer for WNET: Margaret Smilow. Contact: Lisa Braun, braun thirteen.org, 212-560-2715. Explores how Paris became the ultimate destination for pioneering artists of all kinds and, from 1905 through the 1930s, the artistic center of the Western world.

Telescope: The Quest to See Infinity (w.t.)

Producing organizations: Twin Cities Public Television and Green Umbrella Productions. Episodes: 2 x 60 (HD). Status: R&D. Contact: Richard Hudson, rhudson tpt.org. n Celebrates the telescope’s invention in 1609 and the breakthroughs it made possible.

Without Fear or Favor—A History of
The New York Times

Producing organizations: A co-production of WNET and Steeplechase Films Inc. Episodes: 2 x 120. Status: R&D, fundraising. Major funders: PBS/CPB Challenge Fund, Rosalind P. Walter. Executive producer: Stephen Segaller. Director/producer: Ric Burns. Contact: Lisa Braun, braun thirteen.org, 212-560-2715. Looks at the nation from the early 19th century to the present day through the prism of the newspaper and the family that has owned it for 150 years.

Sometime in '10

American Mystic: The Magical
Life of Harry Kellar

Producing organization: Main Street Media. Episodes: 1 x 60 (HD). Status: R&D, fundraising, preproduction. Budget: $650,000. Major funders: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Pennsylvania Humanities Council. Co-producer/writer/lead researcher: Lisa Gensheimer. Co-producer/director: Rich Gensheimer. Contact: Lisa Gensheimer, lisa onmainstreet.com, 814-725-2775. Chronicles the life and times of America’s first great magician—the mentor to Houdini, inspiration for L. Frank Baum’s wizard and a sensational showman who brought wonders from around the world to the American stage. Companion website will explain selected tricks.

Becoming Helen Keller

Producing organizations: A production of Straight Ahead Pictures and WETA. Episodes: 1 x 90 (HD). Status: fundraising, outreach development. Major funders: NEH, Mitsubishi Foundation, Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities, Alabama Foundation for the Humanities. Project originator/director: Laurie Block. Producer: Laurie Kahn-Leavitt. Director of cinematography: Boyd Estus. Co-writers: Laurie Block, John Crowley. Executive producers: Dalton Delan, Karen Kenton. Contact: Cecily Van Praagh, cvanpraagh weta.com. For the first time, a look back at Keller places her full life and legacy in historical context. Examines her fame and influence throughout the world and explores 20th-century social change for people with disabilities.

The Fabric of the Cosmos

Producing organization: WGBH/Nova. Episodes: 2 x 120 (HD). Status: R&D. Major funders: NSF (planning grant), Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, CPB, PBS, David H. Koch. Senior executive producer for Nova: Paula S. Apsell. Host: Brian Greene. Contact: Melanie Wallace, melanie_wallacewgbh.org, 617-300-4418. In Nova’s sequel to The Elegant Universe (Current, July 14, 2003), Greene deepens his exploration of space and time. Based on his best-selling The Fabric of the Cosmos.

Go Figure (w.t.)

Producing organization: WGBH. Episodes: 40 x 30 (HD). Status: fundraising. Executive producer: Pierre Valette. Vice president Children’s Programming: Brigid Sullivan. Project director: Karen Barss. Contact: Pierre Valette, Pierre_valette wgbh.org Multimedia series featuring animated characters who solve interesting problems and have exciting adventures. Aims to help preschoolers develop fundamental mathematical competence.

Greenish Acres (w.t.)

Producing organization: WGBH. Episodes: 30 x 30. Status: R&D. Executive producers: Kate Taylor, Marisa Wolsky. Head writer: Kathy Waugh. Contact: Marisa Wolsky, Marisa_Wolsky wgbh.org. Greenish Acres is an animated tale of the not-so-green gated community where story-based lessons about the environment are learned the hard (and funny) way. Outreach, a website and on-air “infomercials” will delve further into sustainability issues and help kids become active in their own communities.

Robert E. Lee

Producing organizations: A HiddenHill Productions film for American Experience. Presenting station: WGBH. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 1 x 120 (HD). Status: R&D. Major funders: Liberty Mutual, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, PBS, CPB. Executive producer: Mark Samels. Series producer: Sharon Grimberg. Producer: Mark Zwonitzer. Contact: Meredith Nierman, meredith_nierman@wgbh.org. Program examines life of the pre-eminent general whose successes made him the scourge of the Union and the hero of the Confederacy.

Stuff: The Materials That Shape Our World (w.t.)

Producing organizations: A WGBH/Nova production in association with the Materials Research Society. Episodes: 4 x 60 (HD). Status: R&D. Major funder: NSF, PBS, CPB, David H. Koch. Senior executive producer: Paula S. Apsell. Host: David Macaulay. Contact: Melanie Wallace, melanie_
wallace wgbh.org. 617-300-4418. Macaulay explores how new materials that led to giant advances in technology and civilization are now the focus of the exploding field of nanotechnology.

Whaling in America (w.t.)

Producing organizations: A Steeplechase Films production for American Experience. Presenting station: WGBH. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 1 x 120 (HD). Status: production. Major funders: Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Liberty Mutual, Scotts, PBS, CPB. Executive producer: Mark Samels. Series producer: Sharon Grimberg. Producer: Ric Burns. Contact: Meredith Nierman, meredith_nierman @wgbh.org. Explores the rich history of one of America’s first global industries, from its creation in the 18th century to its golden age in the 19th century and its ultimate demise in the 20th century.

Sometime in '11

1812: The War We Forgot (w.t.)

Producing organizations: WNED-TV (Buffalo, N.Y.), WETA and Florentine Films/Hott Productions. Presenting station: WNED. Episodes: 1 x 120 (HD). Status: fundraising. Budget: $1.8 million. Major funder: NEH. Executive producer: John Grant. Producer: Lawrence Hott. Writer: Ken Chowder. Contact: John Grant, jajgrant aol.com, 814-234-5210. Explores a deeply significant conflict in the nation’s history that is largely forgotten today, even as we approach its 200th anniversary.

The Music of America (w.t.)

Producing organizations: Nut Hill Productions Inc., WETA, Eaton Creative Inc. Episodes: 6 x 60 (HD). Status: fundraising, scripting. Budget: $6 million. Executive producer: Deborah Robins, Deborah Rankin, Peter Ashcroft. Executive producers for WETA: Dalton Delan, Karen Kenton. Series producer: Leo Eaton. Director: Mark Leviton. Contact: Leo Eaton, leo eatoncreative.com. Explores 400 years of American history through its music. Accompanied by an extensive community and educational outreach campaign. See feature article.

The Peace Corps (w.t.)

Producing organization: Kikim Media. Episodes: 4 x 60 (HD). Status: R&D, fundraising. Producer/director: Michael Schwarz. Producer/director: Dave Iverson. Contact: Michael Schwarz, mschwarz kikim.com, 650-617-0550. As America’s grandest experiment in voluntary service turns 50, doc chronicles how Peace Corps experience has shaped the lives of its volunteers as well as those they have served.

Airdate to be determined

Artopia (w.t.)

Producing organizations: WNET and Decode Entertainment. Episodes: 40 x 30. Status: pilot production. Major funders: CPB, NEA, PBS. Executive producers: Jill Peters, Sandra Sheppard. Contact: Lisa Braun, braun thirteen.org, 212-560-2715. In the animated world of Artopia, paintings literally come to life. With her paint brush, Nina creates the characters Streak and Little and accompanies them on wacky adventures, trying to keep Artopia’s art out of trouble.

The Buddha

Producing organization: David Grubin Productions. Episodes: 1 x 120. Status: fundraising. Budget: $1.3 million. Major funder: PBS/CPB Challenge Fund. Writer/producer/director: David Grubin. Contact: Bruce Mundt, bmundt grubin.com. Weaves together history and myth to tell a story few Westerners know about the man who founded the world’s fourth-largest religion.

Cities of History

Producing organization: Oregon Public Broadcasting. Episodes: 4 x 60. Status: R&D. Budget: $1.8 million. Executive producer for OPB: David Davis. Contact: David Davis, ddavis opb.org, 503-293-1959. A host (to be named) leads viewers on a journey through some of the world’s great cities, with stops at historic sights and sites of significance in literature, film and art.

Egalité for All: Human Rights
and the Haitian Revolution                    

Producing organization: Koval Films. Presenting station: Oregon Public Broadcasting. Episodes: 1 x 60. Status: production. Budget: $500,000. Executive producer for OPB: David Davis. Director/writer: Margaret Koval. Producer: Pat Aste. Contact: David Davis, ddavis opb.org, 503-293-1959. Explores history’s only successful slave revolution, which occurred in Haiti in the late 1700s.

For the Generations: A Native American
Music Special

Producing organizations: Painted Sky, Oregon Public Broadcasting. Episodes: 1 x 60 (HD) Status: fundraising. Budget: $400,000. Major funders: Spirit Mountain Community Fund. Executive producer for OPB: Jeff Douglas. Co-producer for Painted Sky: Mary Hager. Contact: David Davis, ddavis opb.org, 503-293-1959. Performance special features Native American singers and dancers as they interpret and celebrate their stories of struggle, triumph, honor and hope.

George Washington Carver (w.t.)

Producing organization: Iowa Public Television. Episodes: 1 x 60. Status: fundraising, early preproduction, interviews. Executive producer: Jack Shepard. Writer: John Hyde. Consultant: Peter Burchard. Contact: Wayne Bruns, 515-242-3100. Sorts out myth from man, assessing the real impact of Carver’s life and work, including his tireless efforts to give “the man farthest down” a better life.

Herbert Hoover (w.t.)

Producing organization: Stamats Communications Inc., the Duncan Group Inc. Presenting station: Iowa Public Television. Episodes: 1 x 60. Status: preproduction. Executive producer: Chip Duncan. Executive producers for IPTV: Tom Hedges, Jack Shepard. Contact: Wayne Bruns: 515-242-3100. Extends the story of Herbert Hoover, best known as the president who presided over the country’s worst economic times, to include his engineering, diplomatic and charitable successes.

I.M. Pei: Building China Modern

Producing organization: Pacem Productions. Presenting station: Oregon Public Broadcasting. Episodes: 3 x 60. Status: fundraising, preliminary shooting. Executive producer for OPB: David Davis. Producers: Eugene Shirley, Anne Shirley. Director: Anne Makepeace. Contact: David Davis, ddavis opb.org, 503-293-1959. Follows famed architect I.M. Pei as he helps modernize and redesign the city of his birth, Suzhou, China.

Isabella—Queen of Queens (w.t.)

Producing organizations: WNET and Atlantic Productions. Episodes: 3 x 60. Status: R&D, fundraising, preproduction. Executive producers: Jody Sheff, Anthony Geffen. Contact: Lisa Braun, braun thirteen.org, 212-560-2715. Traces the passionate and complex life of the courageous Queen Isabella I of Spain (1451–1504), who single-handedly changed history’s course. Warrior, zealot, devoted mother and loving wife, Isabella was the prime architect of both Spain’s Golden Age and her darkest hour.

Mysteries of Math

Producing organization: Oregon Public Broadcasting. Episodes: 4 x 60. Status: development. Budget: $500,000. Executive producer for OPB: David Davis. Series producers: Sam Ward, Catherine Stimac. Contact: David Davis, ddavis opb.org, 503-293-1959. Reveals intricacies of math and how it shapes and illuminates our world.

The Mystery of Matter

Producing organization: Moreno/Lyons Productions. Presenting station: Oregon Public Broadcasting. Episodes: 6 x 60. Status: fundraising. Executive producer for OPB: David Davis. Executive producer/series producer: Stephen Lyons. Contact: David Davis, ddavis opb.org, 503-293-1959. Explores science’s long quest to solve the riddle of matter: What exactly is it? Why are some things liquid and others solid? What is the chemical essence of things?

Myth, Fantasy and Faith (w.t.)

Producing organization: Duncan Entertainment Inc., Milwaukee. Presenting station: Iowa Public Television. Distributor: NETA/PBS. Episodes: to be determined. Status: early production, fundraising. Executive producer: Chip Duncan. Executive producer for IPTV: Duane Huey. Contact: Wayne Bruns, 515-242-3100. Explores imagination and faith in the search for spiritual truth. With extensive educational components.

Nixon-Kissinger—Partners in Power

Producing organization: WNET. Episodes: 2 x 60. Status: R&D. Executive producer: Jody Sheff. Contact: Lisa Braun, braun thirteen.org, 212-560-2715. Working side by side in the White House, Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger were two of the most compelling, contradictory and powerful figures in America. Special uncovers fascinating details about their tumultuous personal relationship and shared roles in monumental historical events.

The Rape of Europa

Producing organization: Actual Films. Presenting station: Oregon Public Broadcasting. Episodes: 1 x 120 (HD). Status: complete. Budget: $1.2 million. Major funders: NEH, NEA. Executive producer for OPB: David Davis. Executive producer: Bonni Cohen. Co-producers: Richard Berge, Nicole Newnham, Bonni Cohen. Narrator: Joan Allen. Contact: David Davis, ddavis opb.org, 503-293-1959. Nazi Germany’s looting of the European art world and subsequent efforts to restore artworks to their rightful owners.

Returning Home: The Heroic Journey
of the Wild Chinook Salmon

Producing organization: Oregon Public Broadcasting. Episodes: 1 x 120. Status: preproduction, fundraising. Budget: $1 million. Executive producer for OPB: David Davis. Contact: David Davis, ddavis opb.org, 503-293-1959. Charts the heroic five-year life cycle of the wild Columbia River Chinook salmon.

Shakespeare’s Wings: Backstage
at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival

Producing organization: Oregon Public Broadcasting. Episodes: 1 x 60. Status: fundraising. Budget: $400,000. Executive producers for OPB: David Davis, Milt Ritter. Contact: David Davis, ddavis opb.org, 503-293-1959. Observational doc goes behind the scenes at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland.

Ten Things You Should Know
about American History (w.t.)

Producing organization: WNET. Episodes: 1 x 60. Status: R&D, fundraising. Major funder: CPB. Executive producers: Jill Peters, Sandra Sheppard. Contact: Lisa Braun, braun thirteen.org, 212-560-2715. As part of Mission America, a multiplatform project centered around a web-based video game, program features animated segments about major milestones in American history, streamed online and packaged as a one-hour special for broadcast. Outreach includes website with video-game, a variety of downloadable media resources, companion book.

Thin Ice: An Exploration of the Bering Sea at the Dawn of Global Warming

Producing organizations: A Hott Production of Florentine Films/Hott Productions Produced in Association with the Clark Science Center at Smith College. Presenting station: KTOO, Juneau. Episodes: 1 x 120 (HD). Status: fundraising, production. Budget: $1.2 million. Major funders: The Webster Trust, North Pacific Research Board. Producers: Lawrence Hott, Tom Littwin. Editor: Diane Garey. Writer: Ken Chowder. Contact: Lawrence Hott, 413-268-8300. Examines impact of climate change, contamination and commercialization on the ecosystem and peoples of the Bering Sea, one of the most pristine and productive areas of the world. Producers will circumnavigate the sea to film portraits of communities on both the Siberian and Alaskan sides.

Time Team USA

Producing organizations: Oregon Public Broadcasting and Videotext Communications Ltd. (U.K.). Episodes: TBD. Status: development. Executive producers: David Davis for OPB, Tim Taylor for Videotext. Series producer: Graham Dixon. Contact: David Davis, ddavis opb.org, 503-293-1959. Modeled after Time Team, a successful series on Britain’s Channel Four, the program’s crew tours archeological digs around the United States, exploring history by uncovering what lies below the ground.

Violet’s View

Producing organizations: WNET and National Geographic Kids Entertainment. Episodes: to be determined. Status: R&D, fundraising. Executive producers: Jill Peters, Sandra Sheppard for WNET; Donna Friedman Meir, Tara Sorensen for National Geographic Kids Entertainment. Producer: Melanie Grisanti. Contact: Lisa Braun, braun thirteen.org, 212-560-2715. In a math/science show for children ages 4–5, Violet wonders how the world works and, to find out, uses her imagination to go anywhere and talk to anything—a worm, an ocean or the moon. National outreach will bring multimedia, hands-on activities to children’s and science museums, early childhood educators, PBS stations and community programs. With interactive website.

World of Water

Producing organization: WNET. Episodes: 4 x 60 (HD). Status: R&D, fundraising. Executive producer: Stephen Segaller. Contact: Lisa Braun, braun thirteen.org, 212-560-2715. Examines how water affects people worldwide, covering issues ranging from pollution to irrigation to dams.    

Web page updated Dec. 16, 2007
Current
The newspaper about public television and radio
in the United States
301-270-7240, ext. 31
A service of Current Publishing Committee, Takoma Park, Md. Copyright 2007

Browse past Pipeline lists
2007 (as of fall 2006)
2006 (as of fall 2005)
2005 (as of fall 2004)
2004 (as of fall 2003)
2003 (as of fall 2002)
2002 (as of fall 2001)
2001 (as of fall 2000)
2000 (as of fall 1999)
1999 (as of fall 1998)
1998 (as of fall 1997)

Additional listings
for Pipeline08

The Pipeline08 list on this page includes additional programs submitted since the list was published in Current's Nov. 5 issue. Or consult the separate list of added programs.

About this list
Short references: Working titles are indicated by “ w.t.”  Three large producing stations — WGBH in Boston, WNET in New York, and WETA in Washington, D.C. — are identified by call letters alone.

Distributors: Producers aim to distribute their programs through PBS unless another distributor is named.

Other abbreviations: APT: American Public Television, Boston; ITVS: Independent Television Service, San Francisco; NETA: National Educational Telecommunications Association, Columbia, S.C.; NEA: National Endowment for the Arts; NEH: National Endowment for the Humanities; NSF: National Science Foundation.

The kids' pipeline
What's coming up for kids in particular?

If other shows belong on this list, please let us know
Current circulates survey forms widely in the creative community, but we don’t always hear from everyone. If you’re working on a project you think should be included (new, noninstructional, one hour or longer), e-mail pipeline current.org or visit our website, Current.org/pipeline, to download a survey form. We will publish an addendum this winter. Firm deadline: Dec. 7.

To submit information, download, fill in and send back a copy of this Pipeline08 questionnaire in Word format for each title. We're also requesting photos (medium-resolution, 200 dpi, about 7 x 5 inches or more. Questions? Write to Terry (Theodore) Fischer at pipeline current.org or leave a message at 301-270-7240, ext. 31.

 

If he succeeds, the t-shirt won't fit: In Good Meat, coming next year from Buffalo Gap Television Co., Beau LeBeau aims to beat obesity and diabetes by kicking junk food and following the traditional Native diet of his Lakota people. Dr. Kevin Weiland (left) is his medical guide on the 200-day odyssey.

 

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