PBS adds world history strand, reveals other coming attractions
Originally published in Current, July 27, 1998
By Karen Everhart Bedford
PBS has extended its program alliance with Devillier Donegan Enterprises, creating a new strand of world history programs. Kathy Quattrone, executive v.p. of programming, announced during the Television Critics Association press tour this month that three DDE-backed series will launch A World of History, what will likely be a series of international history programs projected to debut in 1999-2000. Two separately financed Michael Wood projects will be included.
Napoleon, a previously announced series from David Grubin, is likely to lead off the strand. The newest DDE projects are The Greeks, a three-parter about the ancient civilization and how its culture is still relevant today, produced by Anthony Geffen of Atlantic Productions; and Islam: Empire of Faith, a multi-parter on the Islam's golden age and its influence on the West, with Robert Gardner of Gardner Films as series producer.
Meanwhile, historian/adventurer Wood is off to retrace four journeys of Spain's New World Conquistadors, according to PBS. Leo Eaton is executive producer; Wood and Rebecca Dobbs, producers. Another four-part series from Wood, The Life and Times of William Shakespeare, "captures the terror and creative energy" of Tudor and Jacobean England.
"The point I made at the press tour was that PBS is known as the home of great British drama and American history, and now we are embracing American drama and world history with higher priority," explained Quattrone last week. She announced the new history showcase July 14, just before the drama initiative [related story].
PBS and the Disney/ABC-subsidiary DDE jointly evaluate projects on a "case-by-case basis," she said. Under the pact with PBS, now extended to 2002, DDE invests upfront to acquire international distribution rights; PBS gets rights for domestic broadcast and home video.
Quattrone announced several new projects at the press tour, including a timely biography of former astronaut and Ohio Sen. John Glenn, who returns to space this fall aboard the shuttle. "John Glenn, American Hero," a one-hour doc, will air Oct. 28, the eve of the scheduled shuttle launch. Blaine Baggett is leading the production for KCET, Hollywood, co-producing with Post/Newsweek Productions.
Several multipart series announced in Pasadena will receive grants from the PBS/CPB Challenge Fund:
Turbulent Skies, a four-part series on the history of aviation, also will be produced by KCET's Baggett;
The Mississippi: River of Song, a celebration of the river's music, will air over four Wednesdays, Jan. 6-27, in conjunction with a national radio series from PRI. Folk singer Ani DiFranco will host the series, produced by the Smithsonian Institution and the Filmmakers Collaborative;
Australia: Beyond the Fatal Shore, hosted by Robert Hughes, is projected to air prior to the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000. NVC Arts is producer in association with WNET;
Class in America, a three-hour series that examines social class with the trademark humor and insight of the producers of Vote for Me in 1996--Andrew Kolker, Louis Alvarez and Paul Stekler. The Center for American Media, Midnight Films and WETA in Washington are producing.
Eight projects backed by CPB
CPB this month announced funding for eight PTV projects from its January grant round, which preceded the corporation's halt in grantmaking while it plans DTV priorities. Eight projects received grants:
"After Stonewall: From the Riots to the Millenium," a 90-minute sequel to "Before Stonewall," John Scagliotti's film on lesbian/gay life before the 1969 Stonewall riots in Greenwich Village. Produced by Scagliotti's After Stonewall, Inc., Guilford, Vt.;
"And Crown Thy Good: Varian Fry and the American Rescue Committee," on a rescue effort in Nazi-occupied France led by American editor Varian Fry, produced by Pierre Sauvage of the Chambon Foundation, Los Angeles;
"Domestic Violence," a Fred Wiseman film on domestic violence in Tampa;
Intimate Strangers: Unseen Life on Earth, a four-hour series on microbiology in action, produced by Baker & Simon Associates in Pasadena and the Washington-based American Center for Microbiology for the Microbial Literacy Collaborative;
"John Paul II: Still Point in a Turning World," a two-hour Frontline biography of Pope John Paul II by Helen Whitney;
Marcus Garvey Film Project, R&D for a doc on the African-American leader by Stanley Nelson of Half Nelson Productions in New York;
"Paul Robeson: Here I Stand," a two-hour American Masters bio of the African-American performer/activist. David Menair of Menair Media International in New York is e.p.; Chiz Schulz, producer; St. Clair Bourne, director; Susan Lacey is e.p. for WNET;
"Vis a Vis," a project creating video dialogues between average people separated by different lifestyles, cultures or philosophies. Kim Spencer is e.p. for Internews/Yerosha Productions in New York.
Related news: PBS announces first part of American drama ininitiative, also at July 1998 press tour.
Web page created July 27, 1998
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