Documentaries
How Ric Burns stepped out of his comfort zone and into Ballet Theatre
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With a new American Masters documentary in the wings, the filmmaker says he prefers to let his projects find him.
Documentaries
For doc funders, broadcast on public TV remains key
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Foundation funders have plenty at stake in PBS’s pending decisions about scheduling and promoting independent films.
Documentaries
Final listening tour event taps filmmakers for ideas
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Representatives from PBS spurred discussion about promotion, distribution and scheduling of independent films on public TV.
SXSW
Our guide to public media events at SXSW
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Check our list of pubmedia-related sessions — and let us know if we missed yours.
Television programs
Listening tour about documentaries on PBS brings debate to WNET’s hometown
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Any benefits from the town-hall-style “listening tour” that stopped here Monday courtesy of PBS and several other public media organizations were strictly therapeutic.
Television programs
WNET’s move to bolster viewing starts row over public TV’s mission
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A dustup between independent filmmakers and the New York City station has co-opted a national “listening tour.”
Television programs
Filmmakers, subjects testify to value of independent documentaries on PBS
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Testimonials from a wide variety of passionate speakers were followed by assurances from panelists that those voices were being heard.
"The Pub" Podcast
The Pub, Episode 6: WWFD (What Would Fred Rogers Do?), PBS documentaries in danger, David Carr on public media
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This week, we contemplate how much children’s public television has changed since Fred Rogers’ day, and the news isn’t all bad — far from it, in fact.
Documentaries
Firelight Media receives MacArthur grant for reserves, innovation fund
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Firelight Media, based in New York, gets $500,000 to expand its reserves and establish an innovation fund to experiment with digital storytelling platforms.
Television programs
Filmmakers push for common carriage at first stop in public TV ‘listening tour’
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The discussion was friendly, but emotions ran high as filmmakers and public TV executives examined their often stormy relationship.
Television programs
New York’s WNET to pull documentary showcases from Monday nights on main channel
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The station later delayed its plans.
Programs/Content
MacArthur Foundation doles out $2 million in grants to documentary filmmakers
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At least three filmmakers affiliated with public media will receive part of $2 million in grants for documentaries announced today by the MacArthur Foundation. The foundation received nearly 400 proposals and is awarding 15 projects with cash ranging from $50,000 to $300,000. Filmmaker Robert Kenner, who previously directed the Academy Award nominee Food Inc., is receiving $200,000 to direct Command and Control for WGBH in Boston. The film is based on Eric Schlosser’s critically acclaimed book that examines the safety of America’s nuclear weapons arsenal. Chicago-based filmmaker Ines Sommer is getting $150,000 for Count Me In, which follows several residents in a “participatory budgeting” experiment that gives them direct say over portions of taxpayer spending in the city’s budget.
Programs/Content
Two public TV networks decline to air POV documentary After Tiller
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At least two public television networks opted not to air this week the POV documentary After Tiller, which profiles four late-term abortion providers and prompted a campaign among anti-abortion organizations. POV’s plans to air the film’s national broadcast premiere at 10 p.m. Sept. 1 spurred an Aug. 27 online statement from Judie Brown, president of the American Life League, who called the documentary “nothing short of pure propaganda intended to demonize the entire pro-life movement and drum up support for late-term abortion.” Several other anti-abortion websites urged visitors to contact PBS headquarters or PBS Ombudsman Michael Getler to protest stations airing the film. South Carolina ETV in Columbia and Mississippi Public Broadcasting in Jackson declined to air After Tiller.
Quick Takes
Monday roundup: PBS releases Peg + Cat album, AFI Docs to honor Gibney
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Plus: A libertarian op-ed calls on pubradio listeners to open their wallets, and Pacifica faces yet another lawsuit.
Documentaries
When developing films, Ken Burns selects topics that make “light bulbs go off”
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Ken Burns decides on films through a deliberative process, involving both his creative team and accommodating PBS’s desire for multipart series that draw monster ratings and acclaim.
Programs/Content
Al Jazeera America: A news model pubTV should look to emulate
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Most nationally distributed public TV series are docile and dull. The system could learn much from the bold, daring AJAM.
Programs/Content
Focus on anti-terrorism becomes ‘life-changing’ story for filmmaker Poitras
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After plumbing the global repercussions of America’s war against terrorism, documentary filmmaker Laura Poitras helped expose how that war has stripped away the privacy of U.S. citizens.
Programs/Content
WEDU debuts doc on troubling local issue that few see in their midst: human trafficking
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WEDU’s Too Close to Home, which was previewed to a packed theatre before its Sept. 26 broadcast debut, reports personal stories behind a troubling trend in the Sunshine State: Florida has become a huge destination state for human trafficking, ranking third in the nation.
Programs/Content
AFI Docs festival screens diverse pubTV films
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Public TV was less visible at this year’s American Film Institute documentary festival. Yet several of the 10 films that had received financial support from public TV grant-makers or broadcast commitments from PBS stood out among the 53 documentaries in the lineup. One even took the top prize.
Programs/Content
MoMA to spotlight POV during its yearly ‘Documentary Fortnight’
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As part of its annual “Documentary Fortnight,” the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City is celebrating 25 years of the icon public TV documentary series POV with a six-day showcase.