Pipeline 2012

Anna Deavere Smith as the cast of “Let Me Down Easy” on “Great Performances.””

Winter ’12

AfroPoP: The Ultimate Cultural Exchange

Producing organization: National Black Programming Consortium. Distributor: APT. Episodes: 4 x 6, 1 x 90 (HD). Status: postproduction. Major funders: NEA, CPB. E.p.: Jacquie Jones. Managing producer: Leslie Fields-Cruz. Series producer: Angela Tucker. Series director: Duana Butler. Contact: Leslie Fields-Cruz, leslienbpc.tv.

Independent docs and short films cover life, art and culture throughout the African Diaspora. Web: blackpublicmedia.org/ watch/afropop.

Back Door Channels: The Price of Peace

Producing organizations: Fisher Klingenstein Films and Channel Productions. Distributor: EPS. Episodes: 1 x 60 (HD). Status: completed. Major funder: Channel Productions. Budget: $650,000. Managing e.p.: Donald Tanselle. Executive producers: Matthew Tollin, Arick Wierson. Director: Harry Hunkele. Director of photography: William Fitzgerald. Art director: Roland Le Breton. Contact: Alan Foster, alanepstv.com, 540-483-4767.

Penetrates the hidden corridors of power during 1979 Camp David peace treaty negotiations between Egypt and Israel. Web: www.backdoorchannels.com.

Bombing Hitler’s Dams

Producing organizations: WGBH/Nova (Boston), Windfall Films. Presented by WGBH/Nova. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 1 x 120 (HD). Status: postproduction. Senior e.p.: Paula S. Apsell. E.p.: Howard Swartz. Contact: Pamela Rosenstein, Pamela_rosensteinwgbh.org.

Recounts story of bouncing bomb that crippled Hitler’s war machine.

Clinton

Producing organization: An Ark Media production for WGBH/American Experience. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 2 x 120 (HD). Status: postproduction. Major funders: Liberty Mutual, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, PBS. E.p.: Mark Samels. Senior producer: Sharon Grimberg. Producer/director/writer: Barak Goodman. Producer: Chris Durrance. Contact: Jim Dunford, Jim_Dunfordwgbh.org.

Bio of 42nd U.S. president focuses on Bill Clinton and his intimates, international leaders, politicians from both parties and his key staffers.

Custer’s Last Stand

Producing organization: An Insignia Films production for WGBH/American Experience. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 1 x 120 (HD). Status: postproduction. Major funders: Liberty Mutual, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. E.p.: Mark Samels. Senior producer: Sharon Grimberg. Writer/director: Stephen Ives. Producer: Amanda Pollak. Contact: Jim Dunford, jim_dunfordwgbh.org.

Biopic of U.S. military leader follows his career from Custer’s charge at Gettysburg to his death at Little Bighorn.

Globalization at the Crossroads with Hernando de Soto

Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto in “Globalization at the Crossroads.”

Producing organization: Free to Choose Media. Note: WNET is not involved in this project; the mention of WNET in Current‘s print edition was a clerical error. Presenting station: WTTW (Chicago). Episodes: 1 x 60 (HD). Status: completed. Major funders: John Templeton Foundation. Budget: $1.4 million. Executive producers: Thomas Skinner, Bob Chitester. Producer/writer: Roger Brown. Director: Jim Taylor. Contact: Tom Skinner, ski361aol.com, 231-883-1659.

Details the plight of the 80 percent of humanity that is excluded from the globalized economy — and how this exclusion will bring globalization down.

The Horsemen Cometh

Producing organization: Air Show Buzz LLC. Presenting station: WTTW (Chicago). Distributor: APT. Episodes: 1 x 60 (HD). Status: postproduction. Original music: James Horner. Contact: Nicolette Ferri, nferriwttw.com.

Three P-51 Mustang pilots showcase the warplane’s historic heritage at air shows worldwide.

“Nova”‘s latest pro-level explainer, tech columnist David Pogue sets out “Hunting the Elements.”

Hunting the Elements

Producing organizations: WGBH/Nova/Powderhouse Productions. Presented by WGBH/Nova. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 2 x 60 (HD). Status: production. Senior e.p.: Paula S. Apsell. E.p.: Chris Schmidt. Host: David Pogue. Contact: Pamela Rosenstein, Pamela_rosensteinwgbh.org.

Tells stories of discoveries in the world of weird, extreme chemistry that revealed secrets of the elements.

Inspiration With Lance Heft

Producing organization: Briitestar Entertainment. Distributor: NETA. Episodes: 13 x 30 (HD). Status: postproduction. Major funder: International Tube. Executive producer: Lance Heft. Director/producer: Simon Balderas. Contact: Sandi Randle, srandlebriitestar.com.

Studio and on-location series features business leaders, artists and entertainers sharing personal stories about overcoming challenges to achieve happiness and success. Web: www.lanceheftinspiration. com.

Kartemquin’s “The Interrupters”: Gang veterans breaking good.

The Interrupters

Producing organizations: A Kartemquin Films production for WGBH/Frontline and ITVS in association with RISE Films. Presented by WGBH/Frontline. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 1 x 120 (HD). Status: postproduction. Major funders: ITVS, Frontline, MacArthur Foundation, BBC. Producer: Alex Kotlowitz. Director/producer: Steve James. Executive producers: Justin Nagan, Gordon Quinn, Teddy Leifer, Paul Taylor. Co-producer: Zak Piper. Contact: Diane Buxton, diane_buxtonwgbh.org, 617-300-3500.

Steve James, director of Hoop Dreams, follows former gang leaders as they try to “interrupt” shootings and protect their communities from violent acts like those they once committed.

Jewish Soldiers in Blue & Gray

Producing organization: Indigo Films Entertainment Group. Distributor: APT. Episodes: 1 x 60 (HD). Status: postproduction. Supervising producer: Chris Leavell. Producer/writer: Jonathan Gruber. Co-producer/co-writer: Robert Marcus. Voice of Lincoln: Sam Waterston. Contact: Tom Davison, Tom_DavisonAPTonline.org, 617-338-4455.

Reveals little-known struggles faced by American Jews in Civil War battles and on home front. Web: www. jewishsoldiersinblueandgray.com.

Joanne Weir Cooking Confidence

“Joanne Weir Cooking Confidence”: She doesn’t rely entirely on cheese.

Producing organization: Joanne Weir Productions LLC. Presenting station: KQED (San Francisco). Distributor: APT. Episodes: 26 x 30 (HD). Status: production. Major funder: European Union’s “Legends of Europe” campaign for Italian cheese and prosciutto. Contact: Lisa Landi, llandikqed.org, 415-553-2221.

Host and cookbook author Joanne Weir teaches in professional kitchens and works side-by-side with students in her home. Outreach includes companion book, iPad app.

Let Me Down Easy

Producing organization: Thirteen for WNET for Great Performances. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 1 x 90 (HD). Status: postproduction. Major funders: Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Arts Fund, Vivian Milstein, Irene Diamond Fund, LuEsther T. Mertz Charitable Trust, Starr Foundation, Philip and Janice Levin Foundation, Joseph A. Wilson, Filomen M. D’Agostino Foundation. Stage director: Leonard Foglia. Director for TV: Mathew Diamond. Producer: Bill O’Donnell, Mitch Owgang. E.p. for Great Performances: David Horn. Contact: David Ernst, ernstdthirteen.org.

Anna Deavere Smith explores matters of the human body and mind — the price of health, resilience of the spirit, how people confront the end of life — in her unique style, performing as an eclectic range of people based on her interviews with them.

Mark Matson’s Main Street Money

Producing organization: Veras Communications Inc. Distributor: APT/NETA. Episodes: 4 x 15 (HD). Status: preproduction. Budget: $300,000. E.p.: George Veras: Contact: George Veras, verastvaol.com.

For this pledge special, financial expert Mark Matson shows investors how to avoid pitfalls of Wall Street and confidently control their portfolio and destiny.

Michael Feinstein’s American Songbook

Producing organization: Hudson West Productions. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 3 x 60 (HD). Status: postproduction. Major funders: Sara P. Carruthers, Shelley and Donald Rubin Foundation, Lewis Cullman and Louise Hirschfeld, Tisch Foundation, Irwin Helford. Budget: $500,000. Series producer/director: Amber Edwards. Co-producer/director of photography: Dave Davidson. Host/narrator: Michael Feinstein. Contact: Amber Edwards, amberhudsonwest.org, 203-426-6219; Hope Reed, [email protected].

Performer and music historian Michael Feinstein travels across the country and through time in his quest to preserve and celebrate 20th-century popular songs. Web: www.pbs.org/michael-feinsteins-american-songbook.

More Than a Month

Producing organizations: ITVS and In Search of Carter G., LLC. Presented by Independent Lens. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 1 x 90 (HD). Status: postproduction. Director: Shukree Hassan Tilghman. Producer: Owen Cooper. Contact: Sreedevi Sripathy, sreedevi_sripathyitvs.org.

Charts cross-country campaign by Shukree Hassan Tilghman, a 29-year-old African-American filmmaker, to end Black History Month.

Ocean Giants (w.t.)

Producing organizations: A co-production of BBC and Thirteen in association with WNET for Nature. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 3 x 60 (HD). Status: postproduction. Major funder: Canon. Budget: $1.5 million. E.p. for Nature: Fred Kaufman. Contact: Jayne Jun, junjthirteen.org.

Series examines whales and dolphins, whose mental and communicative abilities — and even the individual names recognized by dolphins — make them closer to humans than we imagine.

Phil Ochs: There But for Fortune

Producing organizations: Two Lefts Don’t Make a Right Productions and Barking Dog Productions for WNET/American Masters. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 1 x 90 (HD). Status: postproduction. Writer/director: Ken Bowser. Producers: Michael Ochs, Michael Cohl. Contact: Susan Lacy, lacythirteen.org, 212-560-6975.

Bio of politically active singer-songwriter of the Vietnam War era, who was inspired by Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Elvis Presley and John Wayne. Possible pledge special.

Rudy Maxa’s World: Escape to French Polynesia

Producing organizations: RMW Productions Ltd. and Blue Lagoon Productions. Presenting station: Twin Cities Public Television. Distributor: APT. Episodes: 1 x 60. Status: postproduction. Major funders: Delta Air Lines, Korea Tourism Organization. E.p./host: Rudy Maxa. Co-e.p.: Susan McNally. Contact: Elaine Powell, epowelltpt.org.

Celebrates rich sea life, translucent waters and vibrant culture of French Polynesia, an unusual blend of Europe and the Pacific.

The Shining Star Trophy

Producing organizations: A co-production of HIT Entertainment and Thirteen in association with WNET. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 1 x 60 (HD). Status: production. Executive producers: Sandra Sheppard, Jill Peters. Producer: Suzanne Rose. Contact: Suzanne Rose, rosethirteen.org.

Special presentation of the animated series Angelina Ballerina: The Next Steps features wide range of music and dance genres.

This Is Where We Take Our Stand

Producing organizations: ITVS and Take Our Stand LLC. Distributor: NETA. Episodes: 1 x 60 (HD). Status: postproduction. Directors/producers: David Zeiger, Bestor Cram. Contact: Sreedevi Sripathy, sreedevi_sripathyitvs.org.

Presents four days of testimony at 2008 Winter Soldier Investigation, where veterans and active-duty soldiers explained why many Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans had concluded that their mission was unjust.

To Be Heard

Producing organizations: ITVS and To Be Heard Productions. Distributor: NETA. Episodes: 1 x 60 (HD). Status: postproduction. Producers/directors: Roland Legiardi-Laura, Edwin Martinez, Deborah Shaffer. Producer: Amy Sultan. Contact: Sreedevi Sripathy, [email protected].

Examines unique poetry class for at-risk kids in the Bronx, where anything could be said or shared.

Slavery by Another Name

Producing organizations: tpt National Productions, Twin Cities Public Television (St. Paul). Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 1 x 90 (HD). Status: postproduction. Major funders: NEH, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Coca-Cola Co., CPB/PBS Diversity and Innovation Fund, KeyBank Foundation, Merck. E.p.: Catherine Allan. Producer/director, Sam Pollard. Co-e.p.: Douglas Blackmon. Writer: Sheila Curran Bernard. Narrator: Laurence Fishburne. Contact: Elaine Powell, epowelltpt.org.

Recounts the re-enslavement of African Americans in the South between the Civil War and World War II. Based on Douglas Blackmon’s Pulitzer-Prize–winning book of the same name.

Testing Milton Friedman

Producing organization: Free To Choose Media. Presenting station: WTTW (Chicago). Distributor: APT. Episodes: 3 x 60 (HD). Status: production, postproduction. Major funders: Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Maryjo Cohen, FedEx, Koret Foundation. Budget: $800,000. Executive producers: Thomas Skinner, Bob Chitester. Producer: Barbara Potter. Contact: Tom Skinner, ski361aol.com, 231-883-1659.

Reflecting on segments from Milton Friedman’s original series Free To Choose, three panelists join host Emily Rooney to explore relevance of the economist’s ideas in today’s turbulent times.

Michael Tllson Thomas recalls his grandparents, “The Thomashefskys.”

The Thomashefskys

Producing organizations: A production of the Thomashefsky Film Project LLC and Thirteen for WNET for Great Performances. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 1 x 120 (HD). Status: postproduction. Major funders: Aaron Copland Fund for Music; John and Marcia Goldman; Carole and Jeffrey Hayes; Koret Foundation; Daniel, Jan, Marley and Dylan Lewis; Linda Ludwig; Stephen and Sandy Muss; Bernard Osher; Jewish Philanthropies Foundation; Lisa and John Pritzker Family Fund; Lydia and Douglas Shorenstein. Writer: Michael Tilson Thomas. Staged by: Patricia Birch. Director: Gary Halvorson. Producers: Michael Bronson, Michael Kantor. E.p.: Joshua Robinson. Contact: David Ernst, ernstdthirteen.org.

Conductor Michael Tilson Thomas guides viewers through the lives and repertoire of his grandparents, Boris and Bessie Thomashefsky, who were major stars in the American Yiddish theater.

Treasures of Islam: Islamic Art and Architecture (w.t)

Producing organization: Unity Productions Foundation. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 1 x 90 (HD). Status: production. Budget: $1.4 million. Executive producers: Alex Kronemer, Michael Wolfe. Director: Robert Gardner. Contact: Alex Kronemer, adminupf.tv, 202-386-6270.

Explores the richness of Islamic art and architecture throughout the world. Web: www.treasuresofislam.tv.

Spring ’12

AIDS in Black America (w.t.)

Producing organizations: Renata Simone Productions/Frontline. Presented by WGBH/Frontline. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 1 x 90 or 120 (TBD) (HD). Status: production. Major funders: Ford Foundation, MAC AIDS Foundation, WGBH/Frontline, National Black Programming Consortium. Producers: Renata Simone, Sarah Anthony. Writer/director: Renata Simone. Contact: Jim Bracciale, jim_braccialewgbh.org, 617-300-3500.

AIDS is the leading cause of death for African American women ages 25-34.

The Amish

Producing organization: A Sarah Colt Productions film for WGBH/American Experience. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 1 x 120 (HD). Status: postproduction. Major funders: Liberty Mutual, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, PBS. E.p.: Mark Samels. Senior producer: Sharon Grimberg. Writer/director: David Belton. Producer: Callie Wiser. Contact: Jim Dunford, Jim_Dunfordwgbh.org.

With unprecedented access to the Amish built on hard-won trust, filmmaker paints intimate portrait of profoundly private religious group and its long relationship with America.

Arts & the Mind

Producing organizations: tpt National Productions (St. Paul, Minn.) and Eaton Creative. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 2 x 60 (HD). Status: production. Major funder: MetLife Foundation. Executive in charge of production: Gerry Richman. Writer/producer/director: Leo Eaton. Narrator: Lisa Kudrow. Contact: Elaine Powell, epowelltpt.org.

Explores the effects of artistic involvement on human development and behavior, and why the arts are vital to our health and well-being.

Bach & Friends

Producing organization: Produced, directed and edited by Michael Lawrence Films. Presenting station: Maryland Public Television (Owings Mills, Md.). Episodes: 1 x 120 (HD). Status: postproduction. Major funders: Argosy Foundation, David Nathan Meyerson Foundation, Hecht-Levi Foundation, Lonnie Autry Jr. and Gigi Brisson-Autry. Director/producer: Michael Lawrence. Contact: Phillip Guthrie, Pguthriempt.org, 410-581-4187.

Showcases one of western civilization’s greatest composers, Johann Sebastian Bach, through performances by and interviews with musicians such as Joshua Bell, Bela Fleck and Bobby McFerrin. Web: www.bachandfriends.org.

Being Elmo

Producing organization: Constance Marks Productions. Presented by Independent Lens. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 1 x 90 (HD). Status: postproduction. Director/producer: Constance Marks. Producers: Corinne LaPook, James J. Miller. Contact: Sreedevi Sripathy, sreedevi_sripathyitvs.org.

Story of Kevin Clash, who grew up dreaming of working with his idol, puppeteer Jim Henson, and is today the guy behind Sesame Street’s Elmo.

Big Band’s Greatest Singers: My Music

Producing organization: TJL Productions. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 75 minutes in 4 acts (SD 4:3). Status: preproduction, postproduction. E.p.: T.J. Lubinsky. Contact: Jim Pierson, piersonjbaol.com, 310-936-3616.

Pledge special presents rare vintage footage of Big Band Era’s most popular vocal performers, including Frank Sinatra, Doris Day, Bing Crosby and Peggy Lee. Premiums include DVD, CD set.

Birdsong

Producing organizations: A Working Title TV and Masterpiece co-production in association with NBC Universal for the BBC, for WGBH/Masterpiece Classic. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 2 x 90 (HD). Status: production. Major funders: PBS, Viking River Cruises. Executive producers: Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Juliette Howell (for Working Title); Lucy Richer (for BBC); Rebecca Eaton (for Masterpiece). Contact: Steven Ashley, steven_ashleywgbh.org.

Adapts Sebastian Faulk’s best-selling novel about lovers torn apart by World War I.

Bonsai People: The Vision of Muhammad Yunus

Producing organization: Hummingbird Pictures. Distributor: APT. Episodes: 1 x 60 (HD). Status: production. Major funder: Ceres Trust. Budget: $300,000. Producer/director: Holly Mosher. Contact: Judy Barlow, Judy_Barlowaptonline.org.

Explores work of Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, whose visions ranged from microcredit to social business. Web: www.bonsaimovie.com.

California Forever

Presenting station: KQED (San Francisco). Episodes: 2 x 60 (HD). Status: postproduction. Major funder: Destination Cinema. Contact: Lisa Landi, llandikqed.org, 415-553-2221.

Reviews the history and future of one of the world’s largest and most diverse system of parks — California’s — and the people who worked to preserve them.

The Distracted Mind with Dr. Adam Gazzaley

Producing organizations: Santa Fe Productions Inc. and KQED (San Francisco). Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 90 minutes in three acts (HD). Status: production. Budget: $175,000. E.p.: Anthony Tiano. Producer: Lennlee Keep. Director: Eli Brown. Production designer: Jim Hoppin. Contact: Anthony Tiano, tonysantafeproductions.com, 505-899-9655.

Pledge special explores the effect of multitasking on people’s safety, education, careers and personal lives. Tells viewers how to improve attentional abilities and focus as we age in media-saturated society. Premiums include DVD, event tickets, related merchandise, web seminar.

Downton Abbey, Season 2

Producing organization for Season 2: Carnival Film & Television Ltd. (U.K.), a division of NBC Universal; co-produced by Masterpiece. Presented by WGBH/Masterpiece Classic. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 3 x 120, 4 x 60 (HD). Status: production. Major funders: PBS, Viking River Cruises. Executive producers: Gareth Neame, Julian Fellowes, Rebecca Eaton. Contact: Steven Ashley, steven_ashleywgbh.org.

Resumes the tale of love and intrigue at an English country estate, now mobilized for the trauma of World War I. Returning cast includes Dame Maggie Smith, Elizabeth McGovern, Hugh Bonneville, Dan Stevens, Michelle Dockery. Outreach includes companion book, The World of Downton Abbey.

Faith & America’s Founders (w.t.)

Producing organizations: A production of Groberg Films Inc. and WETA (Washington, D.C.). Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 1 x 90 (HD). Status: postproduction. Major funders: GFC Foundation, Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, Alan and Jeanne Hall, Garfield and Margo Cook, Larry H. and Gail Miller Family Foundation, The One Foundation, Sorenson Legacy Foundation, Alan and Jeanne Hall Foundation, Brent & Bonnie Jean Beesley Foundation, Wayne Quinton, George S. and Dolores Eccles, Glenn and Mary Potter, William and Roceil Low, Annenberg Foundation. Executive producers for WETA: Dalton Delan, Karen Kenton. Producer: Lee Groberg. Writers: Douglas Brinkley, Ken Chowder. Co-writer: Julie Fenster. Contact: Kate Kelly, kkellyweta.org.

Examines the ways founders’ religious backgrounds and beliefs shaped American society, emphasizing religious freedom and tolerance, and the separation of church and state. Companion photo book features reenacted scenes.

Food Forward

Producing organization: Food Forward Productions LLC. Presenting station: KQED (San Francisco). Distributor: PBS. Episodes: TBD x 30 (HD). Status: postproduction. Major funders: International Studies Abroad, Organic Valley, Annie’s Home Grown, Anna Getty. Budget: $150,000. Co-creator/producer/writer: Stett Holbrook. Co-creator/producer/director: Greg Roden. Co-creator/producer: Brian Greene. Contact: Lisa Landi, llandikqed.org, 415-553-2221.

Explores cutting-edge alternatives to today’s industrial food system, sampling the lives and passions of educators, community leaders, scientists, farmers and chefs across America. Outreach includes webisodes, user-generated content and blog about innovative ideas and practices. Web: www.foodforward.tv.

For the Next Hundred Years (w.t.)

Producing organization: WXXI (Rochester, N.Y.). Distributor: APT. Episodes: 1 x 60 (HD). Status: production. E.p.: Todd McCammon. Contact: Todd McCammon, tmccammonwxxi.org, 585-258-0241.

Documents the authentic restoration of the only house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in Rochester, N.Y.

Great Expectations

Producing organizations: A Masterpiece/BBC Coproduction. Presented by WGBH/Masterpiece Classic. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 3 x 60 (HD). Status: production. Major funders: PBS, Viking River Cruises. Executive producers: Anne Pivcevic (for the BBC), Rebecca Eaton (for Masterpiece). Contact: Steven Ashley, steven_ashleywgbh.org.

Adaptation of Dickens’s novel about Pip, the orphaned blacksmith’s apprentice who rises to gentleman under the patronage of a mysterious benefactor who assures him of “great expectations.” Stars Gillian Anderson, David Suchet, Ray Winstone.

Hell and Back Again

Producing organization: Roast Beef Productions Ltd. Presented by Independent Lens. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 1 x 90 (HD). Status: postproduction. Director/producer: Danfung Dennis. Producer: Mike Lerner, Martin Herring. Contact: Sreedevi Sripathy, sreedevi_sripathyitvs.org.

Explores what it means to lead men in war, and then come home — injured physically and psychologically — to build a life anew.

Harper Lee: Hey, Boo

Producing organization: Mary Murphy & Co. LLC for WNET/American Masters. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 1 x 90 (HD). Status: postproduction. Major funders: Mary Murphy & Co. LLC, PBS, NEA. Writer/director/producer: Mary Murphy. Contact: Susan Lacy, lacythirteen.org, 212-560-6975.

Unravels the mystery of Harper Lee, author of To Kill a Mockingbird, including how she wrote it and why she never published another book.

Il Volo

Producing organization: Detroit Public TV. Episodes: 60 minutes in three acts (HD). Status: R&D, preproduction. Producer/director: Ken Ehrlich. Contact: Jamie Westrick, jwestrickdptv.org, 248-305-3784.

Three boisterous teenaged Italian tenors collectively known as Il Volo make their public TV debut with pledge special set in Rome’s Coliseum. Premiums include DVD, event tickets, CDs.

Johnny Carson (w.t.)

Producing organizations: Thirteen’s American Masters for WNET and Peter Jones Productions. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 1 x 120 (HD). Status: production. Major funders: PBS, NEA, Peter Jones Productions. Writer/director: Peter Jones. Producers: Peter Jones, Mark Catalena, Brian Tessier. Contact: Susan Lacy, lacythirteen.org, 212-560-6975.

Explores career and complexities of one of American television’s biggest stars, produced with unrestricted access to Carson’s personal archives and every episode of The Tonight Show. Possible pledge special.

Lidia Celebrates America

Producing organizations: WGBH (Boston) and Tavola Productions with Seftel Productions. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 4 x 60 (HD). Status: postproduction. Major funder: CPB. E.p.: Laurie Donnelly. E.p./host: Lidia Bastianich. E.p. for Seftel Productions: Joshua Seftel. Contact: Anne Adams, Anne_AdamsWGBH.org.

Celebrity chef Lidia Bastianich explores four distinct ethnic traditions: holidays, weddings, independence and rites of passage.

Louis Sullivan: The Struggle for American Architecture

Producing organization: Whitecap Films, Inc. Distributor: APT. Episodes: 1 x 60 (HD). Status: postproduction. Producer/director: Mark Richard Smith. Contact: Tom Davison, Tom_DavisonAPTonline.org, 617-338-4455.

Documents the life and career of influential architect known as the father of the skyscraper, who conceived the phrase “form follows function.” Web: louissullivanfilm.com.

Margaret Mitchell: American Rebel

Producing organization: Georgia Public Television for WNET/American Masters. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 1 x 60 (HD). Status: postproduction. Major funders: Georgia Public Television, Ray M. & Mary Elizabeth Lee Foundation, PBS, NEA. Executive producer/writer: Pamela Roberts. Director, re-enactments: Kathy White. Contact: Susan Lacy, lacythirteen.org, 212-560-6975.

Bio of Mitchell, whose Gone with the Wind created a pair of literature’s greatest lovers, won a Pulitzer Prize, sold over 30 million copies and inspired a legendary film.

Memory, Learning and Aging

Producing organization: Santa Fe Productions Inc. Distributor: APT. Episodes: 1 x 90 (HD). Status: preproduction. Budget: $175,000. E.p.: Anthony Tiano. Producer: Lennlee Keep. Director: Eli Brown. Assistant Director: Jim Hoppin. Contact: Anthony Tiano, tonysantafeproductions.com, 505-899-9655.

Pledge special in the style of the documentary/lecture An Inconveni-ent Truth explains why brain function declines with age and what we can do about it. Outreach includes accompanying book, DVD and possible lecture tour.

Memphis from Broadway (w.t.)

Producing organizations: A production of Broadway Worldwide Inc. in association with Thirteen for WNET. Presented by WNET/Great Performances. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 1 x 150 (HD). Status: postproduction. Major funders: Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Arts Fund, Vivian Milstein, Irene Diamond Fund, LuEsther T. Mertz Charitable Trust, Starr Foundation, Philip and Janice Levin Foundation, Joseph A. Wilson, Filomen M. D’Agostino Foundation. Director: Don Roy King. Producers: Bruce Branwen, Lesley Jill Nathan, Nicholas Van Hoogstraten. Contact: David Ernst, ernstdthirteen.org.

Winner of 2010 Tony for Best New Musical, Memphis tells story of a 1950s white deejay whose love of music transcended racial barriers.

The Mystery of Edwin Drood

Producing organization: A Masterpiece/BBC co-production for WGBH/Masterpiece Classic. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 1 x 90 (HD). Status: production. Major funders: PBS, Viking River Cruises. Executive producers: Anne Pivcevic (for BBC), Rebecca Eaton (for Masterpiece). Contact: Steven Ashley, steven_ashleywgbh.org.

Completes and adapts Charles Dickens’ unfinished last novel about provincial choirmaster’s obsession with 17-year-old Rosa Bud and the lengths he goes to attain her.

Oscar Hammerstein — A Lyrical Life (w.t.)

Producing organization: Creative Retrospectives–A New Jersey Non-Profit Corporation. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 60 minutes in three acts (HD). Status: production. Executive producer/writer: JoAnn Young. Editor: Laura Young. Creative consultant: Oscar Andrew Hammerstein. Contact: JoAnn Young, youngprodincaol.com, 201-262-7814.

Pledge special profiles Broadway lyricist who made musical theater an art form, depicting a world as he dreamed it could be, and who pursued those dreams on stage and off. Premiums include companion book, 12-CD set.

Over Hawaii

Producing organization: KCTS (Seattle). Distributor: APT. Two versions: 60-minute program and 90-minute pledge event including program and three pledge breaks (HD). Status: postproduction. Producers: Heidi Hanson, Chris Warner. Contact: Erin Miller, emillerkcts9.org, 206-615-5444.

Pledge special in KCTS’s Over series offers aerial tour of Hawaii’s six major islands, from the heights of Kilauea to the surrounding waters. Premiums include DVD, Blu-Ray.

“P. Allen Smith’s Garden Home” has heritage fowl.

P. Allen Smith’s Garden Home

Producing organization: Hortus Ltd. Distributor: APT. Episodes: 13 x 30 (HD). Status: production. Major funders: Proven Winners, Arkansas Parks and Tourism, Bonnie Plants. Host/writer: P. Allen Smith. Producer/writer: Cindy Alpe. Field producer: Patrick Green. Director of photography: Brent Walker. Chief operating and marketing officer: Mimi San Pedro. Contact: Mimi San Pedro, msanpedropallensmith.com.

Shows viewers how to enhance their homes’ beauty and livability by blending indoor and outdoor spaces. Web: www.pallensmith.com.

P. Allen Smith’s Garden to Table

Producing organization: Hortus Ltd. Distributor: APT. Episodes: 13 x 30 (HD). Status: production. Major funders: Mountain Valley Spring Water, Easy Gardener Inc. Host/writer: P. Allen Smith. E.p./writer: Patrick Green. Producer: Cindy Alpe. Director of photography: Brent Walker. Chief operating and marketing officer: Mimi San Pedro. Contact: Mimi San Pedro, msanpedropallensmith.com.

Offers growing tips, seasonal recipes and decorating ideas to help viewers incorporate garden-to-table eating into their lives. Web: www.pallensmith.com.

Pa’s Fiddle: The Music of America

Producing organizations: Santa Fe Productions, Peak Moore Enterprises and Rick Okie Productions. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 90 minutes in three acts (HD). Status: preproduction. Budget: $425,000. Executive producers: Dean Butler, Rick Okie, Anthony Tiano. Producer: Tisha Fine. Music director: Ricky Skaggs. Contact: Anthony Tiano, tonysantafeproductions.com, 505-899-9655.

Pledge special highlights music that defined the generations of Americans who settled and built the country. Premiums include DVD, event tickets, related merchandise.

Pedal America

Producing organization: Out-Write Media. Distributor: APT. Episodes: 7 x 30 (HD). Status: preproduction. Major funders: Subaru, Malt-O-Meal’s Better Oats. Producer/host: Ira David Levy. Contact: Marie Considine, mconsidinewttw.com, 773-509-5474.

Celebrates bicycling as an economical, eco-friendly and healthful activity by highlighting great bike trails across the U.S. Web: www.pedalamerica.tv.

Precious Knowledge

Producing organizations: A co-production of Dos Vatos Productions and ITVS, produced in association with Latino Public Broadcasting and Arizona Public Media. Episodes: 1 x 60 (HD). Status: postproduction. Major funders: ITVS/PBS, Latino Public Broadcasting. Budget: $261,000. Director: Ari Luis Palos. Producer: Eren Isabel McGinnis. Contact: Luis Ortiz, luis.ortizlpbp.org, 818-847-9656.

Tucson high school students’ historic civil rights battle with state lawmakers to save school’s Mexican American studies program.

Racing Dreams

Producing organizations: American Documentary, POV. Presented by POV. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 1 x 90 (HD). Status: completed. Producer/director: Marshall Curry. Contact: Chris White, cwhitepov.org, 212-989-8121, ext. 306.

A documentary described as “Talladega Nights meets Catcher in the Rye” chronicles a year in the life of three tweens who dream of becoming NASCAR drivers. Web: www.pbs.org/pov/racingdreams.

Rick Steves’ Europe: A Symphonic Journey (w.t.)

Producing organization: Back Door Productions. Presenting station (tentative): KCTS (Seattle). Distributor: APT. Episodes: 60-minute special; 90-minute pledge event. Status: preproduction. Host/e.p.: Rick Steves. Producer: Simon Griffith. Contact: Ashley Sytsma, ashleyricksteves.com, 425-608-4293.

Travel writer Steves and the Cascade Symphony Orchestra create musical journey through Europe, with Steves providing cultural context. Premiums include DVD, related merchandise.

Rochester International Jazz Festival

Producing organization: WXXI (Rochester, N.Y.). Distributor: APT. Episodes: 6 x 60 (HD). Status: postproduction. Major funders: Louis S. & Molly B. Wolk Foundation. E.p.: Todd McCammon. Contact: Todd McCammon, tmccammonwxxi.org, 585-258-0241.

Kevin Eubanks, Curtis Stigers and other jazz artists recorded at Eastman School of Music’s Kilbourn Hall, plus archival footage, celebrate the festival’s 10th anniversary. Web: www.wxxi.org/jazzfest.

Rose Jang in Concert (w.t.)

Producing organization: Terrel Cass Productions. Episodes: 60 minutes in three acts (HD). Status: R&D. Budget: $750,000. Producer: Terrel Cass. Contact: Susan Hellman, 631-421-1141, susanhellmancommunications.com.

In pledge special, world diva Rose Jang and special guests perform Broadway hits, pop opera and standards plus some special musical surprises from Korea. Premiums include DVD, event tickets, related merchandise.

Sherlock, Series II

Producing organizations: A Hartswood Films Production for BBC Wales, co-produced with Masterpiece for WGBH/Masterpiece Mystery. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 3 x 90 (HD). Status: postproduction. Major funders: PBS, Viking River Cruises. Executive producers: Beryl Vertue, Mark Gatiss, Steven Moffat; Rebecca Eaton (for Masterpiece). Contact: Steven Ashley, steven_ashleywgbh.org.

Benedict Cumberbatch portrays Holmes and Martin Freeman is Watson in three classic tales: “A Scandal in Belgravia,” “The Hounds of the Baskervilles” and “The Reichenbach Fall.”

Signs of the Time

Producing organization: Crystal Pix. Episodes: 1 x 60 (HD). Status: postproduction. Executive producers: Ray Manard, Caroline Manard. Narrator: Richard Dreyfuss. Contact: Jill Kemp, jkempwxxi.org, 585-258-0306.

Explores origin of baseball’s hand signals through interviews with Baseball Hall of Famers, major-league umpires and historians plus full-scale reenactments of early baseball games. Web: www.signsofthetimemovie.com.

Spend Well, Live Rich with Michele Singletary

Producing organizations: WNED (Buffalo/Toronto), co-produced with Working Dog Productions Inc. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 60 minutes in three acts. Status: preproduction. Host: Michelle Singletary. Producer: Tom Simon. E.p.: John Grant. Contact: John Grant, jagrantaol.com, 814-880-7809.

In pledge special, personal finance columnist Michele Singletary shows viewers how to gain control of their financial lives by following the Seven Money Mantras she learned in part from her grandmother. Premiums include DVD, companion book.

The Story of the Costume Drama: The Greatest Story Ever Told

Producing organization: ITV Studios Ltd. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 60 minutes with virtual program breaks (SD 16:9). Status: postproduction. E.p.: Mark Robinson. Series producer: Jason Beresford. Narrator: Keeley Hawes. Contact: Don Klees, dklessacornmedia.com, 301-608-2115, ext. 117.

Pledge special celebrates 50 years of TV costume drama — The Forsyte Saga, Brideshead Revisited, Upstairs Downstairs and more — with interviews and commentary by actors, writers and producers, featuring appearances by Derek Jacobi, John Hurt, Susan Hampshire, Anthony Andrews, writers and producers. Premiums include DVD, related merchandise.

Surviving Disaster with Amanda Ripley

Producing organization: Santa Fe Productions Inc. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 90 minutes in three acts (HD). Status: preproduction. Talent: Amanda Ripley. E.p.: Anthony Tiano. Producer: Lennlee Keep. Director: Eli Brown. Assistant director: Jim Hoppin. Contact: Anthony Tiano, tonysantafeproductions.com, 505-899-9655.

Pledge special presents a how-to guide for disaster survival. Aims to help viewers keep themselves under control, prepare their families to survive and help less-well-prepared neighbors get through the first 72 hours. Premiums include DVD, companion book, related merchandise.

A Tribute to Freddy Fender (w.t.)

Producing organizations: Terrel Cass Productions and Lickona Vision. Presenting station: KLRU (Austin, Texas). Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 60 minutes in three acts (HD). Status: preproduction. Budget: $600,000. Executive producers: Terrel Cass, Terry Lickona, Jeff Peterson. Contact: Terrel Cass, terrelcassyahoo.com, 830-693-5294.

Pledge special features friends of the late Mexican American rock musician performing his most famous songs in concert. Premiums include DVD, event tickets, related merchandise.

Use Your Brain to Change Your Brain with Dr. Daniel Amen

Producing organization: Mindworks Productions. Distributor: EPS. Episodes: 60 minutes in three acts (HD). Status: preproduction. E.p.: Dr. Daniel Amen. Production and pledge consultant: Alan Foster. Contact: Alan Foster, alanepstv.com, 540-483-4767.

In a pledge special, Daniel Amen — physician and operator of several brain-health clinics — presents the latest neuroscience research suggesting how to live longer, look younger and create positive momentum for loved ones. He contends that the quality of a person’s decisions about life are the No. 1 predictor of longevity. Premiums include DVD, companion book, related merchandise.

Wishes Fulfilled with Dr. Wayne Dyer

Producing organization: RealityCheck Media Consulting. Episodes: 100 minutes in approximately five acts. Status: preproduction. E.p.: Niki Vettel. Producer: Dennis Allen. Director: Bob Comiskey. Contact: Niki Vettel, niki.vettelverizon.net.

In this pledge special, Dr. Dyer teaches viewers how to use their imaginations, and specific techniques, to realize their desires. Premiums include DVD, companion book, related merchandise.

World Woman

Producing organization: International Media. Episodes: 60-minute core/90-minute pledge event (HD). Status: R&D, preproduction. Producer/director: Craig Leon. E.p.: Gustavo Sagastume. Contact: International Media, infointl-media.com, 954-923-7215.

Three international stars, to be announced, come together to perform a dazzling repertoire of world music, classical crossover favorites and newly arranged pop hits, recorded at the world-renowned Abbey Road Studios. Premiums include DVD, event tickets.

Summer ’12

Americana Music (w.t.)

Producing organization: Terrel Cass Productions and Craig Leon. Episodes: 60 minutes in three acts (HD). Status: R&D. Budget: $800,000. Executive producers: Terrel Cass, Craig Leon. Contact: Susan Hellman, 631-421-1141, susanhellmancommunications.com.

Pledge special presents rousing musical performance celebrating the creation and development of the United States. Hallmark hits of the last 200-plus years accompany aerial views and panoramic scenery. Premiums include DVD, companion book, event tickets, related merchandise.

Broadway to Hollywood: The Incredible History (w.t.)

Producing organizations: Terrel Cass Productions and Charlie Boy Productions. Episodes: 60 minutes in three acts (HD). Status: preproduction. Budget: $700,000. Executive producers: Charles McCutheon, Terrel Cass, Chip Miller. Contact: Susan Hellman, 631-421-1141, susanhellmancommunications.com.

Pledge special tells story of Jewish Americans who (with Irish help) wrote, performed, published and marketed the American Songbook — and created vaudeville, Broadway and Hollywood. Premiums include DVD, companion book, related merchandise.

A Celtic Awakening

Producing organization: Detroit Public Television. Distributor: Detroit Public Television. Episodes: 1 x 60 in 3 acts (HD). Status: R&D. Creator/writer/artistic director/e.p.: Faith Marion Robinson. Contact: Jamie Westrick, jmaranodptv.org, 248-305-3782.

Pledge special presents musical journey from New York City to Ireland with sequences that connect Celtic history and lore to modern times.

Designers of the Game (w.t.)

Producing organizations: WNED (Buffalo/Toronto), Driftwood Productions. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 1 x 60 (HD). Status: postproduction. Major funder: Robert J. Stransky Foundation. Budget: $545,186. Producer: John Grant. Contact: John Grant, jajgrantaol.com, 814-234-5210.

Tells history and contemporary story of golf course architecture and its importance as an American art form.

El Velador

Producing organizations: Altamura Films, Latino Public Broadcasting for POV. Episodes: 1 x 90 (HD). Distributor: PBS. Status: postproduction. Major funders: Latino Public Broadcasting. Budget: $402,329. Director/producer/editor: Natalia Almada. Sound design: Alejandro de Icaza. Contact: Luis Ortiz, luis.ortizlpbp.org, 818-847-9656.

Explores El Velador, a cemetery in the drug heartland of Mexico.

Girl Model

Producing organization: American Documentary, POV. Presented by POV. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 1 x 90 (HD). Status: completed. Major funder: Harvard Radcliffe Fellowship, Cinereach, Sundance Institute, Fledgling Fund, Puffin Foundation. Budget: $285,000. Directors/producers: David Redmon, A. Sabin. Contact: Chris White, cwhitepov.org.

Young Russian girls join modeling agency to seek work in Japan and get caught up in an unregulated system that reveals an unseemly side of the fashion industry. Web: www.pbs.org/pov/girlmodel.

Granito: How to Nail a Dictator

Producing organizations: A co-production of Skylight Pictures Inc. and ITVS, produced in association with Latino Public Broadcasting. Presented by POV. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 1 x 60 (HD). Status: postproduction. Major funders: Paul Robeson Fund, Skylight Films, S. Rubin Foundation, Guggenheim Foundation, Chicken & Egg, Sundance Documentary Fund, Latino Public Broadcasting, CPB. Budget: $487,000. Producer: Paco de Onis. Director: Pamela Yates. Contact: Luis Ortiz, luis.ortizlpbp.org, 818-847-9656.

How a documentary film intertwined with Guatemala’s turbulent history to emerge as an active player in the nation’s present.

Playing for Paterno

Producing organizations: WNED (Buffalo/Toronto) and Driftwood Productions. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 1 x 30 (HD). Status: R&D. E.p.: John Grant. Contact: John Grant, jajgrantaol.com.

Based on book by Charles and Tony Pittman, program offers behind-the-scenes look at two players and their relationship with Joe Paterno, the iconic Penn State football coach.

Strong!

Producing organizations: ITVS and Julie Wyman. Presented by Independent Lens. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 1 x 60 (HD). Status: postproduction. Director/producer: Julie Wyman. Contact: Sreedevi Sripathy, sreedevi_sripathyitvs.org.

Follows weightlifter Cheryl Haworth’s struggle to defend her championship as her weightlifting career inches towards its inevitable end.

Superheroes!

Producing organization: Ghost Light Films. Presenting station: Oregon Public Broadcasting. Episodes: 2 x 60 (HD). Status: postproduction. Major funders: NEA, NEH, Shaw Foundation. Budget: $1 million. E.p./producer: Michael Kantor. E.p. for OPB: David Davis. Contact: David Davis, ddavisopb.org, 503-293-1959.

Explores how comic books, initially sold for a dime at corner drugstores, exploded into a modern American mythology and a multi-billion-dollar industry.

Solar and son, wrestlers in “Tales of Masked Men.”

Tales of Masked Men

Producing organization: Echo Park Films Inc. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 1 x 60 (HD). Status: postproduction. Major funders: Latino Public Broadcasting. Budget: $150,000. Executive producer/director: Carlos Avila. Co-producer/editor: Thom Calderón. Contact: Luis Ortiz, luis.ortizlpbp.org, 818-847-9656.

Shot throughout Mexico and the U.S., doc explores Mexican wrestling and the tradition of the masked wrestler.

Turning the Tide

Producing organization: Louisiana Public Broadcasting. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 1 x 90 (HD). Status: production. Major funders: McKnight Foundation, Foundation for Excellence in Louisiana Public Broadcasting. Budget: $100,000. Producer/director: Christina Melton. Videographer/editor: Rex Q. Fortenberry. Contact: Bob Neese, bneeselpb.org, 800-272-8161.

Takes in-depth look at Louisiana’s disappearing coastline and ways to halt and reverse this ecological disaster.

Wallander, Series III

Producing organization: TBD for Masterpiece Mystery. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 3 x 90 (HD). Status: production. Major funders: PBS, Viking River Cruises. Executive producers: Francis Hopkinson, Andy Harries, Kenneth Branagh, Rebecca Eaton. Contact: Steven Ashley, steven_ashleywgbh.org.

Kenneth Branagh reprises his Emmy-nominated role as soul-searching Swedish cop character created by best-selling novelist Henning Mankell.

Fall ’12

50th Anniversary Van Cliburn International Piano Competition (w.t.)

Producing organization: Peter Rosen Productions Inc. Presenting station: KERA (Dallas). Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 1 x 60 (HD). Status: postproduction. Major funder: Exxon Mobil. Budget: $400,000. Executive producer: Peter Rosen. Contact: Bill Young, byoungkera.org.

Charts history of the prestigious piano competition since Cliburn’s 1958 victory in Moscow.

Alaska, The World and Wally Hickel

Producing organization: Great Projects Media LLC. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 1 x 60 (HD). Status: fundraising. Budget: $600,000. E.p.: Kenneth Mandel. Contact: Kenneth Mandel, kmandelgreatprojects.com.

Bio of Wally Hickel, former Alaska governor and U.S. secretary of the interior, who was fired by Nixon for his opposition to the war in Vietnam and confounded friend and foe alike by defying the easy stereotypes of “environmentalist” and “businessman.

America I Am

Producing organizations: National Minority Consortia, Futuro Media Group. Episodes: 8 x 30 (HD). Status: preproduction. Major funder: National Minority Consortia. Budget: $1.4 million. Host: Ana Maria Hinojosa. E.p.: Martha Spanninger. Producers: Xotchitl Dorsey, Yasmeen Qureshi. Contact: Luis Ortiz, luis.ortizlpbp.org, 818-847-9656; Martha Spanninger, MSpanningerfuturomedia.org.

Collects stories from corners of America rarely seen on pub TV — stories of the “other” America.

The American Revolution

Producing organization: Lichtenstein Creative Media. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 1 x 83 (SD). Status: postproduction. Major funder: Mass Humanities. Budget: $800,000. Producer: Bill Lichtenstein. Director of photography: Boyd Estus. Audio recordist: George Shafnacker. Associate producers: Jay Rooney, David Bieber. Contact: Bill Lichtenstein, BillLCMedia.com, 617-682-3708.

Chronicles the short heyday of Boston’s underground FM radio station WBCN, 1968-1974, telling how “a radio station, politics and rock ‘n’ roll changed everything.” Web: www.WBCNthefilm.com.

America On Stage (w.t.)

Producing organizations: A co-production of Robert Levi Films, WETA (Washington, D.C.). Distributor: ITVS. Episodes: 1 x 60 (HD). Status: production. Major funders: PBS, ITVS. Executive producers: Dalton Delan, David S. Thompson. Producer/director: Robert Levi. Contact: Kate Kelly, kkellyweta.org.

Follows the development of new plays funded by NEA in workshops, rehearsals and performances across the country, culminating in Broadway premiere of Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo.

Barnstorming America

Producing organizations: WXXI (Rochester, N.Y.) and Down the Road Productions LLC. Distributor: APT. Episodes: 13 x 30 (HD). Status: fundraising. Co-creator/e.p.: Fiona K. Willis. V.p. of TV, WXXI: Elissa Orlando. Contact: Fiona K. Willis, fwilliswxxi.org, 585-330-5204.

Celebrates great American tradition of self-sufficiency in the farm and kitchen. Features hands-on demonstrations of growing and preserving food, cooking, raising animals, small-scale farming and using traditional skills to provide for one’s family and community. Web: www.BarnstormingAmerica.com.

Being Helen Keller

Producing organizations: Straight Ahead Pictures, WETA (Washington, D.C.) and Thirteen’s American Masters for WNET. Presented by WNET/American Masters. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 1 x 60 (HD). Status: production. Major funders: NEH, PBS, NEA. Producer/director: Laurie Block. Executive producers: Dalton Delan, Karen Kenton, Susan Lacy. Contact: Susan Lacy, lacythirteen.org.

Best remembered as the 7-year-old girl who spelled “w-a-t-e-r” in sign language, Keller lived 80 more years, filling an epic life story with challenges, triumphs and international celebrity. Outreach materials from Disability History Museum. Available for pledge.

Broadway or Bust (w.t.)

Producing organizations: WGBH (Boston), Nederlander Alliances LLC, Pittsburgh CLO, and DBS Multimedia & Entertainment LLC. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 2 x 60 (HD). Status: fundraising. Executive producers: Lance K. Schultz, Laurie Donnelly (for WGBH). Contact: Anne Adams, Anne_Adamswgbh.org.

Reality show about 44 top high school musical performers in New York City for a week of rehearsals, coaching, mentoring and judging that culminate in a final competition and performance.

Chefs of State

Producing organizations: WGBH and Mark Burnett Productions. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 6 x 60 (HD). Status: fundraising. Executive producers: Mark Burnett (for Burnett Productions), Lance K. Schultz, Laurie Donnelly (for WGBH). Contact: Anne Adams, Anne_Adamswgbh.org.

The first public TV production from Mark Burnett, producer of Survivor, Celebrity Apprentice and other “reality TV” hits, penetrates the realm of head chefs for world leaders in locations such as the U.S., U.K., South Africa, Italy, the United Nations and Finland.

The Choice 2012

Producing organization: WGBH for Frontline. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 1 x 120 (HD). Status: R&D. E.p.: David Fanning. Contact: Diane Buxton, diane_buxtonwgbh.org, 617-300-3500.

Explores presidential candidates’ backgrounds and beliefs against backdrop of the critical issues confronting the country while examining the state of the nation and competing visions for its future.

The Constitution (w.t.)

Producing organizations: tpt National Productions, Twin Cities Public Television (St. Paul, Minn.). Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 4 x 60 (HD). Status: fundraising. Major funder: PBS/CPB Program Challenge Fund. E.p.: Catherine Allan. Director: Stephen Ives. Producer: Amanda Pollak. Host: Peter Sagal. Contact: Elaine Powell, epowell tpt.org.

Multimedia event brings to life the Constitution and its history.

Death and the Civil War (w.t.)

Producing organization: A Steeplechase Films production for WGBH/American Experience. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 1 x 120 (HD). Status: production. Major funders: NEH, Liberty Mutual, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, PBS, CPB. E.p.: Mark Samels. Senior producer: Sharon Grimberg. Writer/producer/director: Ric Burns. Contact: Jim Dunford, jim_dunfordwgbh.org.

Based on Harvard President Drew Faust’s bestseller, documentary explores how the Civil War, the bloodiest war in U.S. history, created a “republic of suffering” whose consequences remain with us today.

The Divine Right: Shakespeare’s History Plays, Part One

Producing organizations: A production of Neal Street Productions and the BBC in association with Thirteen for WNET. Presented by WNET/Great Performances. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 1 x 120. Status: production. Major funders: Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Arts Fund, Vivian Milstein, Irene Diamond Fund, LuEsther T. Mertz Charitable Trust, Starr Foundation, Philip and Janice Levin Foundation, Joseph A. Wilson, Filomen M. D’Agostino Foundation. E.p.: Sam Mendes. Directors: Rupert Goold, Richard Eyre. Contact: David Ernst, ernstdthirteen.org.

Four-part miniseries assembles Shakespeare’s best-loved history plays — Richard II, Henry IV Parts I & II, Henry V — into a single chronological narrative.

Donde Estan: The Disappeared Children of El Salvador (w.t.)

Producing organizations: A co-production of Pata De Perro Productions and Latino Public Broadcasting. Episodes: 1 x 60 (HD). Status: postproduction. Major funders: CPB, Pew Fellowships in the Arts, Philadelphia Foundation, Latino Public Broadcasting, Sundance Documentary Film Program. Budget: $450,000. Director/producer: Maria Teresa Rodriguez. Producer: Kathryn Smith Pyle. Contact: Luis Ortiz, luis.ortizlpbp.org, 818-847-9656.

Personal stories of three children, now adults, whose plight reveals the legacy of the Salvadoran civil war, which is still played out through modern struggles.

Driven (w.t.)

Producing organization: Start in Morocco Films. Distributor: PBS International. Episodes: 1 x 90 (HD). Status: fundraising. Budget: $450,000. Executive producer: Tom Roberts. Producer: Rob Fletcher. Director: Jonathan Howells. Contact: Rob Fletcher, robfletcherwilson.com.

Alfred Hobbs rebuilt a 1930s London taxi and drove it across America with his estranged son to surprise the ex-wife he had left 50 years earlier. He and his wife had made another epic road trip 50 years earlier in the same car. Web: www.driven-movie.com.

The Dust Bowl (w.t.)

Producing organizations: A co-production of Florentine Films and WETA (Washington, D.C.). Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 2 x 120 (HD). Status: postproduction. Major funders: Bank of America, Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, Wallace Genetic Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, CPB, PBS. Executive-in-charge for WETA: Dalton Delan. Project director: David S. Thompson. Producer/director: Ken Burns. Writer: Geoffrey C. Ward. Contact: Kate Kelly, kkellyweta.org.

Tells story of 1930s Dust Bowl, a decade-long natural catastrophe, the worst man-made ecological disaster in U.S. history and an epic of both human suffering and perseverance.

Earth from Space (w.t.)

Producing organizations: WGBH/Nova/Darlow Smithson. Presented by WGBH/Nova. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 2 x 60 (HD). Status: preproduction. Major funder: Keneda Foundation. Senior e.p.: Paula S. Apsell. E.p.: Howard Swartz. Contact: Pamela Rosenstein, Pamela_rosensteinwgbh.org.

Dazzling images from Earth-observing satellites reveal surprising beauty of our delicate, dynamic planet.

Getting Back to Abnormal

Producing organization: Center for New American Media. Distributor: ITVS. Episodes: 1 x 90 (HD). Status: postproduction. Major funders: ITVS, NEA, Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities. Budget: $350,000. Producers: Louis Alvarez, Andrew Kolker, Paul Stekler, Peter Odabashian. Contact: Andrew Kolker, andycnam.com.

Portrait of New Orleans five years after Katrina as the city struggles to rebuild, redefine and protect its unique identity.

Half the Sky

Producing organizations: ITVS, Show of Force and Fugitive Films. Presented by Independent Lens. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 2 x 120 (HD). Status: production. Producers: Maro Chermayeff, Jamie Gordon, Mikaela Beardsley. Contact: Sreedevi Sripathy, sreedevi_sripathyitvs.org.

Multiplatform six-country project based on Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn’s book about three major abuses of women: sex trafficking and forced prostitution; gender-based violence, including honor killings and mass rape; and maternal mortality. Outreach includes game on Facebook and 40-plus targeted educational shorts.

An Il Volo Christmas (w.t.)

Producing organization: Detroit Public Television. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: TBD. Status: preproduction. Producer: Ken Ehrlich. Director: Ron de Moraes. Contact: Jamie Westrick, jwestrickdptv.org, 248-305-3784.

Pledge special features three teenaged Italian tenors performing some of their favorite Christmas songs blended with other concert favorites.

Inventing David Geffen

Producing organization: Thirteen’s American Masters for WNET. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 1 x 120 (HD). Status: production. Writer/director/producer: Susan Lacy. Producer: Jessica Levin. Contact: Susan Lacy, lacythirteen.org, 212-560-6975.

Portrait of the agent, Hollywood and Broadway producer, recording mogul and philanthropist who has helped shape American popular culture for the past four decades.

Prefaces to Shakespeare

Producing organizations: A production of WNET and 116 Films in association with BBC Two and BBC Four. Presented by WNET/Great Performances. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 6 x 60 (HD). Status: preproduction. Major funder: NEA. Writer/director/producer: Richard Denton. Executive producers for WNET: Stephen Segaller, David Horn. Series producer: Bill O’Donnell. Contact: David Ernst, ernstdthirteen.org.

Delves into stories behind Shakespeare’s plays, exploring the context of each play in the canon.

Reportero

Producing organizations: Quiet Pictures, ITVS, Latino Public Broadcasting. Episodes: 1 x 60 (HD). Status: postproduction. Major funders: ITVS, Sundance Documentary Fund, Cine Reach, Ford Foundation, Latino Public Broadcasting. Budget: $560,000. Director/producer: Bernardo Ruiz. Co-producer: Patricia Benabe. Cinematographer: Claudia Rocha. Editor: Carla Gutierrez. Contact: Luis Ortiz, luis.ortizlpbp.org, 818-847-9656.

Veteran reporter and colleagues at embattled Mexican newsweekly challenge drug cartels and corrupt local officials during a wave of unprecedented violence against journalists.

Sacred Journeys, Sacred Places — Across Centuries and Continents with Bruce Feiler (w.t.)

Producing organizations: WGBH (Boston) and Maya Vision International with Bruce Feiler. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 6 x 60 (HD). Status: fundraising. Major funders: PBS, NEH. Executive producers: Laurie Donnelly (for WGBH), Rebecca Dobbs (for Maya Vision International). Host: Bruce Feiler. Contact: Anne Adams, Anne_AdamsWGBH.org.

Contemporary seekers retrace some of the world’s most ancient, meaningful and challenging religious pilgrimages.

Sound Tracks: Music Without Borders

Producing organizations: Talbot Players LLC and KQED (San Francisco). Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 6 x 60 (HD). Status: fundraising, preproduction. Major funder: NEA. Budget: $2.6 million. Project director and e.p. for Talbot Players: Steve Talbot. E.p. for KQED: Joanne Elgart Jennings. Senior producer: Bob Calo. Coordinating producer: Emily Taguchi. Host/reporter/co-producer: Marco Werman. Contact: Steve Talbot, stevetalbotplayers.com, 415-282-5129; Joanne Elgart Jennings. JEJenningsKQED.org, 415-553-2810.

Miniseries combines travel show, newsmagazine and “global hit” musical concert. Outreach includes website and a regular presence on PRI/BBC radio program The World. (See feature, Current, Sept. 19, 2011).

Unfinished Spaces

Producing organizations: Ajna Films, Latino Public Broadcasting. Episodes: 1 x 60 (HD). Status: postproduction. Major funders: Reed Foundation, AIA New York, Arnold W. Brunner Grant, Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts, Jerome Foundation, New York State Council on the Arts, LEF Foundation, Latino Public Broadcasting. Budget: $374,000. Directors: Alysa Nahmias, Benjamin Murray. Contact: Luis Ortiz, luis.ortizlpbp.org, 818-847-9656.

Three architects resume work on their first project — Cuba’s National Art Schools — left unfinished in 1965 after the Cuban Revolution. Web: www.unfinishedspaces.com.

Making Viva Max

Producing organizations: Three Cord Media, Latino Public Broadcasting. Episodes: 1 x 60 (HD). Status: production. Major funders: Latino Public Broadcasting. Budget: $363,000. Director/Writer: Jim Mendiola. Producer: Faith Radle. Contact: Luis Ortiz, luis.ortizlpbp.org, 818-847-9656.

Covers plight of Hollywood crew in 1969, making a comedy about Mexicans retaking the Alamo, that fights the Daughters of the Republic of Texas for permission to shoot the film on historic site.

The Waiting Room

Producing organizations: ITVS and Open ‘Hood Productions. Presented by Independent Lens. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 1 x 90 (HD). Status: postproduction. Director/producer: Pete Nicks. Producer: Linda Davis. Contact: Sreedevi Sripathy, sreedevi_sripathyitvs.org.

Cinema verité portrait of California city’s public safety-net hospital as it struggles to handle patient overload in a swooning economy with constantly shifting health-care policies.

Winter ’13

The Abolitionists (w.t.)

Producing organizations: An Apograph Productions film for WGBH/American Experience. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 1x 120, 1 x 60. Status: scripting. Major funders: NEH, Liberty Mutual, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, PBS, CPB. Executive producers: Mark Samels, Sharon Grimberg. Writer/producer: Rob Rapley. Director: Jamila Wignot. Contact: Jim Dunford, jim_dunfordwgbh.org.

Marks the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, which concluded a long campaign to end slavery.

Carl Sandburg: The Day Carl Sandburg Died

Producing organization: Bonesteel Films Inc. Presented by WNET/American Masters. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 1 x 90 (HD). Status: postproduction. Major funders: NEA. Director: Paul Bonesteel, Producer: Matthew Gellert. Contact: Susan Lacy, slacythirteen.org, 212-560-6975.

Life and times of controversial free-verse poet whose name was synonymous with the American experience and the lives of real people. Possible pledge special.

Henry Ford and The American Dream (w.t.)

Producing organization: A Sarah Colt Productions film for WGBH/American Experience. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 1 x 120 (HD). Status: R&D. Major funders: NEH, Liberty Mutual, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, PBS, CPB. E.p.: Mark Samels. Senior producer: Sharon Grimberg. Writer/producer/director: Sarah Colt. Contact: Jim Dunford, jim_dunfordwgbh.org.

Examines life of Henry Ford, an influential preeminent business innovator of the 20th century who was also anti-union, anti-Semitic and a cruel father.

Kind-Hearted Woman

Producing organization: David Sutherland Production. Presented by WGBH/Frontline. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 2 x 120 (HD). Status: production. Major funders: PBS/CPB Program Challenge Fund, ITVS, Frontline, WGBH, LEF Foundation. Writer/producer/director: David Sutherland (for Frontline). Executive producers: David Fanning, Sally Jo Fifer (for ITVS). Frontline e.p. for special projects: Michael Sullivan. Contact: Diane Buxton, Diane_buxtonwgbh.org, 617-300-3500.

Verité documentarian David Sutherland (The Farmer’s Wife) documents the struggles of Robin Charboneau, a 32-year-old Oglala Sioux single mother raising her children while chasing her dream: to earn a social work degree and return to her reservation to counsel abused women.

Making of North America (w.t.)

Producing organizations: WGBH/Nova. Presented by WGBH/Nova. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 2 x 60 (HD). Status: R&D. Senior e.p.: Paula S. Apsell. Contact: Pamela Rosenstein, Pamela_rosensteinwgbh.org.

Explores monumental forces that shaped our continent’s deep past.

Murder by Poison

Producing organization: An Actual Reality Pictures film for WGBH/American Experience. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 3 x 60 (HD). Status: preproduction. Major funders: Liberty Mutual, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, PBS, CPB. E.p.: Mark Samels. Senior producer: Sharon Grimberg. Producer/director: R.J. Cutler. Contact: Jim Dunford, jim_dunfordwgbh.org.

Series set in New York during Prohibition tells how two scientists turn forensic toxicology into an essential crime-fighting tool, sending vicious murderers to the electric chair.

OnStage in America (w.t.)

Producing organization: OnStage in America. Presenting station: Oregon Public Broadcasting. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 4 x 120 (HD). Status: fundraising. Budget : $1.5 million. Executive producers: John Fox, Mary Salter. Producer: Joe Grifasi. Contact: John Fox or Mary Salter, onstageinamericagmail.com, 646-580-0636.

Cinematic-style, onstage recordings of regional not-for-profit theater productions. Includes profiles of the theater companies and their communities. Outreach includes school residency programs.

The Ornament of the World

Producing organization: Kikim Media. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 1 x 90 (HD). Status: production. Major funder: NEH. Producer/director: Michael Schwarz. E.p.: Kiran Kiki Kapany. Contact: Michael Schwarz, mschwarzkikim.com.

Recounts 800-year period in medieval Spain when Muslims, Jews and Christians transcended their religious identities to create a shared culture of tolerance.

Spring ’13

Attenborough’s Life (w.t.)

Producing organizations: A co-production of BBC and Thirteen in association with WNET. Presented by Nature. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 3 x 60 (HD). Status: production. Major funder: Canon. Budget: $1.9 million. Executive producers: Fred Kaufman (for Nature), Alistair Fothergill (for BBC). Contact: Jayne Jun, junjthirteen.org.

Celebrates Sir David Attenborough’s 60 years in natural history filmmaking. Focuses on three fields that have been profoundly transformed during his career: filmmaking, science and the environment.

Central Park Five

Producing organizations: A co-production of Florentine Films and WETA (Washington, D.C.). Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 1 x 160 (HD). Status: production. Major funders: Atlantic Philanthropies, CPB, PBS. Executive-in-charge for WETA: Dalton Delan. Project director: David S. Thompson. Director/producer: Ken Burns. Producers: Sarah Burns, David McMahon. Contact: Kate Kelly, kkellyweta.org.

Examines America’s complicated perceptions of race and crime through the story of the Central Park Five, a group of minority teenagers accused of brutally raping a white woman in New York City’s Central Park.

How We Invented Everything, with Steve Johnson (w.t.)

Producing organization: Nutopia. Presenting station: Oregon Public Broadcasting. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 6 x 60 (HD). Status: preproduction. Major funders: CPB/PBS Program Challenge Fund. Budget: $4.2 million. Executive producers: Jane Root, David Davis (for OPB). Series producer: Phil Craig. Contact: David Davis, ddavisopb.org, 503-293-1959.

Explores how innovation has shaped our world, from the construction and sinking of the Titanic to Twitter, from the invention of air conditioning to the election of Ronald Reagan.

The Island President

Producing organization: ITVS and After Image Public Media. Presented by Independent Lens. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 1 x 90 (HD). Status: postproduction. Director: Jon Shenk. Producers: Bonni Cohen, Richard Berge. Contact: Sreedevi Sripathy, sreedevi_sripathyitvs.org.

Details the struggle by impassioned president of the Maldives to save his vulnerable island nation in Indian Ocean from looming climate apocalypse.

Summer ’13

Byron and Babbage: A Calculating Story

Producing organization: On the Road Productions International, Inc. Distributor: PBS International. Episodes: 1 x 6 (HD). Status: production. Major funder: Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Budget: $600,000. Producer/director: Rosemarie Reed. Associate produ-cer: Michael Wachholz. Writer: Victoria Zackheim. Contact: Rosemarie Reed, [email protected].

Portrays life and times of Ada Lovelace, mathematician and daughter of Lord Byron.

Time Team America

Producing organizations: Oregon Public Broadcasting and Videotext Communications. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 4 x 60 (HD). Status: preproduction. Major funder: NSF. Budget: $2.4 million. Executive producer: David Davis. Contact: Pat Kruis, pkruisopb.org, 503-293-1933.

Time Team America archaeologists join active archaeological digs for three days of racing against the clock to dig up history. Outreach includes field schools for at-risk teens at each site. Web: www.pbs.org/opb/timeteam.

Tracing Thalidomide: The Frances Kelsey Story

Producing organization: On the Road Productions International Inc. Distributor: PBS International. Episodes: 1 x 6 (HD). Status: production. Major funder: Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Budget: $600,000. Producer/director: Rosemarie Reed. Associate producer: Michael Wachholz. Writer: Victoria Zackheim. Contact: Rosemarie Reed, [email protected].

Tells story of the medical drug scandal and its heroine, Frances Kelsey, the Food and Drug Administration pharmacologist/physician who discovered that the testing processes of thalidomide had been falsified.

Fall ’13

The Change (w.t.)

Producing organization: Ironbound Films Inc. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 1 x 60 (HD). Status: Production. Major funders: NSF. Budget: $870,000. Producer/directors: Seth Kramer, Daniel A. Miller, Jeremy Newberger. Contact: Daniel A. Miller, millerironboundfilms.com.

Views indigenous communities hardest hit by climate change through the eyes of the teenage daughter of a cultural anthropologist.

Farewell, Ferris Wheel

Producing organization: Kola Pictures. Episodes: 1 x 60 (HD). Status: postproduction. Major funders: Latino Public Broadcasting, IFP, ITVS, Tribeca Film Institute. Budget: $250,000. Co-director/co-editor: Miguel Martinez. Co-director/co-producer/co-editor: Jamie Sisley. Supervising editor: Sean Kelly. Co-producer: Sam Baker. Contact: Luis Ortiz, luis.ortizlpbp.org, 818-847-9656.

Examines endangered American carnival and its effects on Mexican town of Tlapacoyan, which provides one third of America’s carnival labor.

Inventing Tomorrow (w.t.)

Producing organization: WGBH/Nova/Powderhouse Productions. Presented by WGBH/Nova. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 4 x 60 (HD). Status: R&D. Senior e.p.: Paula S. Apsell. E.p.: Chris Schmidt. Contact: Pamela Rosenstein, Pamela_rosensteinwgbh.org.

Follows host David Pogue from laboratories to factory floors, from cities to remote landscapes, in search of scientific and engineering breakthroughs poised to change our world.

JFK (w.t.)

Producing organization: WGBH/American Experience. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 1 x 120 (HD). Status: R&D. Major funders: Liberty Mutual, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, PBS, CPB. E.p.: Mark Samels. Senior producer: Sharon Grimberg. Contact: Jim Dunford, jim_dunfordwgbh.org.

Program, scheduled for broadcast coinciding with 50th anniversary of JFK’s assassination, examines 35th president’s life and political career.

The Latino Americans/Los Latinos Americanos (w.t.)

Producing organizations: WETA (Washington, D.C.) in association with Latino Public Broadcasting (LPB). Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 3 x 120 (HD). Status: preproduction. Major funders: Program Challenge Fund, Ford Foundation, NEH, Rockefeller Foundation, Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, Annenberg Foundation, Latino Public Broadcasting, Summerlee Foundation. Series executive producers: Jeff Bieber, Dalton Delan (for WETA), Sandie Pedlow (for LPB). Series producer: Adriana Bosch. Contact: Kate Kelly, kkellyweta.org.

Chronicle of Latinos in the United States for 200 years — the people, politics and culture. Outreach includes engagement campaign and book by Ray Suarez of PBS NewsHour.

Marthas

Producing organization: Undocumented Films Inc. Presenting organization: Latino Public Broadcasting. Episodes: 1 x 60 (HD). Status: production. Major funders: Latino Public Broadcasting, ITVS. Budget: $340,000. Contact: Luis Ortiz, luis.ortizlpbp.org, 818-847-9656.

Follows year-long preparations by Mexican-American teens in Laredo, Texas, for their social debuts in exclusive 113-year-old Society of Martha Washington Colonial Pageant and Ball.

¿Más Bebes?

Producing organizations: Co-production of Rene Tajima-Peña and Virginia Espino d.b.a. Moon Canyon Films and ITVS, produced in association with Latino Public Broadcasting. Presenting organization: Latino Public Broadcasting. Episodes: 1 x 60 (HD). Status: postproduction. Major funders: Latino Public Broadcasting, California Council for the Humanities. Budget: $390,000. Producer/director: Renee Tajima-Peña. Producer: Virgnia Espino. Contact: Luis Ortiz, luis.ortizlpbp.org, 818-847-9656.

Reveals disturbing history of hundreds of Mexican-origin women coercively sterilized at Los Angeles County Medical Center-USC during the late 1960s and 1970s.

Ruben Zalazar: The Man in the Middle

Producing organizations: City Projects, Latino Public Broadcasting. Episodes: 1 x 60 (HD). Status: postproduction. Major funders: Latino Public Broadcasting, California Council for the Humanities. Budget: $645,000. Producer/director: Phillip Rodriguez. Contact: Luis Ortiz, luis.ortizlpbp.org, 818-847-9656.

Story of the life and mysterious death of prominent 20th-century Mexican American journalist.

The Third Root — Morocco

Producing organization: Putrabumi Production. Presenting organization: Latino Public Broadcasting. Episodes: 1 x 90 (HD). Status: postproduction. Major funder: Latino Public Broadcasting. Budget: $266,000. Co-producer/co-writer/director/director of photography: Reed Rickert. Co-producer/co-writer/music director/conductor: Camilo Nu. Contact: Luis Ortiz, luis.ortizlpbp.org, 818-847-9656.

Follows Mexican guitarist Camilo Nu as she discovers rich culture in under-recognized roots of Mexican music. Web: www.thethirdrootmovie.com.

Sometime in ’13

Frederick Law Olmsted: Designing America (w.t.)

Producing organizations: WNED (Buffalo/Toronto) and Florentine Films/Hott Productions. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 1 x 90 (HD). Status: fundraising. Major funders: Massachusetts Foundation for Humanities, NEH, HSBC Bank. E.p.: John Grant. Producer: Lawrence Hott. Writer: Ken Chowder. Contact: John Grant, jagrantaol.com, 814-234-5210.

Bio of Olmsted, the father of American landscape design, whose range and diversity says a tremendous amount about our country’s history.

The Railway That Built a Nation

Producing organizations: WNED (Buffalo/Toronto) and 90th Parallel. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 1 x 120 (HD). Status: R&D. Major funders: Executive producers: John Grant, Gordon Henderson. Writer: Ken Chowder. Producer: Andrew Gregg. Contact: John Grant, jagrantaol.com, 814-234-5210.

Program explores history, construction and legacy of Canadian Pacific Railway.

Sometime in ’14

The Captive (w.t.)

Producing organization: Sarah Colt Productions Film for WGBH/American Experience. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 1 x 120 (HD). Status: fundraising. Major funders: Liberty Mutual, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, PBS, CPB. E.p.: Mark Samels. Senior producer: Sharon Grimberg. Writer/producer/director: Sarah Colt. Contact: Jim Dunford, jim_dunfordwgbh.org.

Tells poignant story of Cynthia Ann Parker, who was captured by the Comanches in 1836 and forcibly retaken by Americans 24 years later.

Freedom Summer

Producing organization: A Firelight Films production for WGBH/American Experience. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 1 x 120 (HD). Status: fundraising. Major funder: NEH. E.p.: Mark Samels. Senior producer: Sharon Grimberg. Writer/director/producer: Stanley Nelson. Contact: Jim Dunford, jim_dunfordwgbh.org.

Recounts historic voter registration and education drive that brought hundreds of volunteers to segregated Mississippi during the violent summer of 1964. Outreach will include website, youth events, iPad app, social-media work.

FSK (Francis Scott Key)

Producing organizations: Maryland Public Television, American Photoplay LLC. Episodes: 2 x 60, 1 x 60 (HD). Status: fundraising. Budget: $8.3 million. Producer/director: Philip Marshall. Producer: Scott Rosenfelt. Producer: Joshua C. Nathan. Contact: Phillip Guthrie, pguthriempt.org, 410-581-4187.

Live-action docudrama about complex life of Francis Scott Key plus adjunct documentary on how Key’s 1814 poem became the national anthem in 1932. Web: www.FSKUSA.org.

George Washington (w.t.)

Producing organization: WGBH/American Experience. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 2 x 120 (HD). Status: R&D. E.p.: Mark Samels. Senior producer: Sharon Grimberg. Contact: Jim Dunford, jim_dunfordwgbh.org.

First definitive television bio of nation’s first president — and arguably the most important figure in American history — is scheduled for release on 225th anniversary of George Washington’s inauguration.

The Italian Americans (w.t.)

Producing organizations: A co-production of WETA (Washington, D.C.) and Ark Media. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 2 x 120 (HD). Status: fundraising. Major funders: NEH, Program Challenge Fund. Executive producers for WETA: Jeff Bieber, Dalton Delan. Producers: Barak Goodman, John Maggio. Co-writer/historian: Gay Talese. Contact: Kate Kelly, kkellyweta.org.

Author Gay Talese chronicles history of the Italian-Americans.

The Pilgrims (w.t.)

Producing organizations: A co-production of Steeplechase Films and WETA (Washington, D.C.). Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 1 x 120 (HD). Status: R&D, fundraising. Major funder: Annenberg Foundation. Executive producers for WETA: Jeff Bieber, Dalton Delan. Producer/director: Ric Burns. Writer: Nick Bunker. Contact: Kate Kelly, kkellyweta.org.

Film based on Nick Bunker’s book relates deep history, origins and harrowing first decade of the Pilgrims’ colony in North America.

The Roosevelts (w.t.)

Producing organizations: A co-production of Florentine Films and WETA (Washington, D.C.). Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 6 x 120 (HD). Status: preproduction. Major funders: Bank of America, Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, CPB, PBS. Executive-in-charge for WETA: Dalton Delan. Project director: David S. Thompson. Producer/director: Ken Burns, Paul Barnes, Pam Baucom. Writer: Geoffrey C. Ward. ContactKate Kelly, kkellyweta.org.

Series by producers of The National Parks presents Theodore, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt as the most prominent members of one of the most important families in U.S. history.

The War That Changed Everything (w.t.)

Producing organizations: A production of Electra Pictures (Australia), Furnace TV (U.K.) and WETA (Washington, D.C.). Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 4 x 60 (HD). Status: R&D. Major funder: Annenberg Foundation. Executive producers for WETA: Jeff Bieber, Dalton Delan. Contact: Kate Kelly, kkellyweta.org.

Explores various areas where World War I changed everything — politics, medicine, science, nature of warfare, women’s rights, globalization — and how its impact is still felt throughout the world today.

Sometime in ’15

Jackie Robinson (w.t.)

Producing organizations: A co-production of Florentine Films and WETA (Washington, D.C.). Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 1 x 120 (HD). Status: R&D. Executive-in-charge for WETA: Dalton Delan. Project director: David S. Thompson. Producer/directors: Ken Burns, David McMahon, Sarah Burns. Writer: David McMahon. Contact: Kate Kelly, kkellyweta.org.

Charts the life and times of Jack Roosevelt Robinson, who in 1947 became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball.

Sometime in 2016 or later

Vietnam (w.t.)

Producing organizations: A co-production of Florentine Films and WETA (Washington, D.C.). Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 6 x 120 (HD). Status: production. Major funders: Bank of America, Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, Park Foundations, Atlantic Philanthropies, CPB, PBS. Executive-in-charge for WETA: Dalton Delan. Project director: David S. Thompson. Producers/directors: Ken Burns, Lynn Novick. Writer: Geoffrey C. Ward. Contact: Kate Kelly, kkellyweta.org.

Producers of The War, about WWII, explore military, political, cultural, social and human dimensions of the later “war of lost illusions.”

Air dates to be set

The Green Blues: When Building Green and the Budget Collide

Producing organization: One Nation Films. Episodes: 1 x 60 (HD). Status: postproduction. Executive producers/producers: Marlo Bendau, Dee Dixon. E.p. for OPB: David Davis. Contact: David Davis, ddavisopb.org, 503-293-1959.

Quirky observational doc follows Milt and Chris Ritter as they finance their dream green home with the money in their savings.

Linus Pauling

Producing organization: Oregon Public Broadcasting. Distributor: NETA. Episodes: 1 x 60 (HD). Status: completed. Major funder: Miller Foundation. Budget: $125,000. Producer/E.p.: Nadine Jelsing. Editor: Bruce Barrow. Contact: David Davis, ddavisopb.org, 503-293-1959.

Bio of two-time Nobel Prize–winning chemist.