This list supplements Current’s Pipeline 2015, published in November 2014 and based on responses to our annual survey of public TV producers. Programs appearing in this update, three of which are offered for national broadcast this winter season, went to contract late last year or were submitted after the deadline for the earlier list.
Winter ’15
Mia, A Dancer’s Journey
Producing organizations: Slavenska Dance Preservation Inc., PBS SoCaL. Distributor: NETA. Length: 1 x 60. Status: complete. Major funders: NEA Art Works, Women in Film Foundation Finishing Fund, Dance Films Association, Herman Lissner Foundation, Tcherepnin Foundation, Phil and Mary Lyons, Mladen and Nada Buntich. Producers: Maria Ramas, Kate Johnson, Brenda Brkusic, Ted Sprague. Voiceover: Blythe Danner. Contact: Brenda Brkusic, [email protected], 714-241-4141; Michelle Merker, [email protected], 714-241-4142. ♦ A daughter’s promise to tell the story of her mother, the celebrated ballerina Mia Slavenska, becomes a moving reflection on historical memory, national identity and the power of dance. Web: pbssocal.org/tv/nationalproductions/mia.
No Evidence of Disease
Producing organization: Spark Media. Distributor: APT. Length: 1 x 60. Status: complete. Major funders: Globe-athon/Inova Health Foundation, Tikkun Olam Women’s Foundation, Marjie’s Fund, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Nancy Yeary Women’s Cancer Research Foundation. Producer/director: Andrea Kalin. Contact: Thomas Davison, [email protected], 617-338-4455; Karen Simon, [email protected], 202-463-6154. ♦ Follows unconventional rock band of six gynecological cancer surgeons who passionately use rock ’n’ roll to raise awareness — and spirits — in the fight against women’s “below-the-belt” cancers. Web: nedthemovie.com.
Variety Studio: Actors on Actors
Producing organizations: Variety Media LLC, PBS SoCaL. Distributor: NETA. Length: 4 x 60. Status: complete. EP’s: Brenda Brkusic, Andrew Russell. Host: Jenelle Riley. Contact: Brenda Brkusic, [email protected], 714-241-4141; Michelle Merker, [email protected], 714-241-4142. ♦ One-hour specials go inside the past year’s biggest Hollywood films through one-on-one conversations with actors discussing their craft and work. Web: pbssocal.org/variety.
Spring ’15
Ancient Roads From Christ to Constantine
Producing organization: Sunrise Films, LLC. Distributor: APT. Length: 6 x 60. Status: complete. Budget: $3 million. Producer/director: Hector Galán. Host: Jonathan Phillips. EP: Jerry Daigle. Original music: Joseph Julian Gonzalez. Contact: Jerry Daigle, [email protected], 504-522-1150; Hector Galán, [email protected], 512-327-1333. ♦ Tells story of early Christianity’s growth from a small, obscure movement beset by internal dissension and external persecution to the religion of the Roman Empire and driving force behind the development of western civilization. Web: christtoconstantine.com.
“Beautiful Sin” examines Costa Rica’s ban on in vitro fertilization through the stories of three infertile couples.
Beautiful Sin
Producing organizations: Latino Public Broadcasting, Azul Films, KQED. Distributor: NETA. Length: 1 x 60. Status: complete. Budget: $203,220. Major funders: LPB, Pacific Pioneer Fund, Chicken and Egg Fund. Producer/director: Gabriela Quiros. Contact: Luis Ortiz, [email protected], or Moises Venegas, [email protected], both at 818-847-9656. ♦ Follows three infertile couples in Costa Rica, the only country that has outlawed in vitro fertilization, to tell a universal story about the yearning to have children — and what happens when this primal desire clashes with state power and religious beliefs. Web: chickeneggpics.org/film/beautiful-sin.
The Best of the Boston Pops
Producing organization: Boston Symphony Orchestra. Distributor: APT. Length: 1 x 60. Status: postproduction. Major funder: Fidelity Investments. Producer: Susan Dangel. Contact: Thomas Davison, [email protected], 617-338-4455; Bernadette Horgan, [email protected], 617-638-9343. ♦ Star-studded celebration of the Boston Pops, hosted by Pops Conductor Keith Lockhart, features some of the greatest moments from the Boston Pops’ 129-year history.
Children of Giant
Producing organizations: Galan, Inc., Latino Public Broadcasting. Presented by Voces. Distributor: PBS. Presenting station: PBS SoCaL. Length: 1 x 90. Status: postproduction. Budget: $460,727. Producer/director: Hector Galán. EP: Sandie Viquez Pedlow. Contact: Luis Ortiz, [email protected], 818-847-9656; Moises Venegas, [email protected], 818-847-9659. ♦ Exposes events and emotions that transformed the small town of Marfa, Texas — film site of George Stevens’s epic Giant — during and beyond Anglo/Latino segregation through accounts of the individuals who experienced it firsthand.
Compassion for Those We Love
Producing organization: Terra Nova Films. Distributor: APT. Length: 1 x 60. Status: complete. Major funders: Retirement Research Foundation, Chicago Community Trust. News anchor/reporter: Tsi-tsi-ki Félix. Panelists: Maria Carrillo, Maria Marquine. Contact: Thomas Davison, [email protected], 617-338-4455; Ed Menaker, [email protected], 773-881-6940. ♦ Taped in Spanish with English subtitles, town hall–style program focuses on the Alzheimer’s home caregiving crisis and features discussion and Q&A with experts in the field.
El Poeta
Producing organizations: Latino Public Broadcasting, Loteria Films. Distributor: PBS. Presenting station: PBS SoCaL. Length: 1 x 60. Status: postproduction. Budget: $359,899. Major funders: ITVS, PUMA Bridock, LPB, Berkeley Film Foundation, Chana Ben Dor, Angelica Foundation. Director: Kelly Duane de la Vega. EP: Sandie Viquez Pedlow. Contact: Luis Ortiz, [email protected], 818-847-9656; Moises Venegas, [email protected], 818-847-9659. ♦ Tells story of renowned Mexican poet Javier Sicilia, who ignited an international movement for peace after the brutal murder of his 24-year-old son, an innocent victim in a drug war that has left more than 70,000 dead since 2006.
James Baker: The Man Who Made Washington Work
Producing organization: John Hesse Productions LLC. Distributor: PBS. Length: 1 x 90. Status: complete. EP: John Hesse. Producer/director/writer: Eric Stange. Narrator: Tom Brokaw. Contact: John Hesse, [email protected], 713-528-2050; Eric Stange, [email protected], 617-562-1755. ♦ Chronicles life of James A. Baker III, now 84, the politician and statesman who helped get three presidents elected, served in top posts for two of them and was a central player in some of the most momentous events of the late 20th century.
A Mind in Quicksand: Life with Huntington’s
Producing organization: Black Cat Productions. Distributor: APT. Length: 1 x 60. Status: complete. EP: Jessie Ewing. Producer: Sharon Zurek. Director: Kim Lile. Contact: Thomas Davison, [email protected], 617-338-4455; Sharon Zurek, [email protected], 773-274-2300. ♦ Informative, inspiring doc charts one woman’s discoveries about life with Huntington’s disease, a genetic brain disorder that causes devastating mental and physical deterioration over time. Web: amindinquicksand.com.
New Tanglewood Tales
Producing organization: Boston Symphony Orchestra. Distributor: APT. Length: 5 x 30. Status: postproduction. Producer: Susan Dangel. Contact: Thomas Davison, [email protected], 617-338-4455; Bernadette Horgan, [email protected], 617-638-9343. ♦ Engaging reality series follows six music fellows at the Tanglewood Center, Boston Symphony Orchestra’s summer music academy. Includes interviews with Yo-Yo Ma, John Williams.
Now En Español
Producing organizations: Latino Public Broadcasting, Migratory Patterns. Distributor: PBS. Presenting station: PBS SoCaL. Length: 1 x 60. Status: postproduction. Budget: $395,684. Director/producer: Andrea Meller. EP: Sandie Viquez Pedlow. Contact: Luis Ortiz, [email protected], 818-847-9656; Moises Venegas, [email protected], 818-847-9659. ♦ Chronicles ups and downs of Latina actresses in Hollywood through the lives of the five dynamic women who dub Desperate Housewives into Spanish for American audiences. Web: nowenespanol.org.
The Salinas Project
Producing organization: Deronda Productions. Distributor: APT. Length: 1 x 60. Status: complete. Producer/director: Carolyn E. Brown. Contact: Thomas Davison, [email protected], 617-338-4455; Carolyn E. Brown, [email protected], 202-885-2072. ♦ Profiles of young adult children of migrant farm workers in Salinas, Calif., that goes beyond mainstream media representations to highlight both the problems and the successes of this often marginalized community. Web: carolynebrown.com/films/the-salinas-project.
Summer ’15
A Photographer’s Journey
Producing organizations: Paradigm Productions, Latino Public Broadcasting. Distributor: PBS. Presenting station: PBS SoCaL. Length: 1 x 60. Status: postproduction. Budget: $440,436. Major funder: LPB. Directors/producers: Raymond Telles, Yvan Iturriaga. EP: Sandie Viquez Pedlow. Contact: Luis Ortiz, [email protected], 818-847-9656; Moises Venegas, [email protected], 818-847-9659. ♦ A biography of Pedro Guerrero, a Mexican American born and raised in segregated Mesa, Ariz., in the 1920s, who became an international photographer capturing iconic 20th-century artists Alexander Calder, Louise Nevelson and Frank Lloyd Wright.
Fall ’15
Buried History with Mark L. Walberg
Producing organizations: Dick Clark Company Inc., Ace’s Choice Entertainment, Octagon Entertainment, PBS SoCal. Length: 8 x 30. Status: production. Host/EP: Mark L. Walberg, EP’s: George Saadi, Kari Clark, John Ferriter. Producer: Brenda Brkusic. Contact: Brenda Brkusic, [email protected], 714-241-4141; Michelle Merker, [email protected], 714-241-4142. ♦ Antiques Roadshow host Walberg travels to small-town America in a vintage hearse, unearthing the past by piecing together clues to each town’s genealogy.
No Mas Bebes por Vida
Producing organizations: Moon Canyon Film, Latino Public Broadcasting, ITVS. Distributor: PBS. Length: 1 x 60. Status: postproduction. Budget: $396,310. Major funders: ITVS, California Council for the Humanities, LPB, UC Committee on Research, USA Broad Fellowship. Directors/producers: Renee Tajima Peña; Virginia Espino. Contact: Luis Ortiz, [email protected], Moises Venegas, [email protected], both at 818-847-9659. ♦ Participants recount what happened inside the ob-gyn unit at L.A. County-USC Medical Center and the organizing campaign and class action lawsuit that resulted from the sterilizing of Chicana mothers.
Sometime in ’15
In Defense of Food
Producing organization: Kikim Media. Distributor: PBS. Presenting station: KQED, San Francisco. Length: 1 x 120. Status: postproduction. Major funders: NSF, PBS. EP: Kiki Kapany. Producer/director: Michael Schwarz. Producer/writer: Edward Gray. Director of photography: Vicente Franco. Contact: Kiki Kapany, [email protected], 650-617-0550; Michael Schwarz, [email protected]. ♦ Based on Michael Pollan’s book In Defense of Food, doc explores relationship between food, science, marketing and policy to answer the question Pollan is asked most often: What should I eat?