CPB/PBS
Producers Workshop at WGBH: Information & Application
With this notice, the CPB/PBS Producers Academy is offering
a “scholarship” opportunity to 20 individuals for a Producers Workshop to be
held at WGBH Boston, Saturday, June 20 through Friday, June 26, 2009.
Each scholarship will include the cost of the workshop, and
reasonable expenses for airfare, hotel accommodations, meals, and limited
ground transportation.
If you are interested in applying, please submit three
copies of the following: a completed application form (Click HERE to download
an application), along with a resume that includes education and television
production experience; a letter of recommendation from a public television
station or other public television programming partner (including the Minority
Consortia, ITVS, etc.), production company, or industry professional; and one
non-returnable VHS tape or DVD of recent work. (If the tape/DVD is a clips
reel, a second full-length program may also be sent.) The video provided should
include work for which the applicant performed a significant role (ex:
producer, director, writer, editor, associate producer); please indicate your
actual role and production credit on the program you submit. Tapes must be cued
to the beginning of the program or scene to be viewed. You may also include a
URL for further information or viewing.
Please include a brief narrative of your professional
development goals within public broadcasting. Among the areas you may wish to
address are general and long-range goals and how the Workshop might help you
attain them, specific skill areas you hope to develop further in the Workshop,
and projects you are currently planning or have in progress that might be aided
by your participation in the Workshop.
To be considered, an application must be received at PBS by
5:00 PM Eastern on Friday, April 3, 2009. Scholarship awards will be announced
on Wednesday, May 13, 2009. The following describes the planned workshop:
Over a seven-day period, participants in the Producers
Workshop will attend an intensive course that covers a range of production
skills and draws on the expertise that has made PBS a recognized force on the
American cultural landscape. The goal of the Producers Workshop is to
encourage a diverse and talented group of producers who will create new and
greater programming achievements in public broadcasting.
“It is very rare to exchange
ideas with your peers outside of the typical deadline-driven environment. The
week afforded me a unique opportunity to slow down, think, exchange ideas, and
develop relationships and build communities.”
- Kristin Lesko, 2007 Workshop
The Program
The Producers Workshop will be open both to public
broadcasting station staff producers and to independent producers who are
involved in public broadcasting.
The Workshop will be located at and administered by WGBH
Boston, one of the largest organizations of producers in public broadcasting.
The executive director of the Workshop is Judith Vecchione, Executive Producer,
WGBH National Productions.
Participants
The CPB/PBS Producers Academy WGBH Workshop has been
developed for producers who create or intend to create works for public
broadcasting, either through a public television station or independently. It
is an opportunity for these producers to work intensively on the skills that
will benefit them most, through classes and through direct contact with some of
public television's most talented personnel.
The definition of "producer" includes
producer/writers and producer/directors; individuals who have worked locally as
well as nationally, in all genres of programming; professionals who work in
video, film, and interactive media; and those who work in studio-based as well
as field production.
It is important to note that the Workshop is not for
beginners. The program has been designed as advanced training, to hone and
upgrade skills at a relatively high level so that the participants can apply
these skills to works in progress or in the future.
Applicants must work in the United States and its
territories, and must have time to complete preparatory readings and other
assignments in the month before the Workshop begins on June 20, 2009.
Seminars and Sessions
The Workshop will be held over a seven-day period, June 20 –
June 26, 2009. The course of study will consist of seminars on these or
similar topics:
Saturday: Travel and
Welcome dinner
Sunday: Working
with PBS and CPB
Screenings of
Workshoppers’ productions
Monday Writing
Producing/Directing
Tuesday Editing
and Post-Production
New Media
Production
Reception
Wednesday Project
Management
Legal
Pitching Your
Project
Thursday Special
Sessions on Workshoppers’ projects
Friday Publicity
& Outreach
Fundraising
Travel home
Production Skills Seminars
The first few days of the course will be devoted to specific
areas of program production: proposal writing, production planning and
administration, directing/producing, writing, editing and post-production,
extending projects to new media platforms or creating original new media
projects, and effectively presenting a project to funders and other audiences.
At each seminar, the participants will screen productions
and discuss "homework" materials they have prepared in advance. The
discussions will be led by the executive director of the Workshop and by other
experienced production personnel drawn from the public broadcasting universe.
Many of the classes will focus on documentary genres such as science, history,
and investigative programming; other classes may include arts and performance
programming, interactive and new media production, and live/studio production.
The skills that the Workshop will seek to develop will be applicable to a wide
range of productions.
As examples, at the Writing seminar, Workshop participants
might screen extended excerpts from programs in the American Experience
series, focusing specifically on the writing in films such as a presidential
biography of Ulysses S. Grant and New York. Assisting in the day's work
would be the authors of the programs under review, who would discuss with the
participants the development of programs from proposal to treatment to script,
the very different choices they made in creating the narrative
"voice" of these programs, the use of letters and other written
sources in scriptwriting, how archival materials and scriptwriting interact,
and other points of both philosophy and craft.
In the New Media seminar, by contrast, the presenters might
start with the ways that production for new media platforms should be
conceptualized differently than linear (“traditional”) media production, and
the opportunities and challenges that multi-platform production offers to PBS
producers. Both Web-original and companion sites would be discussed, as well
as high-budget and lower-budget Web production.
Special Sessions
One day of the Producers Workshop program will be tailored
to the individual participants' work issues and interests. The 20-person group
will break up into smaller groups of 3-5 participants who will attend tutorials
with experienced national production staff. Here are some examples:
• Workshop participants who have documentary programs in
progress could be paired in small groups with experienced producers and
executives from programs like P.O.V. and NOVA. The small group
would screen and critique the works, and the leader and other participants
would offer structural and narrative ideas to move the production ahead.
• For those who want to improve their field directing, a
session would be arranged with an experienced cameraman/producer. The group
would look at current and past work that the Workshoppers felt could have been
improved, examine clips from other productions that could serve as future
models, brainstorm about how participants could prepare for future lighting or
other production challenges, and discuss how to locate and use resources in the
participants' home areas.
Understanding Public Broadcasting
Sessions will be offered on working with PBS, CPB, and
related public television entities with discussion of topics such as resources
available through local stations and the network, new media and public
broadcasting, and more.
The participants will gather together at the end of the
Workshop to share their Special Sessions experience, relate them to the earlier
Production Skills Seminars, plan their next steps, and celebrate their
accomplishments.
Producers Workshop Staff
The Producers Workshop course is developed by Executive
Director Judith Vecchione. Ms. Vecchione is a longtime staff member of WGBH
Boston, where she has been executive producer for award-winning series
including Discovering Women, Americas, and De Gaulle
and France. She has also worked extensively with independent filmmakers as
executive producer for The CHINA Trilogy and Eleanor Roosevelt,
among other projects. She was series senior producer and producer for two
programs on the acclaimed series Eyes on the Prize, and produced two
programs for Vietnam: A Television History, for which she won a national
Emmy. Her most recent films include Young and Restless in China, which
aired on Frontline (executive producer), Fire Wars for NOVA
(producer/writer), and Mary Pickford for American Experience
(executive producer).
Workshop sessions, in both the Production Skills Seminars
and Special Sessions, will be led by top-level executive producers; by
producers, directors and writers in documentary, studio, and interactive
production; and by senior production administration personnel. These will be
drawn from the WGBH Boston staff, which includes the major series American
Experience, NOVA, Frontline, Antiques Roadshow, Masterpiece
Theatre, Design Squad, Arthur, This Old House, and many
others. Independent producers whose work has been showcased on public
broadcasting will also be invited to serve as teachers and mentors in the
classes; past teachers have included Ric Burns, Stanley Nelson, Rachel Dretzin,
Barak Goodman, Adriana Bosch, Michael Kirk, Mark Zwonitzer, Callie Crossley,
and Ross McElwee.
The workshop experience expanded
my thinking about the future of documentary filmmaking, provided me with
concrete skills for how to improve my own work, and allowed me to become part
of an amazing, talented community of filmmakers. I’ve told several friends that
the PBS/CPB Academy class of 2008 is like the film school class I wish I’d
had! - Tricia Creason-Valencia, 2008 Workshop
CPB/PBS Producers Academy WGBH Workshop 2009 Schedule (tentative)
Saturday: Travel and Welcome dinner
All Workshop participants travel to Boston, arriving by late
Saturday afternoon. The Workshop begins with a Saturday evening dinner for all
participants with the executive director and PBS/CPB personnel. This is an
opportunity for the Workshoppers to meet, go over the week's plans, and discuss
how to maximize their experience. An opening keynote speaker will be invited.
Sunday: Working with PBS
Screenings of
participants' works
We'll begin the Workshop with a session on the public
broadcasting system. How does PBS work? CPB? the stations? What are the big
programming issues facing public broadcasting? Funding issues? Technological
issues? How can public broadcasting develop new audiences? Support new
ideas? In the second session of the day, Workshop participants will share their
own completed works or works-in-progress with the group. This is intended to
give the participants a chance to understand each other's strengths and
concerns.
Monday Writing
Producing/Directing
Monday and Tuesday's work will be in craft sessions, focusing
on key production skills.
We start with a dense day on filmmaking skills, shaped to
fit the interests and needs of this year's Workshop participants. The Writing
session is likely to discuss proposal writing, writing scripts for documentary,
and may cover writing for other genres (children's, narrative, etc.) The
Producing/Directing session will feature presentations by a production team for
a program which the Workshoppers will have viewed in advance. The team will
review craft issues such as program structure, research and journalism
concerns, character development, etc., as they evolved for this program.
Tuesday Editing and Post-Production
New Media
Reception
The session on Editing will include presentations from
editors working on national programs such as Nova and Frontline,
and will also look at lower-tech editing options for independents and
small-station staff. The session on New Media will be tailored to the
Workshoppers’ skills and knowledge, offering them opportunities to consider
extending their video projects into new media, or creating multi-platform
projects.
In the late afternoon there will be a reception, hosted by
CPB and PBS, and held in the WGBH Atrium. This is an opportunity for Workshop
participants to network with public broadcasting and WGBH staff, independent
producers, and others from the greater Boston filmmaking community.
Wednesday Project Management
Legal
Pitching Your Project
This is a day to explore additional skills that are crucial
to successful productions of all genres. The Project and Production Management
session will include case study work and be a practical, "on time and on
budget" session. The Legal session will cover tricky concepts like fair
use, archival and interview contracts, and more. In the Pitching Your Project
session, a panel of senior production staff who regularly review proposals and
receive "pitches" will talk about what makes an effective
presentation of a project. Selected Workshoppers will then "pitch" a
project, and the presenters and other Workshoppers will together analyze style,
content, etc. The goal will be to model best practices that can be applied to
a variety of projects.
Thursday Special Sessions
In the Special Sessions day, participants divide into
smaller groups that meet with experienced producers/ executives/ senior
writers/ etc. The goal is to present and critique the participants'
works-in-progress. In the Interviewing Special Session in 2008, for example,
producer Callie Crossley brainstormed with Workshoppers on specific field
production issues they had faced in interviews, and discussed better planning
options and how to find creative solutions for the unexpectedly “difficult”
interview. Sessions that are likely to be offered are Historical, Science or
Public Affairs Documentary production; Writing for proposals and in production
scripts; Interactive and New Media; Field Directing/Producing; and Interview
Techniques. The sessions offered will depend on the interests of the 2009
Workshoppers. Each session will be a half-day so that participants will be
able to attend two different sessions.
Friday Promotion & Outreach
Fundraising
End Keynote session
Travel home
On the final day we return to additional skills needed for
successful productions. Promotion & Outreach will focus on getting the
finished programs to the widest possible audience: strategies, resources,
opportunities, old and new approaches in the digital world, and the current
best thinking on available support. How to find funds is, of course, a key
concern for all producers, and the Fundraising Workshop session looks at creative
approaches to finding support, examining local, national, and international
funding sources. A closing keynote address on future trends in television production
offers some final thoughts and completes the 2009 Workshop.
“An incredible collaboration of
talent among both presenters and attendees. My only complaint is that I won’t
be able to do it again next year.” - Sean Hutchinson, 2008 Workshop
The firm deadline for entries is Friday, April 3, 2009. To
be considered, an application and required material must be received at PBS by
5:00 PM Eastern on that date. Scholarship recipients will be announced on
Wednesday, May 13, 2009.
If you have additional questions after reading the detailed
Workshop description, please contact Kathryn Lo at PBS Producers.academy@pbs.org or Angie Palmer at CPB, apalmer@cpb.org. Please do not call WGBH.
News Archive
