***Planning for the 2012 Producers Academy is currently being considered by CPB and PBS. At this time, we have no information about the application process or workshop schedule.
Following us on Twitter @PBSProgramming is the best way to get updates about the workshop and hear about other PBS programming initiatives. Email queries can be sent to Producers_Academy@pbs.org***
The CPB/PBS Producers Academy is a “scholarship” program that affords 25 public media producers to attend a weeklong producers workshop to be held at WGBH Boston.
Each scholarship includes the cost of the workshop, and reasonable expenses for airfare, hotel accommodations, meals, and limited ground transportation.
Generally, the announcement for the annual program and application form is made online at www.pbs.org/producing at the beginning of the year.
Over a seven-day period, participants in the Producers Workshop 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 is open both to public broadcasting station staff producers and to independent producers who are involved in public media.
The Workshop is 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 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 media'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.
Information about past Producers Academy fellows can be found online at http://producersworkshop.pbs.org.
To qualify for the program, candidates must work in the United States and its territories, and must have time to complete preparatory readings and other assignments in the six weeks before the Workshop begins.
“This workshop went well beyond what I had imagined possible. One of my favorite moments was watching another producer discover a new way to approach [her project] and be invigorated with optimism again. It was totally outside the box and it was wonderful!"
- Suzanne Smith, 2010 Workshop
Seminars and Sessions
The Workshop will be held over a seven-day period. 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 Workshop participants’ productions
Monday: Writing: Proposals and Scripts, Standards and Ethics in Producing/Directing
Tuesday: Editing and Post-Production, Legal Issues for Producers, Digital and New Media Production
Wednesday: Project Management, Pitching Your Project
Thursday: Special Sessions on Workshop participants’ projects
Friday: Fundraising, Promotion & Audience Engagement, Travel home
Production Skills Seminars
The first few days of the course are devoted to specific areas of program production: proposal and script writing, production planning and administration, directing/producing, best practices in journalism, 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 screen productions and discuss "homework" materials prepared in advance. The discussions are led by the executive director of the Workshop and by other experienced production personnel drawn from the public media 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 digital media production, and live/studio production. The skills that the Workshop seek to develop are 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 or an episode of We Shall Remain. Assisting in the day's work would be the authors of the programs under review, who would discuss 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 Digital and New Media seminar, by contrast, the presenters might start with the ways that production for digital platforms should be conceptualized differently than linear (“traditional”) media production, and the opportunities and challenges that multi-platform production offers to PBS producers. Web-original and companion sites would be discussed, as well as high-budget and lower-budget Web production, and integrating participatory (“Web 2.0”) and social media production into project sites.
Special Sessions
One day of the Producers Workshop program is tailored to the individual participants' work issues and interests. The 25-person group breaks up into smaller groups of three to five participants who 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 a producing fellow 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 Media
Sessions are offered on working with PBS, CPB, and related public media entities with discussion of topics such as resources available through local stations, the Minority Consortia and the network; public broadcasting’s increasing focus on multi-platform production, and more.
At the end of the Workshop, the participants gather 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 projects such as The CHINA Trilogy and Eleanor Roosevelt, among others. 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 The Longoria Affair, an ITVS-supported film that aired on Independent Lens (executive producer); Young and Restless in China, which aired on Frontline (executive producer); and Mary Pickford for American Experience (executive producer).
Workshop sessions, in both the Production Skills Seminars and Special Sessions, are 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, 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, Llewellyn Smith, Adriana Bosch, Michael Kirk, Mark Zwonitzer, Callie Crossley, Carlos Sandoval, 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 is like the film school class I wish I’d had!”
- Tricia Creason-Valencia, 2008 Workshop
CPB/PBS Producers Academy WGBH Workshop 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 media? Funding issues? Technological issues? How can public media 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: Proposals and Scripts, Standards and Ethics in Producing/Directing, Reception
Monday and Tuesday's work will be in craft sessions, focusing on key production skills.
We start with a dense day on story and journalism 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, blogging, other online content, etc.) The Standards and Ethics session will feature presentations by national producers who have direct experience with critical issues in journalism, including transparency and fairness in broadcast and on other platforms.
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.
Tuesday: Editing and Post-Production, Legal Issues for Producers,Digital and New Media Production
The session on Editing will screen and discuss work samples from high-profile national programs such as Nova and Frontline, and will also look at lower-cost editing options for independents and small-station staff. The Legal session will cover complex concepts like fair use, archival and interview contracts, and more. The session on New Media will be tailored to the groups’ skills and knowledge, offering them opportunities to consider extending their video projects into new media, creating multi-platform projects, and working with social and participatory media for content and engagement.
Wednesday: Project Management, 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. This session aims at showing the group how to plan for solid content that meets PBS and CPB deliverables and requirements, regardless of budget level, and will include planning and budgeting for multi-platform and tapeless production. 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 Workshop participants will then "pitch" a project, and the presenters with others from the group will analyze style, content, etc. The goal will be to model best practices that can be applied to a variety of projects.
Thursday: Special Sessions
The participants will spend this entire day presenting their own works or works-in-progress for critiquing and one-on-one evaluation and mentoring. The 25-person group is divided into smaller groups (of three to six people, depending on the session) to meet with experienced producers, directors, executives, senior writers, camerapersons, etc. In the 2010 New Media session, for example, independent new media producer Michelle Halsell and WGBH Interactive’s Arthur Smith brainstormed with each member of their small group, examining specific issues they faced in extending their projects to digital media; they discussed workflow planning options, how to find creative solutions in the evolving media landscape, and looked online for examples of content and resources. Sessions that are likely to be offered are Historical, Science or Public Affairs Documentary production; Writing for proposals and production scripts; Interactive and Digital Media; Field Directing/Producing; and Interview Techniques. The sessions offered can vary depending on the interests of the Workshop participants. Each session will be a half-day so that each producer will be able to attend two different sessions.
Friday: Fundraising, Promotion & Audience Engagement, Travel home
On the final day, the Workshop group will hear about the additional skills needed for successful productions. 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. The session will also include discussion of appropriate funders for public broadcasting productions, referencing system guidelines and extending the training in journalistic transparency. Promotion & Audience Engagement will focus on getting the finished programs to the widest possible audiences: strategies, resources, opportunities, old and new approaches in the digital world, and the current best thinking on available support.
“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
