About the Producers

Joe Seamans
A producer, director, writer, cinematographer, and editor, Joe Seamans has been creating documentary films since 1970. For 25 years he worked at WQED/Pittsburgh producing and photographing award-winning PBS programming. His long list of credits for National Geographic includes producer, writer, and director of photography for "Great Lakes," "Fragile Seas," "Treasures From the Past," and coproducer and director of photography for "Serengeti Diary" and "In the Shadow of Vesuvius."

Seamans has produced many PBS programs dealing with scientific and environmental issues, including "Road to the Future," which traces the impact of the car on the urban development of America. Most recently, he coproduced, directed, and wrote "The Great Robot Race" for NOVA, a documentary about the development of driverless vehicles competing in the DARPA Grand Challenge.

Janet Smith
Janet Driscoll Smith began her film and video production career at her hometown public television station, WQED/Pittsburgh. After four years of working on nationally broadcast television documentaries for WQED, she embarked on a freelance career that found her working with a wide variety of television and documentary production companies, including WGBH, the BBC, The Discovery Channel, the National Geographic Society, WETA, the World Wildlife Fund, Sea Studios, and NBC/Dateline.

As a producer and production manager, Smith has coordinated the efforts of both small and large teams of diverse people, often working in extremely challenging locations. Highlights include the WGBH/BBC biotechnology series "The Secret of Life" and the Emmy-nominated PBS environmental special "Web of Life." Her most recent NOVA adventure was to coordinate the location shooting on race day for "The Great Robot Race."