This week, WQED multimedia launched a production of The War That Made America.

This unprecedented television series about the French and Indian War is a centerpiece of the 250th anniversary of the conflict, which began right here in western Pennsylvania.

It is certainly an important period of history, but it is also one that is poorly understood, even locally.

The producers of The War That Made America hope to change that.

When the series airs on public television in the fall of 2005, and with production just getting underway, we have a preview test footage shot this summer in Ligonier in Westmoreland County.

The War That Made America.

It's not the war you think.

It began 250 years ago in a dense forest in Pennsylvania.

A 22 year old British provincial officer ordered his men to fire on a peaceful French diplomatic party.

Soon, the world was at war.

It was really the First World War, and it set in motion a whole chain of events that resonate down literally to our own day.

In North America.

The fighting was ruthless Protestant British against Catholic, French.

Shrewd Indians playing both sides and all vying for possession of this bountiful land called the French and Indian War.

It was, in fact, the war that made America.

The flashpoint in 1754, was a prime spot bordered by three rivers known then as the forks of the Ohio.

And today as the city of Pittsburgh.

And the inexperienced young officer who started it all.

None other than George Washington.

The war nearly killed him.

But he survived to become a revolutionary general and finally, father of a brand new country.

This remarkable tale of desire and ambition, of frightening and calculated acts of terror.

No.

You got no.

Of guerrilla warfare fought deep in uncharted woodlands and of powerful Indian diplomacy, will be broadcast nationwide in a ne for our public television series and action.

Cut it.

Produced by WQED multimedia, Pittsburgh, in collaboration with the region's French and Indian war sites.

Are you rolling?

You bet.

The series will be shot in high definition video and inspired by new scholarship using period accurate costumes, weapons and sets, and introducing characters who actually lived the drama.

This history will spring to life.

The War That Made America forms the centerpiece of wide ranging initiatives to commemorate the French and Indian War, and significant investments have brought together historical sites across several states.

New educational materials and extensive website.

Tourism opportunities and a variety of media projects will attract international attention and an unprecedented new audience to this pivotal chapter of American history.

I can't think of a better subject for television, for movies, for books than the French and Indian War.

It was a frontier skirmish that exploded into full scale global war when it was over.

It's spelled an end to Indian power and French expansion in North America.

While Britain won an empire.

She would lose her 13 colonies.

This war set the stage for something completely unexpected.

The American Revolution.

Witnessed how America really came into being.

In the riveting PBS four part series The War That Made America.

And joining us now with more on The War that Made America.

The film's executive producer, Deb Acklin, also happens to be the senior vice president of production and technology here at WQED.

Deb, thanks so much for joining us.

First of all, we saw a little bit of this here.

Is is the documentary going to be actors?

Is it going to be all narration combination?

How is it going to be put together?

It's sort of a hybrid production.

I mean, one of the things that we encountered when we started looking at this is that it's obviously a pre photographic period.

There was no one here, painting pictures of the wilderness.

And there are very few artifacts that exist.

So we couldn't do a traditional documentary in the sense of images and narration and historians on camera, commenting on on the events.

What we decided to do instead was create a dramatized documentary.

So essentially what we plan to do is have a presenter who probably will be a relatively well known actor, who will be the storyteller, and then he or she will provide the transition transitions and linkages between some dramatized events from the war.

So we'll be staging some big battles.

How is it going to if you've been lucky so far, have you found locations around where they're going to fit the scenes that original wherever they originally?

Yeah, we have.

And the thing that's exciting to me is that, so many of them are where the history actually happened.

For example, we, in that that video that you just saw, we did a test shoot, mostly because we're trying to test the technology.

We're using high definition video.

And so we wanted to kind of do a shakedown cruise for the technology and also for the crew, but also for the locations.

We're going to be shooting on some private land in Ligonier, and there was actually a friendly fire incident.

Aside from Fort Ligonier prominence in the conflict, there was a friendly fire incident that happened in some woods near Fort Ligonier, where George Washington was very nearly killed.

And so it's exciting to me to know that we actually are on the ground where this all happened.

Now, this has to be a painstaking process to go through history and make and make sure you have your all your facts correct, too.

That's right.

And to make sure that it's entertaining.

Yeah, because the story did take a long time to unfold and it is rather complicated.

But it's a great story.

I mean, it has all the elements.

It has three great cultures, really, for when you begin to see how the American culture began to emerge from this, it has, a clash of those cultures.

A very rich story to be told about the Indians who were here at the time.

It's the story of the young George Washington.

It's really the missing piece of his life in many ways because he was a 21 year old and being a 21 year old, you know, sort of being bold and making some mistakes and, and truly, very nearly getting himself killed.

So there are a lot of really good elements to the story, and you're going to be using a lot of local actors.

That's right.

We'll be using actually local actors, local production personnel.

Our plan is to to look to everything, look to Pittsburgh for everything.

And then if we can't find something specialize that we need here to expand out.

But, you know, we'll need to import some re-enactor and some other folks to do that.

And your air date again is scheduled for fall of 2005.

Looking forward to it.

Can I can I point you in one thing?

Sure.

thewarthatmadeamerica.org is the websit that's up and running for anyone who might be interested in the production, and we'll be updating that as we go.

But it's thewarthatmadeamerica.org Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Deb Acklin.

Thank you.

And we look forward to more updates as production gets underway.

And you can go to the.org location.