Anne Makepeace and Eugene Shirley Discuss the Making of I.M. Pei: Building China Modern

I.M. Pei: Building China Modern follows the renowned architect I.M. Pei as he returns to his ancestral home of Suzhou, China, to design a new museum. The film premieres tonight, Wednesday March 31 on American Masters on PBS (check local listings). Beyond the Box recently caught up with director Anne Makepeace and producer Eugene Shirley to give you an in-depth behind the scenes look at the making of the film.

Producer Eugene Shirley with I.M. Pei

Was there a certain visual theme that you were looking to obtain for this program?
Eugene Shirley: Yes, indeed – and this is one of the fundamentals about the project that was set out from the beginning and that everyone on the team knew: we were looking to document the interplay between tradition and modernity. It’s an idea we kept exploring and Pei kept articulating, but it’s also seen visually throughout the film. It’s pretty much everywhere.

You can see the quality of the image shifting from the beginning of production to the end of production. What were some of the decisions that were made in terms of the type of cameras and equipment you used on location?
ES: Where possible, George [Adams, director of photography] and Anne [Makepeace] would discuss camera needs and I would throw in my two cents. This is exactly how it worked when we shot in Paris, for example, and one of the reasons why we got those lovely shots of Pei at the Louvre, as well as of the architecture. When we filmed in China, however, we often did not have the long lead-time required for us to bring in our own equipment – which would have required advance notice of many weeks in order to secure the necessary visas. We were committed to accompanying Pei on every trip he made – and we stuck to that commitment – but it meant that we often had to move heaven and earth at the last minute.  And under these circumstances you can’t always get the equipment you want.

How did you begin to select the crew for this project?
ES: There certainly was a small U.S. crew but there was also a very significant team from China. Our partners were the China Intercontinental Communication Center (CICC) and we were small by their standards. The CICC supported us with a team of executives, producers, interpreters, production managers, and drivers. The American team spun out of long-term relationships that both I, and my executive producer and sister, Anne Shirley, have had for many years. We tried to make sure there was a good working relationship between the American and Chinese teams – and then to keep those relationships steady for over a decade.

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Tags: China, Director, filmmaking, I.M. Pei, Producer, Production

Two Independent Lens Programs Win Peabody Awards

The George Foster Peabody Awards, administered by the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, is the oldest, and one of the most prestigious honors in electronic media. Among this year’s winners are two Independent Lens programs:

Between the Folds, by Vanessa Gould, chronicles the stories of 10 fine artists and intrepid theoretical scientists who have abandoned careers and hard-earned graduate degrees — all to forge unconventional lives as modern-day paper-folders.

The Order of Myths, by Margaret Brown , a complex story about race relations and the ever-present racial divide in America told through the pageantry at America’s oldest Mardi Gras in Mobile, Alabama.

Congratulations to the filmmakers on this incredible achievement! This brings the total of Peabody awards for ITVS films to 16.

The Peabody awards will be presented May 17 at a luncheon at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City with ABC’s Diane Sawyer as host.

Visit the Peabody Award website for a complete list of winners >>

Tags: Awards, George Foster Peabody, Independent Lens, Peabody, University of Georgia

I.M. Pei: Building China Modern premieres tonight on American Masters on PBS

I.M. Pei, a leading figure in international architecture, returned to his Chinese homeland after seventy years, and designed a modern museum to house the antiquities of Suzhou, in the region where his forebears lived for centuries. I.M. Pei: Building China Modern follows Pei’s personal and architectural journey from west to east over the seven-and-a-half-year process of placing a modern building in the most ancient neighborhood of a 2,500-year-old city. With intimacy and immediacy, we experience the realization of Pei’s lifelong dream—and biggest challenge—a work that he ultimately defines as “my biography.”

Check out a preview of tonight’s broadcast below:

I.M. Pei: Building China Modern premieres tonight, Wednesday, March 31 at 10:00 on American Masters on PBS (check local listings). A co-production of Pacem Distribution International and ITVS in association with South Carolina ETV.

Tags: American Masters, architecture, China, I.M. Pei, Suzhou

IndiesLab participates in The Conversation at Columbia University

The Independent Digital Distribution Lab –– IndiesLab for short –– is a joint initiative of ITVS and PBS designed to help filmmakers navigate the marketplace and to generate revenue streams while also having a social impact. Last weekend, IndiesLab’s Director Davin Hutchins, attended The Conversation, a one-day conference held at Columbia University to create a dialogue and an exchange of ideas around social media, digital distribution and the future of film.

IndiesLab Director Davin Hutchins

This past weekend in New York City, several hundred filmmakers descended upon Columbia University for The Conversation. Although years have passed since the first Conversation was held in Berkeley, California, this year’s pow-wow – organized by Webby Awards founder Tiffany Shlain and Cinematech blogger Scott Kirsner – featured many luminaries from the independent film world. The goal: to seed new ideas and pollinate older ideas to chart a course of online distribution.

Clear answers on the best direction forward were elusive. IndiesLab shared the stage on a panel with Matt Dentler of Cinetic Rights Management/FilmBuff, Scilla Andreen, CEO, IndieFlix and Ryan Werner, VP of Marketing, IFC Entertainment. When pressed by the moderator on what constitutes a successful online film title in monetary terms, our panel fumbled for encouraging data.

One of the most sobering thoughts came from Ira Deutchman, head of Columbia University’s Producing Program. He asserted that because inexpensive production technology and free distribution is available to everyone now, the democratization of filmmaking is in full-force. But that’s a double-edged sword. Hundreds more auteurs in the marketplace does not necessarily mean hundreds more Michael Moores. In fact, it’s quite the opposite; it takes that much more talent to rise above the noise. Deutchman suggested that the independent filmmaker’s future career may more closely resemble that of musicians or painters, where tens of thousands eek out a subsistence living while only a few dozen secure critical acclaim and lucrative returns. Richard Lorber, CEO, Kino Lorber, summed up online distribution this way: “Everything is possible and nothing is working.”

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Tags: Columbia University, digital distribution, IndiesLab, Social Media, The Conversation

Whatever It Takes Premiering Tonight on Independent Lens on PBS

“The Week’s Guide to What’s Worth Watching: In Whatever It Takes, Edward Tom gave up an executive post at Saks Fifth Avenue for a far-lower-paying job as principal of a small public high school in the South Bronx. Cameras follow him through his first year as he struggles to deal with its challenges, epitomized by a failing 14-year-old girl whose mother is a recovering crack addict.”
- The Week Magazine

What’s a child’s education worth? For one visionary, rookie principal, it’s priceless. At the Bronx Center for Science & Mathematics, an innovative public high school in NYC’s South Bronx, principal Edward Tom leads a dedicated group of teachers, students, and parents in their biggest gamble yet. Within a community infamous for hardship, can this brand new school live up to its promise and inspire new stories of achievement and excellence?

Check out a preview of tonight’s broadcast below:

Whatever It Takes premieres tonight, Tuesday, March 30 at 10:00 on Independent Lens on PBS (check local listings). A co-production of CAAM.

Tags: African American, Asian American, education, New York City, schools, youth

In the News: The Latest on ITVS Programs

Principal Edward Tom of the Bronx Center for Science & Mathematics discusses his decision to leave a lucrative job at Saks Fifth Avenue to become a teacher and make a difference in the lives of disadvantaged students in Whatever It Takes on Independent Lens.
Watch now >>

“…[The FUTURESTATES episode Plastic Bag] from Ramin Bahrani (Chop Shop, Goodbye Solo) featuring the mad/brilliant German director as the voice of a fluttering bag is just too good to miss.”
Read full review >>

“[FUTURESTATE's Plastic Bag] is a really endearing film. I was not expecting to care about a tattered piece of plastic with handles, but by the end of it, I did.”
Read full review >>

“As she explored the family’s secrets, [filmmaker Monika Navarro of Lost Souls (Animas Perdidas)], edited them into a film that reflects the frailties of every American family.”
Read full review >>

Tags: education, future, immigration, National Geographic, Ramin Bahrani

Ask Programming: Recent Questions from Filmmakers

ITVS programming staff answer questions from filmmakers about the funding process:

LINCS Initiative

Q: My proposal was declined from the last round of Open Call. Can I apply to LINCS with the same project?

A. Yes, you may apply for LINCS with the same project. The application and evaluation processes for the two initiatives are distinct and a declination in one initiative does not affect your chances in the other. There are differences between the initiatives. The most notable is that the LINCS initiative requires a producer and public television station partnership while Open Call does not. Please read the full guidelines to see if your project is a good fit for LINCS.

Q: I have had communications with two stations who are interested in supporting my proposal for LINCS this year. Can I partner with both?

A. Yes, you can partner with more than one public television station for the LINCS initiative. Letters of Agreement with each station must be negotiated and included with the proposal materials. These letters should make clear how the required LINCS partnership responsibilities are divided up among the partnering stations. You can also use the combined in-kind from both stations in your matching funds request from LINCS (up to $100,00).

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Tags: film resources, filmmaking, funding, LINCS, PBS

Registration Open for the 2010 Robert Flaherty Film Seminar

The Robert Flaherty Film Seminar is regarded as one of the premier experiences for international documentary exploration. Film aficionados and filmmakers are immersed in days of screenings and in-depth discussions.

This year’s seminar will take place at Colgate University from June 19–25 and is open to all artists, practitioners, students, and enthusiasts of film and video. The registration fee includes lodging, all meals, seminar screenings and discussions, receptions, and other special events during the week.

Independent filmmaker Christian Bruno attended his first Flaherty Seminar a few years ago. Find out how he spent seven bleary-eyed days and nights immersed in documentary viewing and dissecting at “Cinematic Summer Camp,” a.k.a. the Robert Flaherty Film Seminar.

Read The Illuminated Darkness on Inside Indies >>

Find out how to register for this year’s Robert Flaherty Film Seminar >>

Tags: film resources, film seminar, Robert Flaherty

Community Classroom Offers Free Teaching Resources

This Long Island hip-hop group helped set a high bar for sampling artistry with their debut album 3 Feet High and Rising, released in 1989.

George Clinton helped invent the genre of funk with his groups Parliament and Funkadelic (collectively known as P-Funk); his music has been sampled in several important hip-hop songs.

Can you own a sound?

That is the provocative question raised in a new resource from ITVS Community Classroom: four lesson plans and film modules for Copyright Criminals, an innovative and dynamic documentary that explores the origins of sampling culture in hip-hop music, copyright, creativity, and technological change. This curriculum is an invaluable tool for teachers or media organizations seeking to promote media literacy and ethical media production practices among youth.

The film explores how hip-hop rose from the streets of New York to become a multibillion-dollar industry, and what happened when record company lawyers got involved and everything changed. Students will develop not only a deeper historical understanding of “remix” culture, but also contemplate where it is headed. Featured artists include Public Enemy, De La Soul, and George Clinton, as well as several prominent entertainment lawyers and media scholars.

These exciting resources examine copyright law in the history of “borrowing” sounds in music, and raise thought-provoking questions about what is creative and what is criminal. The lessons are directed toward grades 9 through 12, and college students for use in the following subject areas: media studies, media literacy, social studies, history, sociology, media production, music and language arts, business, and legal studies.

Best news of all, all of these resources are FREE to educators and youth-serving organizations.

Check out our FREE resources >>

Watch a video preview of the film below:

Tags: copyright, education, free teaching materials, law, PBS, public media, teachers

Live Streaming Panel Discussion Focuses on the Role of Public Media

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) is hosting a live streaming press event at Washington, DC’s Newseum with NPR and PBS. Watch online this Thursday, March 25, from 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM ET.

What is the role of public media in local, national, and international reporting?

On Thursday, March 25, from 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM ET, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) is hosting a live streaming press event at Washington, DC’s Newseum with NPR and PBS entitled “Public Media and Local Journalism: Meeting Community Information Needs.”

Patricia Harrison, CPB president and CEO, will open the event with an announcement of CPB’s investments in key initiatives to strengthen public media’s news and reporting capacity at the local level.

Paula Kerger, PBS president and CEO, and Vivian Schiller, NPR president and CEO, will follow via live video feed along with a panel discussion. The panel will be moderated by PBS NewsHour Correspondent Hari Sreenivasan and include Tom Rosenstiel, founder and director of Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism; Nishat Kurwa, news director of Youth Media International; Tom Karlo, general manager of KPBS TV-FM; Kinsey Wilson, senior vice president and general manager of digital media at NPR; and Larry Irving, president of Global Government Affairs at Hewlett-Packard Company.

Bookmark this page and watch the live stream on Thursday >>

Tags: CPB, journalism, NPR, PBS, public media