April is Parkinson’s Awareness Month – Watch My Father, My Brother, and Me on PBS.org

Dave Iverson and his father

As many as 1.5 million people in the United States are afflicted with Parkinson’ s Disease. And while research using stem cells shows promise and has resumed under the Obama Administration, there is still no cure. About $25 billion dollars is spent on the treatment of and care for Parkinsonian patients every year.

In honor of Parkinson’s Awareness Month, we direct your attention to a moving and informative ITVS film called My Father, My Brother, and Me, which was recently broadcast on Frontline and is currently available to watch for free online at PBS.org.

Producer Dave Iverson began making the film after he was diagnosed with the degenerative brain disease, just as his father and brother had before him. Featuring interviews with Parkinson’s sufferers Michael Kinsley and Charles Krauthammer, and research scientist Dr. William Langston, the film is part elegy and part rigorous investigation into the mysteries that surround the disease and the controversy surrounding the research into its cure.

Check out the My Father, My Brother, and Me companion website for a wealth of behind-the-scenes video, including an exclusive interview with actor and stem-cell research advocate Michael J. Fox.

Watch the trailer below:

Tags: Cure, Frontline, Michael J. Fox, Parkinson's Disease, PBS

CPB President and CEO Patricia Harrison Discusses Public Media with Better.tv

Patricia Harrison, president and CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), recently sat down with Better.tv to discuss the importance of public media in changing peoples’ lives and engaging communities.

Watch the clip below in which Harrison discusses how programs like FRONTLINE and Independent Lens are helping to inspire public television viewers and reaching a more diversified audience.

Tags: CPB, Frontline, Patricia Harrison

ITVS Films on Tonight’s FRONTLINE and Independent Lens

Tune in to PBS tonight for back-to-back presentations of ITVS films.

First, at 9:00 PM, FRONTLINE, in a co-production with ITVS, will present MY FATHER, MY BROTHER AND ME, a film that explores life with Parkinson’s disease. In 2004, journalist David Iverson received the same news that had been delivered to his father and older brother years earlier: he had Parkinson’s disease, a degenerative neurological disorder that affects about one million Americans. Setting off on a personal journey, Iverson explores the scientific, ethical, and political debate that surrounds Parkinson’s, a disease at the center of the ongoing controversy over embryonic stem cell research.

In the months leading up to the broadcast, Iverson has been blogging and posting video excerpts from the documentary that explore thought-provoking questions about genetics and stem cell research, the effects of new treatments and exercise on the disease, and personal stories around religious beliefs, family and coping with the effects of the disease.

Visit the blog for a live national discussion with David Iverson after tonight’s broadcast >>

Listen to KQED-San Francisco’s Forum about tonight’s broadcast of FRONTLINE:

Then at 10:00 PM, stick around to watch ADJUST YOUR COLOR: The Truth of Petey Greene on Independent Lens. He was a former drug addict and felon. He was also America’s first “shock jock.” Petey Greene gave voice to the unheard––speaking truth to power on his raw and uncensored TV and radio programs. His explosive language and brash style shocked the world as he battled both the system and his own demons on a journey to becoming a leading activist during some of the most tumultuous years in recent history.

Check out the preview below of tonight’s Independent Lens on SnagFilms, one of our digital partners:

ADJUST YOUR COLOR: The Truth of Petey Green airs tonight at 10:00 PM on Independent Lens on PBS

Tags: African American, Frontline, online video

FRONTLINE and ITVS Explore Parkinson’s Disease

David Iverson and his father, Bill, in 1949.

Next Tuesday, February 3 at 9:00 PM on PBS, FRONTLINE, in a co-production with ITVS, will present MY FATHER, MY BROTHER AND ME, a film that explores life with Parkinson’s disease.

In 2004, journalist Dave Iverson received the same news that had been delivered to his father and older brother years earlier: He had Parkinson’s disease, a degenerative neurological disorder that affects about one million Americans. In a FRONTLINE and ITVS joint production, Iverson sets off on a personal journey to explore the scientific, ethical and political debate that surrounds Parkinson’s, a disease at the center of the ongoing controversy over embryonic stem cell research. Iverson talks to scientists on the cutting edge of new cures and therapies for Parkinson’s and other major neurological conditions, and he has intimate conversations with fellow Parkinson’s sufferers like actor Michael J. Fox and writer Michael Kinsley.

Can’t wait until next Tuesday? FRONTLINE is pre-releasing the program today in high-quality streaming video.

Watch MY FATHER MY BROTHER AND ME on the FRONTLINE Web site >>

Check out excerpts from the upcoming broadcast below:

Michael J. Fox shares the story of his diagnosis and how he copes from day to day.

IS EXERCISE THE ANSWER? Dave Iverson finds out what monkeys on treadmills are teaching scientists about Parkinson’s.

Tags: Frontline, Parkinson's Disease

Scott Kirsner’s Case Study for FRONTLINE Broadcast

Filmmaker David Iverson

To keep up with the shifting landscape of new technology, ITVS commissioned author Scott Kirsner to find out what independent filmmakers are doing in the field.

For the documentary MY FATHER, MY BROTHER AND ME, airing Feb. 3 on FRONTLINE, David Iverson and Michael Schwarz set out to tell a “detective story” about research that seeks to understand the workings of Parkinson’s disease—as well as a personal story of his own confrontation with the disease. As part of his process, and for the first time, Iverson decided to create a series of Internet videos that would lead up to the film’s broadcast.

Read the case study on MY FATHER, MY BROTHER AND ME >>

Be sure to check out other case studies and interviews with Byron Hurt (HIP-HOP: Beyond Beats and Rhymes), Katy Chevigny (ELECTION DAY), Curt Ellis (KING CORN), Hunter Weeks and Josh Caldwell (10 MPH), Tiffany Shlain (THE TRIBE) and Brad Lichtenstein (WHAT WE GOT) for their perspectives on distributing and marketing films

Get Scott Kirsner’s “Top Five Digital Strategies for Social Issue Filmmakers” >>

Tags: digital, film resources, Frontline