Narrated by Garrison Keillor, The Hayloft Gang: The Story of the National Barn Dance tells the story of a changing America through the lens of one of the nation’s most popular country music radio shows during the 1930s and 40s: the National Barn Dance.

Last month, BTB announced an opportunity for fans to participate in a special online video contest in the tradition of home talent shows as seen in this PBS documentary.

Check out the video below for a detailed rundown of the contest:

The Hayloft Gang, by filmmaker Stephen Parry weaves rare performance footage, home movies, and candid photographs with first-hand accounts from fans and performers. In addition, interviews with historians, folklorists, and media experts reveal historical and cultural perspectives on the story.

Keep an eye out for The Hayloft Gang, coming to PBS in September and enter the contest today!

Garrison Keillor is an author, a highly sought public speaker and is credited with reviving the lost art of live radio. His weekly program, A Prairie Home Companion, began in 1974 and has more than four million listeners. GARRISON KEILLOR: The Man on the Radio in the Red Shoes follows a year in his life as he performs in large and small towns across the country, bringing wit, commentary and his unique take on America.

Watch a preview below:

GARRISON KEILLOR: The Man on the Radio in the Red Shoes airs tonight at 8:00 PM on American Masters on PBS (check local listings)

It’s hard to believe, but sometimes Keillor’s funniest moments happen off the camera. Check out these hilarious video outtakes from his journey across the country. See more video >>

“Once I saw you had to work for some company for about 30 years before they would actually let you design anything, I quit after a year or so,” Rosen says.

Since he was a teenager, Rosen had enjoyed taking still photographs and received several awards for his work. His love of photography led naturally to filmmaking and in college he began making documentaries. Today, he has produced and directed over 100 full-length films and television programs, which have been distributed worldwide and have won awards at many major film festivals.

In 1990, while directing the PBS special Carnegie Hall at 100: A Place of Dreams, Rosen and his production team brought back all the performers who played on the famous stage, including Garrison Keillor, best known for his role as host of the radio program A Prairie Home Companion. At the time, Rosen decided Keillor would be a great subject for a documentary, and 16 years later, he got the chance to make the film.

In GARRISON KEILLOR: The Man on the Radio in the Red Shoes, airing July 1 on American Masters on PBS (check local listings), Rosen follows Keillor for a year as he performs in large and small towns across the country. The film attempts to illustrate Keillor’s internal thoughts with visuals that abstract or counterpoint his words, an idea that occurred to Rosen after watching Keillor at work.

“He [Keillor] is always typing his stories on his laptop–– in cars, in planes, at the airports, at home––everywhere. He was always writing something,” Rosen says. “As we shot that, I began to wonder what was going on inside his head, and then actually tried to illustrate that.”

One of Rosen’s most memorable moments happened before production when he met Robert Altman, director of the film A Prairie Home Companion (2006), written by Keillor.

“I always thought he [Altman] was the genius of American cinema,” Rosen says. “As a documentary filmmaker, I always admired how he would create very natural action and dialog in front of several cameras, and just let it play out in overlapping words and movement that were unpredictable and very natural.”

When Rosen told the esteemed Altman that he was working on a documentary about Garrison Keillor, he was thrilled with Altman’s response: “Oh, wonderful. You will be working with the only genius I ever worked with!”

When looking for funding, Rosen approached ITVS because his project was truly an independent film––with no other funding at the time or outside help. After meeting ITVS Vice President of Programming Claire Aguilar at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2006, he pitched the idea, and the rest is independent film history.

Watch a clip below:

GARRISON KEILLOR: The Man on the Radio in the Red Shoes premieres July 1 on American Masters on PBS (check local listings)

“A CLASS APART is in a class all its own…which tautly explores the landmark 1954 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Hernàndez v. Texas. … If for no other reason than because it is a powerful reminder of the civil rights movement and the gaping holes in that story in Texas, A CLASS APART is one to watch.”
Read full review >>

“Vet PBS arts documentarian Peter Rosen’s GARRISON KEILLOR: The Man on the Radio in the Red Shoes takes an aptly rambling, leisurely, fond look at this professional anachronism, whose gently satirical variety show celebrates a small-town Americana of yesteryear (or never-was).”
Read full review >>

“Of all the films nominated for a Foreign Language Oscar this year, director Ari Folman’s WALTZ WITH BASHIR reaped substantial press and stirred the most controversy.”
Read more and the Q&A with director Ari Folman >>