Press Tour
Independent Lens Honors Black History at TCA
At this year’s Television Critics Association, Independent Lens announced three new films that examine the history of African American activism and produced a panel including legendary activist Angela Davis and artist Talib Kweli. Watch the video below to see some of the icons and artists who joined Independent Lens in recognizing African American history at this year’s TCA Press Tour in Los Angeles.
Lois Vossen (IL), Sharon La Cruise (Daisy Bates), Dr. Angela Davis and Talib Kweli (The Black Power Mixtape), Michael Jones (COO of PBS), and Shukree Hassan Tilghman (More Than a Month)
Independent Lens begins its celebration of Black History Month on PBS with Daisy Bates: First Lady of Little Rock, which premiers on February 2. The film follows the seven-year journey of filmmaker Sharon La Cruise to learn about the mostly forgotten civil rights activist Daisy Bates.
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Live Coverage of PBS at TCA Press Tour
This weekend, PBS will present some of this year’s lineup at the TCA Press Tour in Los Angeles. BTB is at The Beverly Hilton and will be relaying updates from the conference in a series of live posts.
Art Films from Independent Lens on Display at TCA
Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child is one of the art films on display this weekend at TCA
This weekend, Independent Lens will prominently feature three art-related programs at the Television Critics Association (TCA) press tour in Pasadena, California.
Building on the system-wide arts programming initiative led by PBS, the panel presentation represents three of four films to premiere in April 2011 on Independent Lens as part of Artist Month.
Have a look at the films on display this weekend at TCA below…
Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child
By filmmaker Tamra Davis
Airs on Independent Lens April 12 at 10 PM
New Independent Lens Season Unveiled in L.A.
Lois Vossen, series producer for Independent Lens, reports from the Television Critics Association Press Tour in Los Angeles.
Hello from the Television Critics Association (TCA) Summer Press Tour. The TCA represents 200 journalists who write about television for print and online outlets in the U.S. and Canada. Twice a year, they gather in what Tim Goodman, TV writer for the San Francisco Chronicle, refers to as a “death march with cocktails.” It’s two weeks holed up in a swanky hotel in Los Angeles to see what’s coming to television. PBS invites series to present during the two days that PBS is showcased.
PBS’s Independent Lens at the 2010 Television Critics Association Press Tour
Narrator/actor/author Jamie Lee Curtis discusses Dirt! The Movie, airing April 20 on Independent Lens on PBS.
TreePeople founder and president Andy Lipkis, narrator Jamie Lee Curtis, and filmmaker Gene Rosow.
Greetings from the Television Critics Association (TCA) Press Tour in Los Angeles. Held twice a year, TCA gives television critics and other journalists a chance to preview upcoming programs from major broadcast and cable networks.
We’re here with the filmmakers of Dirt! The Movie, narrator/actor/author Jamie Lee Curtis, and Andy Lipkis, the founder and president of TreePeople. We presented a panel on Dirt! to about 200 television writers, journalists, and bloggers from across the country.
We kicked off our presentation with a trailer for Independent Lens’s Garbage Dreams, Mai Iskander’s award winning documentary that is on the short list for the 2010 Academy Award for Best Documentary (airing on Independent Lens on April 27). We followed it with a trailer for Dirt! and got down to the “dirty” business of answering questions.
Jamie Lee jumped in immediately to talk about why she loves this documentary saying that she believes the humor and animation make it extremely affective for all viewers, including young people. Noting that the older generation has “f*#+@’d it up” and the next generation now has to find ways to fix the environmental problems we face.
Andy Lipkis was asked what prompted him to start TreePeople (40 years ago) at the age of 15. Filmmakers Bill Benenson and Gene Rosow talked about the discoveries they made while making the film and the simple yet profound understanding that dirt — that seemingly simple matter under our feet — is actually more alive than we are. It will heal itself and us if we allow it to.
Check out the trailer of Dirt! The Movie:
Dirt! The Movie will broadcast at 10:00 PM on April 20 on Independent Lens as part of PBS’s 40th Anniversary Earth Day programs (check local listings).
Highlights from the Television Critics Association Press Tour
YOUNG@HEART chorus members Jack Schnepp and Dora B. Morrow.
ITVS Director of Communications Dennis Palmieri introduces COPYRIGHT CRIMINALS panelists Director Benjamin Franzen, Executive Producer Kembrew McLeod, PBS Media Shift Editor Mark Glaser and Ian Edgar, member of Eclectic Method, a video mashup group.
Ever heard of the Television Critics Association Press Tour (TCA)?
Chances are you haven’t unless you work in the television industry. TCA is a bi-annual event held in Los Angeles that gives television critics and other journalists a chance to preview upcoming programs from major broadcast and cable networks.
Independent Lens recently announced its 2009-2010 season and showcased two upcoming documentaries at a session held on Saturday afternoon. Critics from top media outlets around the world packed the room to check out video clips and ask questions from the filmmakers and film participants.
Here is a behind-the-scenes recap of some of the highlights:
Dennis Palmieri, ITVS director of communications, opened the first session with the presentation of COPYRIGHT CRIMINALS, which examines the creative and commercial value of music sampling through the rise of hip-hop as well as the ongoing debates about artistic expression, copyright law and (of course) money. The panelists included Director Benjamin Franzen, Executive Producer Kembrew McLeod, PBS Media Shift Editor Mark Glaser and Ian Edgar, member of Eclectic Method, a video mashup group.
Edgar gave a live presentation of a video mashup and critics were eager to ask about the creative process, issues involving music licensing for documentary and whether artists had remorse when sampling others’ work.
Check out the extended preview of YOUNG@HEART below:
PBS’s Independent Lens at the Television Critics Association Press Tour
At the Television Critics Association Press Tour, held this past weekend in Los Angeles, television critics and other reporters previewed upcoming programs from PBS.
This year Independent Lens showcased two programs from its upcoming 2009-2010 season: YOUNG@HEART, which looks at a group of seniors who belt out hit songs from James Brown to Coldplay; and COPYRIGHT CRIMINALS, a film that explores the creative and commercial value of musical sampling, including the debates over artistic expression, copyright law and (of course) money. Check the blog later today for a full behind-the-scenes report.
Video blogger Zadi Diaz, from the entertainment blog epicfu.com, caught up with some of the filmmakers and talent. Check out her interviews below and hear more about the inspiration behind the films and what it was like making it.
Members of the Young@Heart Chorus:
Bob Cilman director of the Young@Heart Chorus:
Independent Lens Goes to Press Tour
Lois Vossen, vice president and series producer
CRIPS AND BLOODS: Made in America panelists Kumasi, ex-Slauson gang member; Stacy Peralta, director; Skipp Townsend, community activist and ex-Rollin 20 Blood member; and Cash Warren, producer.
- TULIA, TEXAS panelists Kelly Whalen, co-director?; Freddie Brookins Jr., one of 46 people arrested in the 1999 Tulia drug sting; and Cassandra Herrman, co-director.
Looking for an inside look at what’s ahead
on Independent Lens?
At the Television Critics Association Press Tour (TCA), held in January and July, television critics and other journalists gather for eight to 15 days to preview upcoming programs from major broadcast and cable networks. It is also a chance to meet talent associated with the programs.
Here are just a few of the highlights during Independent Lens‘s Press Tour sessions:
The first session showcased CRIPS AND BLOODS: Made in America, a film about the decades long gang violence in South Central Los Angeles told firsthand from former and current members of the Bloods and the Crips. Independent Lens filmmaker Stacy Peralta, producer Cash Warren and doc subjects Kumasi, a community activists and former Slauson gang member and Skipp Townsend, gang interventionist and a former Rollin’ 20 Blood gang member answered questions from the crowd such as “How old were you when you got your first gun?” To broader social questions such as, “How do gangs get started and why are they so difficult to stop?”
In the second session, Independent Lens featured TULIA, TEXAS, which looks at one of the biggest drug busts in Texas history. Filmmakers Cassandra Herrman and Kelly Whalen, along with doc subject Freddie Brookins Jr., who was released from his wrongful incarceration after his conviction was overturned, spoke how deeply affecting the incident was for all those wrongfully accused.
TULIA, TEXAS, premieres February 10, 2009. CRIPS AND BLOODS: Made in America is on the Oscar “short list” for Best Documentary-Short Subject and will premiere May 12, 2009.
CRIPS AND BLOODS: Made in America and TULIA, TEXAS Previews
Missed out on this year’s Press Tour? Be sure to check out the two minute previews below from programs presented at TCA Press Tour this week. Get a sneak peek at what’s coming ahead on Independent Lens.
TULIA, TEXAS, premieres February 10, 2009, on Independent Lens.
CRIPS AND BLOODS: Made in America is on the Oscar “short list” for Best Documentary-Short Subject and will premiere May 12, 2009, on Independent Lens.
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