GREAT DOCUMENTARIES ARE MUST-SEE-TV WITH AMERICAN MASTERS
March 19th, 2010By Frank Barron
When getting together at press conferences for PBS programming I’m always happy to catch up with Susan Lacy, an old friend who has been creator and executive producer of the American Masters series since forever… (well, 1984 it was created).
It’s rough times for funding for shows like American Masters, but it seems to still be going strong, with its documentaries that profile diverse icons of our, dare I say, “American experience.”
Yes, I rather watch the architectural accomplishments of I.M. Pei unfold and learn his story, than see another shot of “The Donald” in front of the Trump Tower in the latest edition of Celebrity Apprentice. This past year Masters put the spotlight on everyone from Merle Haggard to Louisa May Alcott, Joan Baez to the Warner Brothers. Some of the most interesting stories have come from the most unlikely sources.
The last time I saw Susan I wanted to know the future of her magnificent series. She replied, “We have a very disposable culture, with short attention spans and incredible demands on how people are going to spend their time. I have two daughters who went to Yale and Brown Universities, and I know American Masters contributed to their education.” I think the stories have educated all who have watched.
To make documentaries interesting enough so you stay tuned, Susan has gone to outstanding filmmakers to do some shows. She said it was easy to get Martin Scorsese to say “yes” to film about Bob Dylan. But it took her ten years to get Dylan to agree!
Making an American Masters piece is an arduous task, she told me. “I have to pick the subject, get the rights, find the filmmaker, then come up with a plan and a budget. I see the rough cuts and supervise. It’s very time consuming. At any time, we are in production on eight to ten films.”
Susan Lacy said she is “privileged to be in public television, where the work is driven by a mission rather than a bottom line. I believe no other network would support the work we do.”
Her work contains great true life drama, no matter the subject. “The lives of so many cultural figures are so complicated. If we have done our job well and enlightened the audience, there’s something incredibly transcending about the experience. That’s what drives me.”
And that’s what drives me to PBS primetime.
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