I always say it’s important to know what’s selling and what’s winning… Read on, if you’d like to stay in the know.
Lifted from Cynopsis…
OUTSTANDING NONFICTION SPECIAL
Believe: The Eddie Izzard Story – EPIXHD – Salient Media presents a Halyon Films production in association with Ella Communications
Max Burgos, Executive Producer
John Gore, Executive Producer
James Goddard, Producer
Sarah Townsend, Producer
By The People: The Election Of Barack Obama – HBO – Green Film Company, Citi Productions, Class 5 Films and GOOD in association with HBO Documentary Films
Amy Rice, Produced By
Alicia Sams, Produced By
Edward Norton, Produced By
Stuart Blumberg, Produced By
William Migliore, Produced By
Description: Nearly a year before Barack Obama announced his candidacy for the presidency on Feb. 10, 2007, filmmakers Amy Rice and Alicia Sams began to roll cameras on the young senator. Over the next 19 months, they found themselves travelling all across the country, chronicling the daily ups and downs of the campaign trail as experienced by Obama, his family, his staff and volunteers. While Obama’s meteoric rise to the White House has been well documented in the press, few have witnessed the behind-the-scenes story of the passionate campaigners who helped a young African-American freshman senator attain the nation’s highest office.
Johnny Mercer: The Dream’s On Me – TCM – Rhapsody Productions in association with TCM, Arena/BBC and Warner Home Video
Clint Eastwood, Executive Producer
Bruce Ricker, Produced By
Description: Commemorating the 100th anniversary of his birth, TCM’s Johnny Mercer: The Dream’s On Me celebrates the legendary personality behind such movie songs as “Hooray for Hollywood,” “Jeepers Creepers,” “That Old Black Magic,” “On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe,” “Skylark,” “Blues in the Night,” “Moon River” and “The Days of Wine and Roses.” Executive-produced by Oscar-winning filmmaker Clint Eastwood, the special features countless performances of Mercer’s work and an abundance of new and archival interviews detailing his life and career.
Saturday Night Live In The 2000s: Time And Again – NBC – Barking Dog Productions
Ken Aymong, Supervising Producer
Ken Bowser, Produced By
Declan Baldwin, Produced By
The Simpsons: 20th Anniversary Special In 3-D! On Ice! – FOX – Warrior Poets
Morgan Spurlock, Executive Producer
Jeremy Chilnick, Executive Producer
Teddy: In His Own Words – HBO – Kunhardt McGee Productions in association with HBO Documentary Films
Dyllan McGee, Executive Producer
Jacqueline Glover, Supervising Producer
Peter Kunhardt, Produced By
Sheila Nevins, Produced By
Description: Edward “Teddy” Kennedy, the nine-time Senior Senator from Massachusetts, served in public office for almost 50 years, believing it to be the highest calling in life. Enduring countless personal tragedies and the burden of oversized family expectations, he forged a career unparalleled in the history of American politics. The documentary tells the story of Camelot’s last male survivor through his own words, profiled in never-before-seen home movies and photos, from his childhood through his historic speech at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. The HBO Documentary Film is from the Emmy® Award winning producers of JFK:In His Own Words and Bobby Kennedy: In His Own Words.
OUTSTANDING NONFICTION SERIES
American Experience – PBS – A Steeplechase Films production for American Experience
Mark Samels, Executive Producer
Sharon Grimberg, Senior Producer
Susan Bellows, Series Producer
Ric Burns, Produced By
Mary Recine, Produced By
Bonnie Lafave, Produced By
Robin Espinola, Produced By
Description: Television’s most-watched history series, American Experience has been hailed as “peerless” (Wall Street Journal), “the most consistently enriching program on television” (Chicago Tribune), and “a beacon of intelligence and purpose” (Houston Chronicle).
On air and online, the series brings to life the incredible characters and epic stories that have shaped America’s past and present. Acclaimed by viewers and critics alike, American Experience documentaries have been honored with every major broadcast award, including twenty-four Emmy® Awards, four duPont-Columbia Awards, and fourteen George Foster Peabody Awards, one most recently for Two Days in October.
American Masters – PBS – A Production of Wolf Films and Strange Pictures LLC in association with Rhino Entertainment and Thirteen’s American Masters for WNET.org
Susan Lacy, Executive Producer
Prudence Glass, Series Producer
Julie Sacks, Supervising Producer
John Beug, Producer
Jeffrey Jampol, Producer
Dick Wolf, Producer
Peter Jankowski, Produced By
Deadliest Catch – Discovery Channel – Produced by Original Productions, LLC for Discovery Communications
Thom Beers, Executive Producer
Jeff Conroy, Executive Producer
Paul Gasek, Executive Producer for Discovery Channel
Tracy Rudolph, Executive Producer for Discovery Channel
Matt Renner, Co-Executive Producer
Ethan Prochnik, Supervising Producer
Eric Lange, Producer
Description: Multiple Emmy®-nominated DEADLIEST CATCH follows the now legendary captains and crews of crab-fishing vessels on the Bering Sea, doing one of the deadliest and most lucrative jobs in the world. The ultimate tough guys of television battle storms – personal, financial and natural – until the job is done.
From treacherous weather to crew conflict to personal tragedy, this season takes viewers through some of the toughest situations the captains and crews have had to face on the high seas.
Life – Discovery Channel – A BBC/Discovery Channel/SKAI Co-Production in association with RTI Spa
Catherine McCarthy, Executive Producer for BBC
Michael Gunton, Executive Producer
Susan Winslow, Executive Producer for Discovery Channel
Paul Spillenger, Producer for Discovery Channel
Martha Holmes, Series Producer
Description: Multiple Emmy®-nominated LIFE is the definitive exploration of the adaptability and diversity of life on earth, revealing the most spectacular, bizarre and fascinating behaviors that living things have devised in order to thrive. More than four years in the making, with over 3,000 days of filming, the series spans every continent and every habitat.
As the follow up to the Emmy®-winning PLANET EARTH, LIFE features never-before-seen animal behaviors using the latest in state-of-the-art high definition filming techniques. Epic in scope, yet intimate in storytelling, each episode focuses on a different animal or planet group. This 11-part series, narrated by Oprah Winfrey, showcases life as no one has ever seen it before.
Monty Python: Almost The Truth (The Lawyer’s Cut) – IFC – Eagle Rock
Entertainment Production, in association with IFC. Produced by Bill & Ben Productions
Christine Lubrano, Executive Producer for IFC
Harold Gronenthal, Executive Producer for IFC
George Lentz, Executive Producer for IFC
Andrew Winter, Supervising Producer
Bill Jones, Series Producer
Ben Timlett, Series Producer
Description: Forty years ago, Monty Python’s Flying Circus ignited a comedic revolution. Setting the bar for satire, slapstick and silliness, The Pythons rose to iconic status, from comedy troupe to cultural phenomenon. All surviving Python members: John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin, (along with archive representation for the late Graham Chapman) gathered together on camera one last time to retell the entire Python phenomenon start to finish. The legendary troupe tell the tale of how their lives and careers began Post-WWII, their early struggles turned extreme successes, BBC censorship, the success of ‘Holy Grail’, the misinterpreted and controversially banned The Life of Brian, and recall their last movie, The Meaning of Life and its relevance to Graham Chapman’s memorial service. The series also features interviews with Jimmy Fallon, Lorne Michaels, Eddie Izzard, Olivia Harrison, Stephen Merchant, Dan Aykroyd, Russell Brand and Seth Green among many others.
The National Parks: America’s Best Idea – PBS – A Production of Florentine Films and WETA Washington, D.C.
Ken Burns, Produced By
Dayton Duncan, Produced By
Description: The National Parks: America’s Best Idea a six-episode, twelve-hour series from acclaimed filmmakers Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan is a breathtaking journey spanning a century and a half of our nation’s history and ranging from one corner of the country to the other: from the southernmost tip of Florida to the frozen tundra of Alaska, from the rocky coast of Maine to the volcanic Hawaiian islands. It is the story of an idea as uniquely American as the Declaration of Independence and just as radical: that the most magnificent places we possess should be preserved not for royalty or the rich, but for everyone and for all time. Here are the stories of those spectacular places and the unforgettable people who kept them from destruction stories of struggle and conflict, stirring adventure and enduring inspiration, set against a backdrop of stunning beauty and grandeur.
OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR NONFICTION PROGRAMMING
The Amazing Race – I Think We’re Fighting The Germans, Right? – CBS – World Race Productions Inc.
Bertram van Munster, Director
By The People: The Election Of Barack Obama – HBO – Green Film Company, Citi Productions, Class 5 Films and GOOD in association with HBO Documentary Films
Amy Rice, Director
Alicia Sams, Director
Description: Nearly a year before Barack Obama announced his candidacy for the presidency on Feb. 10, 2007, filmmakers Amy Rice and Alicia Sams began to roll cameras on the young senator. Over the next 19 months, they found themselves travelling all across the country, chronicling the daily ups and downs of the campaign trail as experienced by Obama, his family, his staff and volunteers. While Obama’s meteoric rise to the White House has been well documented in the press, few have witnessed the behind-the-scenes story of the passionate campaigners who helped a young African-American freshman senator attain the nation’s highest office.
Monty Python: Almost The Truth (The Lawyer’s Cut) – Lust For Glory – IFC – Eagle Rock Entertainment Production, in association with IFC. Produced by Bill & Ben Productions
Bill Jones, Director
Ben Timlett, Director
Description: First meeting when they were 4 years old, Bill Jones and Ben Timlett grew up together in Camberwell, South London. During their teenage years they developed a passion for films and filmmaking, spending a significant part of those formative years making short films together, predominantly pastiches of films they loved while growing up.
In 1998 Bill and Ben formed Bill and Ben Productions, a small boutique film editing company. After several years of editing films, commercials and music videos for other people, they decided to focus their company on producing as well as editing.
Early Bill and Ben productions included documentaries Never Mind the Sex Pistols for BBC, and Rebel: Truce: The History of the Clash for Sky One. Drama productions include Mockingbird staring Olivia Williams (Sixth Sense), Chemical Wedding starring Simon Callow (Shakespeare in Love) and the critically acclaimed and award winning comedy feature film The West Wittering Affair.
My Lai – PBS – An Ark Media production for American Experience
Barak Goodman, Director
Description: What drove a company of American soldiers-ordinary young men from around the country deployed to liberate a small foreign nation from an oppressive neighbor-to dehumanize and murder more than 300 unarmed civilians? Were they “just following orders” as some later declared? Or, as others argued, did they break under the pressure of a misguided military strategy that measured victory by body count? Today, as the United States once again finds itself questioning the morality of actions taken in the name of war, Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Barak Goodman (The Lobotomist, Scottsboro: An American Tragedy) focuses his lens on the 1968 My Lai Massacre, its subsequent cover-up, and the heroic efforts of the soldiers who broke rank to halt the atrocities. Produced for PBS’s American Experience, My Lai draws upon the eyewitness accounts of Vietnamese survivors and the men of the Charlie Company 11th Infantry Brigade and recently discovered audio recordings from the Peers Inquiry to recount one of the Vietnam War’s darkest chapters.
Terror In Mumbai – HBO – Quicksilver Media in association with HBO Documentary Films
Dan Reed, Director
Description: On the evening of November 26, 2008, ten young Pakistani men reached Mumbai in a small hijacked fishing boat, having slaughtered its captain and crew, and glided unnoticed into the teeming Indian port city. Over the next three days, armed with cell phones, machine guns, and fruit and nuts to sustain them, they unleashed coordinated attacks across the city that left at least 170 people dead and more than 300 wounded, sending shockwaves of fear around the world. Narrated by Mumbai-born Fareed Zakaria, CNN host and Newsweek International editor, and directed by award-winning filmmaker Dan Reed (HBO’s “Terror in Moscow”), TERROR IN MUMBAI provides a 360-degree view of a terrorist act, recounting in harrowing detail the bloody events of that 60-hour period.
OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR NONFICTION PROGRAMMING
America The Story Of Us – Division – HISTORY – Produced by Nutopia for History
Jenny Ash, Writer
Ed Fields, Contributing Writer
Description: AMERICA THE STORY OF US produced by Nutopia for HISTORY, with first time nominee, Jenny Ash (Writer) and previous prime-time Emmy® winner for writing (Lost Civilizations), Ed Fields (Contributing Writer), was an epic six-night television event covering 400 years of American history. In conjunction with the broadcast, HISTORY launched its largest ever educational outreach initiative and offered a DVD of the entire 12-hour series to every school in America. Introduced by President Obama and narrated by Liev Schreiber, AMERICA is a look at the forces that have shaped our nation – the people, places and things that created this most astounding country, looking at the moments where invention and technology advanced human progress. The series is also a story of conflict – with Native American peoples, slavery, the revolutionary war that birthed the nation, the Civil War that divided it and the great world war that shaped its future.
Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations – Prague – Travel Channel – Zero Point Zero Production, Inc.
Anthony Bourdain, Writer
The Buddha – PBS – David Grubin Productions, Inc.
David Grubin, Writer
Description: Two and a half millennia ago, a new religion was born, generated from the ideas of a single man, the Buddha, an Indian sage who attained enlightenment while he sat under a large, shapely fig tree. The Buddha never claimed to be God or his emissary on earth. He said that he was only a human being who, in a world of unavoidable pain and suffering, had found a kind of serenity which others could find too. The Buddha tells the story of his life, a journey especially relevant to our own bewildering times of violent change and spiritual confusion.
Life – Challenges Of Life – Discovery Channel – A BBC/Discovery Channel/SKAI Co-Production in association with RTI Spa
Paul Spillenger, Writer
The National Parks: America’s Best Idea – The Last Refuge – PBS – A Production of Florentine Films and WETA Washington, D.C.
Dayton Duncan, Writer
Description: The National Parks: America’s Best Idea – a six-episode, twelve-hour series from acclaimed filmmakers Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan – is a breathtaking journey spanning a century and a half of our nation’s history and ranging from one corner of the country to the other: from the southernmost tip of Florida to the frozen tundra of Alaska, from the rocky coast of Maine to the volcanic Hawaiian islands. It is the story of an idea as uniquely American as the Declaration of Independence and just as radical: that the most magnificent places we possess should be preserved not for royalty or the rich, but for everyone – and for all time. Here are the stories of those spectacular places and the unforgettable people who kept them from destruction – stories of struggle and conflict, stirring adventure and enduring inspiration, set against a backdrop of stunning beauty and grandeur.
In the infamous words of my husband, Marty Metro, “Good luck and be yourself!”
Tracy Metro is a TV host who has worked for Fine Living, TLC, Discovery, Disney, Sony, Mark Burnett, et al hosting shows about cooking, DIY, shopping, eco-lifestyle, et al subjects. To learn more about her (because now you’re intrigued), go to www.tracymetro.com