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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Colleen Wright
September 26,
2001
Marketing Communications Account Executive
Telephone: (410) 581-4293
E-mail: colleenwright@mpt.org
MPT. This is bigger
than television.
Maryland Public Television airs new genre of documentary
Life 360 is all about the story
Owings Mills,
MD: Life 360, a new genre of programming featuring some of
America's most talented storytellers, premieres on Maryland Public Television,
Friday, October 5, from 9 10 p.m. This original series is hosted by the
Emmy-winning ABC News' Nightline correspondent Michel Martin. Each
one-hour program in this innovative 13-part series explores an intriguing
theme through a dynamic mix of segments that draw on the storytelling
craft of the best and brightest independent filmmakers, writers, comedians,
musicians, performance artists and journalists commenting on life today.
To create Life 360, PBS initiated an unprecedented co-production
partnership between Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) and ABC News' Nightline.
"Great stories, well told, are what bring us together," Martin
says. "Life 360 will explore issues and ironies, challenges
and comforts, dilemmas and desires that we can all relate to from the
multiple perspectives of different stories: the depth of documentaries,
the intimacy of personal narratives, and the emotional and spiritual connections
of music, comedy, and dramatic performance. Life is always surprising,
and that's what we want to capture in Life 360."
Already set to contribute to
Life 360 is a remarkable array of talent that includes comedians
Margaret Cho (I'm the One That I Want) and Jake Johannsen (Late Show
with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, HBO); Pulitzer
Prize-winning writer Ron Suskind (The Wall Street Journal, A Hope in
the Unseen: An American Odyssey from the Inner City to the Ivy League);
ABC News correspondent Robert Krulwich; Academy Award-winning filmmakers
Jeffrey Friedman, Rob Epstein and Steven Okazaki, and musicians Los Lobos,
Grammy-nominated artist Brian McKnight, Grammy-winning singer Mary Chapin
Carpenter, Ozomatli, Jude, John Hiatt and Alana Davis.
Life 360 is designed to be timely as well as reflective. The partnership
between OPB and Nightline brings to the series a seasoned team
of television professionals accustomed to examining the nuances of contemporary
culture. The show's news roots assure that the each week's material will
be fresh and current. PBS and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting
(CPB) joined together to create this ambitious blend of performance, documentary
and commentary to offer exciting opportunities for independent filmmakers
across America and to bring new voices to television.
Appearing in a small, intimate setting with a studio audience, Michel
Martin opens each program with a verbal riff, then hands the theme off
to other storytellers who will take it apart, put it back together, stand
it on its head and discover unexpected perspectives. As an example of
how the series will explore a theme, the program tentatively titled "Food"
will start with a major segment from correspondent Robert Krulwich, who
goes behind the scenes of a few of Manhattan's hottest restaurants to
explore the things that aren't on the menu: the pressure, the politics
and the power structure. A shorter film documents the lifestyle of "dumpster
diners," young eco-radicals who survive only on food discarded in
the land of plenty - or, perhaps, excess. Cuban-American performer Carmen
Pelaez illuminates the importance of food in Cuban culture and the difficulties
posed by perpetual shortages, and comedian Margaret Cho reflects on the
never-ending conflict between her weight and a lifetime love affair with
food.
Other themes set
for the first season of Life 360 include "Roots," which
weaves together a moving visit to historic African slaving centers by
a group of African-Americans; a portrait of a white Alaskan who discovers
her African-American ancestry and begins to struggle with what race really
means; and a performance by Los Lobos, the Chicano band that originated
in East L.A. "Monuments" takes viewers on a whimsical road trip
across South Dakota, with fresh takes on Mount Rushmore and the Crazy
Horse Monument, as well as visits to the tourist meccas, Wall Drug and
the Corn Palace.
"Fresh, unique, and absolutely relevant for the American public today,
Life 360 stands out in the reinvented primetime schedule of the
new PBS as a great destination for viewers on Friday night," says
PBS president and CEO Pat Mitchell. "Just like k.d. lang and Lyle
Lovett have created an indefinable sound, Life 360 is a new television
format that defies traditional programming labels."
Behind the cameras and in front of them, Life 360 brings together
top-rank talent. Host Martin, former reporter at The Wall Street Journal
and The Washington Post, has been a Nightline contributor since
1994. In addition to her work for ABC News, she has been a regular contributor
on Washington Week and correspondent for a recent Frontline program
about the juvenile justice system. Martin was nominated for an Emmy and
cited for excellence by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
Underwriters:
Public Television Viewers, PBS and Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Producer: Oregon Public Broadcasting and ABC News Nightline. Executive
producer: Janet Tobias. Co-executives in charge of production: Tom Bettag
and John Lindsay. Senior producer: Dan Morris. Format: CC STEREO. Online:
PBS.org
Maryland Public
Television is a not-for-profit, state-licensed public television station
which serves the citizens and communities of Maryland and beyond through
a variety of broadcast and nonbroadcast activities. MPT is a leader in
the production of national and local/regional broadcast programming. Beyond
broadcast, MPT has developed instructional videos and Web sites that serve
tens of thousands of students, teachers, and child-care providers annually.
MPT outreach activities, especially relating to arts, culture, and history,
take place in all areas of the state to further fulfill MPT's mission
to engage, enlighten, and entertain. For more information, www.mpt.org
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