News Archives
2015
The Science of Interstellar
02/2015—Gemini spent most of 2014 producing a companion documentary to Christopher Nolan’s space odyssey Interstellar. Our mission was to help viewers grasp the cutting-edge science explored in the feature film, and we interviewed experts in astrophysics, planetary science, and cosmology. We also had the great privilege to work with the renowned theoretical physicist Kip Thorne, who served as an executive producer on the feature. A one-hour version of The Science of Interstellar was broadcast on the Discovery network in November 2014; a longer version will be packaged with the Blu-ray of Interstellar, due for release in March 2015.
2014
This is the world’s largest outdoor “shaketable”—about to simulate a killer earthquake.
Welcome 2014! (Where did 2013 go?)
02/2014—If 2013 was a bit of a blur, it was no doubt because we were so crazy-busy working on an episode for NOVA’s four part Making More Stuff series, the follow-up to the hugely successful Making Stuff series, hosted by the exuberant technology writer David Pogue. Our show, Making More Stuff Safer explored all sorts of amazing inventions and innovations designed to make our lives safer—self-driving cars, cargo scanners that read cosmic rays, cornstarch-based fire-fighting gel, bomb-sniffing plants—and more. Our heads are still spinning. Making More Stuff Safer aired Nov. 6, 2013. It’s available to watch online along with the series three other shows (which dealt with, respectively, making stuff faster, colder and wilder—as in, inspired by designs in nature.) And as for our plans for 2014… the pot is bubbling. Stay tuned.
2012
Ultimate Mars Challenge, Nov. 14 on PBS
11/2012—We wrapped our Mars show last week, right after JPL’s recent teleconference on the rover Curiosity’s latest findings on the red planet—so we’re completely up to date for now! Tune in to the NOVA science series for the premiere of Ultimate Mars Challenge on PBS on Wed. Nov. 14, 2012, at 9 pm.
Curiosity on Mars! 08/2012
08/2012—Gemini had the great honor and incredible thrill of filming at JPL on the night of Curiosity’s picture perfect landing on Mars. Not a glitch, not a stutter—it was poetry in motion, a hundred million miles away. Gail posted a reflection on Inside NOVA—you can catch it at: www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/insidenova/2012/08/willumsenmars.html
Gemini on Mars
06/2012—We’re delighted to report that we are producing a one-hour show on the Mars Science Laboratory mission for the PBS science series NOVA. NASA’s spectacular new Mars rover, Curiosity, is currently en route for the red planet and scheduled to land on the night of August 5, 2012. We’ve had the amazing thrill to spend time with some of the engineers and scientists responsible for getting this missi0n off the ground and on to Mars.
That’s us standing beside Curiosity’s identical twin sister, who stays here on earth to help the mission team test scenarios and problem-solve. Curiosity weighs about as much as a VW Beetle—but she’s vastly smarter, programmed to accomplish all sorts of complicated operations on her own. She may write a whole new chapter in the saga of Mars exploration.
Secrets of Stonehenge headed for Italy
06/2012—Secrets of Stonehenge has been selected to screen in competition on October 3, 2012 at the XXIII International Festival of Archaeological Film, in Rovereto,Italy. Unfortunately, Gail and Jill will not be able to get away and enjoy la dolce vita at the festival due to other commitments.
Stonehenge picked for Amiens Festival of Archaeological Films
02/2012—The 11th Festival du film d’Archéologie d’Amiens, in northern France, has selected Secrets of Stonehenge for its official slate of entries. The festival will be held April 10–14, 2012, and will feature some 60 documentaries in competition for five top prizes. Stonehenge will screen on April 13, in a program titled “Journey through Prehistory.” We’re honored & thrilled, bien sûr.
2011
Stonehenge Wins Award in Brussels
11/2011—The 11th Festival du film d’Archéologie d’Amiens, in northern France, has selected Secrets of Stonehenge for its official slate of entries. The festival will be held April 10–14, 2012, and will feature some 60 documentaries in competition for five top prizes. Stonehenge will screen on April 13, in a program titled “Journey through Prehistory.” We’re honored & thrilled, bien sûr.
Secrets of Stonehenge—First Awards!
06/2011—We’ve just learned that Secrets of Stonehenge was honored at the Archaeology Channel International Film and Video Festival with two awards: Best Narration and Best Cinematography.
2010
PBS Premiere “Secrets of Stonehenge”
11/2010—Dig the mystery!!
Tune in to NOVA on Tuesday, November 16, 2010 for the PBS premiere of our latest production, Secrets of Stonehenge. (Show will air at 8 pm on most PBS stations; please check your local listings.)
To watch a preview of the show, go to NOVA’s website: www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/.
Stone Age Bike Age
10/2010—(This is one in a series of Gail’s blogs for the Inside NOVA website at www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/insidenova/)
“When I was a boy, my family lived in a house in the forest with no modern conveniences. We made bows and arrows and flint arrowheads, and we tanned animal skins. At the time I wondered if I was missing out on modern-day life. Now I see I was living an incredible childhood adventure—which I’m still living.”
I heard that from Will Lord, professional flint-knapper. He and his parents, John and Valerie Lord have spent the last thirty-odd years mastering prehistoric technologies and teaching these skills in classrooms and museums across Britain. This family looks the part (long hair all round) and dresses the part (leather leggings, pelt ponchos and furry boots.) But this is no gimmick: the Lords see themselves as keepers of the “skills and art” of their distant ancestors.
In August 2009, Jill (Shinefield, my co-producer) and I enlist John and Will to help us conjure up the people who lived during the heyday of Stonehenge. On a hazy afternoon, father and son join us, in full regalia, at West Woods, about 20 miles from Stonehenge. It’s a densely wooded area where massive sarsen stones (like those standing at Stonehenge) lie strewn about the forest floor.
We send Will and John about 200 yards from camera, then film them trekking across the landscape, dwarfed by beech trees thirty feet high. There’s a walkie-talkie jammed into Will’s bent-wood back-pack, so he can hear my directions. On cue the men stop, shoot arrows, inspect sarsens. They look so authentic, for a moment we’re transported back in time.
Next we stage a scene to evoke the arrival of metal in Britain. Will tucks an exquisite bronze axe into his belt: my fantasy is that the sun will glint off the metal as Will emerges from the dark woods into a bright clearing. Camera and sound are ready, and Will has ducked out of view among the trees. I yell “Action!” once… twice… and again. At last, Will appears, but he’s accompanied by a young man hand-walking a bicycle. Bronze Age meets Bike Age: Will in his leather and fur, and the cyclist in color-splashed spandex shorts and those shoes that clip into bike pedals.
There’s been an accident. The cyclist’s buddy has fallen from his bike and sprained (or broken?) his ankle, just there inside the woods. Can we help carry his friend, call an ambulance, retrieve his bike, drive the cyclist to his car? Of course we can; we’re a production team. We mobilize.
Minutes later, supported by his friend on one side and Will on the other, the injured man hobbles into the clearing using Will’s hand-carved walking stick as a crutch. Suddenly, the ambulance appears and medical technicians take over—to my selfish relief. It’s late in the day, we’re losing light, and we need that shot.
Just then, John walks out of the woods wheeling the injured man’s bike. John wears a deerskin cap and a bear-claw pendant. He has a quiver of arrows slung over his shoulder, and a flint axe in his belt. He’s every inch a Stone Age Man, and his eyes crinkle with glee as he rings the bell on the bike’s handlebars. “Looky here, everyone! I’ve just invented the wheel!”
The Dead of Stonehenge
01/2010—(This is one in a series of Gail’s blogs for the Inside NOVA website http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/insidenova/)
Every summer, they descend on Stonehenge by the thousands to watch the sun rise on the longest day of the year—Pagans, Druids, party animals, foreign exchange students, families with kids, documentary producers. Some dance, drum or dream the night away; others sip or smoke all manner of mind-altering substances. When dawn arrives obscured by clouds (or sheets of rain, like the year I tried to attend), no one seems to mind. The vibe is festive and life-affirming. I wonder how many revelers realize they’ve just boogied down on a sacred burial ground.
When I started researching our Stonehenge show, I was surprised to learn that at least 50 human burials were discovered there in the early 20th century. But that’s the tip of the iceberg: considering all the unexcavated areas of the monument, experts figure at least 240 people were buried at Stonehenge, if not many more. There has been no shortage of theories about the purpose of Stonehenge—Druid temple, astronomical observatory, landing pad for UFO’s. But one thing is certain: Stonehenge was used as a cemetery. In fact it’s the largest cemetery ever discovered in Britain for its time period (roughly 3000 to 2500 BC—the last gasp of the Stone Age.)
So why have the guidebooks rarely mentioned this? I wonder if it’s because nearly all the burials excavated so far have been cremations—small clusters of bone fragments placed directly in the ground (possibly in now-vanished leather pouches or baskets), with virtually no grave goods. Finding such modest burials can’t have the same impact on archaeologists as the unearthing of full skeletons—or mummies!—decked out with jewelry, weaponry, and household items.
To complicate matters, the archaeologists who excavated most of the burials at Stonehenge did so in the 1920’s and 1930’s, at at time when burnt bone was considered useless for scientific study. Not a single museum in Britain would accept the cremations from Stonehenge, so they were dumped into four burlap bags, and stored in an attic for a decade. Then in 1935, archaeologists reburied the bones in a hole at Stonehenge, and largely forgot about them.
What if, instead of 50 cremation burials, archaeologists had discovered 50 complete skeletons at Stonehenge? What if the dead had been laid to rest in neat rows, or oriented to face the east, with grave goods tucked around them? What if archaeologists had been able to gaze into the empty eye-sockets of intact skulls? I asked these questions of Mike Pitts, an archaeologist and Stonehenge expert, during an interview in September. He paused, smiled and mused: “It’s a very good point, that. I like that. Imagine how different the history of our understanding of Stonehenge would now be.”
(PS: In 2008, Mike Parker Pearson and his team retrieved those reburied cremations. We’ll feature that excavation and the analysis of the bones of the “Stonehenge Dead” in our show.)
Stonehenge at Dawn
01/2010—(This is one in a series of Gail’s blogs for the Inside NOVA website http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/insidenova/)
August 26, 2009, 5:24 am—40 minutes to sunrise. In the Stonehenge parking lot, we huddle by our cars, fumbling with flashlights and drinking coffee from a thermos to ward off the chill. Our cameraman and soundman have unloaded their gear, and we’re poised to head into the stone circle for approximately three precious hours of “exclusive access.” But the security guards have decided there’s not yet enough ambient light for us to move safely among the stones. So we wait.
The guards are mostly young strapping men. They wear fluorescent yellow rain jackets that almost glow in the dark, but the rest of their gear is black -trousers, sweaters, gloves, knit caps, and massive flashlights that look a lot like billy clubs. I wonder how spooky or lonely it might be to patrol Stonehenge all night, and I ask one of the guards. He chuckles and says he much prefers night shifts to working days. Why? He smacks his flashlight rhythmically into the palm of his left hand. “Because at night you get jumpers.” Jumpers? “People who jump the fence. They think no one’s looking, that they’re gonna get in and touch the stones. But no jumper has ever got to the stones on my watch. Keeps it interesting. Keeps me fit.”
Around 5:42 am, a smudge of dawn appears on the horizon and the guards let us in. Laden with equipment, we sprint through the turnstiles, past the shuttered snack bar and gift shop, into the tunnel that runs under the A344 roadway, out the other side and up a steep ramp. Finally, there it is, a study in somber: the black mass of Stonehenge framed against a slate sky. Unfortunately, there’s no time to drink it in. We rush to set up the camera, just in case the cloud cover miraculously parts and grants us a shot of sunrise through the megaliths. Besides, we need to be ready to roll for Clive Ruggles, archaeoastronomer extraordinaire who’s scheduled to arrive in 25 minutes. Jill (Shinefield, my co-producer) and I check our watches compulsively. Exclusive access at Stonehenge is difficult to secure and does not come cheap—so every minute counts.
The clouds stubbornly stay put, but at least it’s not raining—yet. Clive shows up, more energized at dawn than most people at any hour. By the time he finishes answering my first interview question, he’s so warmed up he doffs his jacket. So we shoot ‘Take 2′, and he does the rest of the interview in shirt sleeves. Archaeoastronomy once enjoyed a shady reputation, straying too often into weird science. Almost singlehandedly, Clive rehabilitated the field with his rigorous study of the alignments at Stonehenge and other Neolithic monuments in Britain and Ireland. He has since worked at sites around the world. To be an archaeologist is one thing; to be an astronomer is another; but to be both… My theory about Clive is that his brain fires twice as fast as everyone else’s, and he can pack twice as many ideas in his head.
The interview is over, and we’re shooting ‘B-roll’ of Clive when the clouds let loose on us. It’s a mad scramble to open umbrellas and drag the equipment into the shelter of the tunnel. We dash back and forth, and I nearly slip on the slick grass. Then just before I head back down the ramp for the last time, I look back. And finally I feel it -that shiver of awe. I let the rain and the mystery wash over me, and it’s like I’m seeing Stonehenge for the first time.
Bluestonehenge
01/2010—(This is one in a series of Gail’s blogs for the Inside NOVA website http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/insidenova/)
This fall, a piece of prehistory made a big splash in the news. “Second Stonehenge Discovered!” “New Stone Circle Found near Stonehenge!” If you simply scanned the breathless headlines, you might assume that a ring of giant stones had somehow escaped notice for a few thousand years, just a mile from the mother-of-all-henges. As a friend asked, “Why didn’t anyone spot it until now?”
For starters, the stones are long gone. For another, the monument is located on the lush banks of the River Avon, prime real estate where most traces of prehistory have been overlaid by lavish country estates. (Apparently Sting owns one.) Luckily, the owners of one idyllic stretch of riverbank (ideally suited for gin-and-tonics on summer afternoons) allowed archaeologist Mike Parker Pearson and his team to dig there. Mike”s goal had been to pinpoint the end of the Stonehenge Avenue, a processional pathway that begins outside the entrance to Stonehenge, curves for about 2 miles across the landscape, and dead-ends somewhere near the river. Mike never dreamed he’d find “Stonehenge’s Little Sister.”
In September 2009, we show up to film the site on the morning after a torrential thunderstorm has swept across the Salisbury Plain. By 9 am, archaeologists and student diggers have bailed rainwater out of the deepest trenches, and everyone is back at work -boots muddied, jeans soggy, spirits intact. I spot Mike Parker Pearson kneeling in the bottom of a ditch, trowel in hand, scraping up clods of sticky clay. He digs with gusto yet great delicacy, parsing out the subtle nuances of color and texture that distinguish signs of human activity in the soil from old rabbit holes. This man can read dirt. He is so clearly in his element that I feel guilty disturbing him. But gracious as always, he gives us a tour of “Bluestonehenge”, as his latest discovery has been christened.
Mike’s team has exposed a large wedge of the henge -a circular ditch and external bank about 33 feet in diameter. In the center, Mike points out an arc of several large holes that (based on their size and shape) must have held standing stones. To my eye, it looks like a gigantic slab of chocolate cake, with holes where huge birthday candles were pulled out. Extrapolating from this ’slice’, Mike reckons the intact circle probably numbered about 25 closely-spaced standing stones. And these were almost certainly bluestones, a type of stone that that’s indigenous to Wales, over 150 miles away. Stonehenge also contains many of these ‘foreign’ bluestones.
So what’s it all mean? Mike cautions that he’s still waiting on radiocarbon dates, but even now it seems clear that Bluestonehenge was an integral part of Stonehenge. Mike suspects the bluestones that once stood here by the river were eventually dragged up the Avenue and installed in Stonehenge, during a later phase of ‘remodeling’. As for the purpose of Bluestonehenge? Mike digs his toe into the ground: “This soil is full of charcoal. Maybe people were cremated here by the river and then their ashes were buried at Stonehenge itself. Not many people realize that Stonehenge was Britain’s largest burial ground at that time.”
According to Mike’s theory, prehistoric people dedicated the area around Stonehenge to their ancestors. We are standing in the sacred realm of the dead. But somehow it just doesn’t feel that way this morning, with the sun sparkling on wet grass and the Avon glinting through the trees. And with Sting just up the road.
Cutting Stonehenge
01/2010—We have finally taken Stonehenge into the editing room! We went through a second bout of filming during the summer of 2009, and postponed post-production until after the holiday season. It’s a thrill to start putting the story together. We hope to complete the show by the summer, with broadcast still-to-be-determined. WGBH asked us to blog about our shoots, so Gail’s been posting to the Inside NOVA website (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/insidenova/). We’ll be posting her blogs on our website as well.
2008
Gail, Jill and archaeologist Mike Parker Pearson.
Gemini Does Stonehenge
10/2008—Over the summer, we took on an exciting assignment from NOVA WGBH: to produce a one-hour special on Stonehenge. Yes, there’s been a flurry of news reports lately on the renowned megalithic monument, and a wide range of opinions about the ancient stones. Our aim is to look beyond some of the more para-believable theories, and to get at the science of Stonehenge. We spent nearly a month chronicling excavations conducted by the Stonehenge Riverside Project in and around the monument. Led by directo Mike Parker Pearson, of Sheffield University, over 150 archaeologists and other researchers plumbed the depths of nearly 20 trenches in one of the largest archaeological projects in the world. We’ll go back to film in 2009, once all the finds have been analyzed and radiocarbon dates are available. We expect to complete the documentary by late 2009 for broadcast shortly thereafter. Stay tuned.
Mummy Selected for Archaeology Channel Intn’l Film Festival
05/2007—We’ve just learned that The Mummy Who Would Be King has also been selected to screen at the The Archaeology Channel’s International Film and Video Festival, on May 21, 2008, in Eugene, Oregon. For more details on this festival, check out this website: http://www.archaeologychannel.org/content/TACfestival.shtml.
2007
Mummy Wins Prix Special du Jury in Brussels
11/2007—The Mummy Who Would Be King was awarded the Prix special du jury at the at the 7th International Festival of Archaeological Films, held in Brussels. The six-person jury issued this statement: “It’s rare that a visitor to a museum learns the hidden stories to the objects on display there. In a very fun way, this film shows that it’s possible to make discoveries not just at excavation sites, but also in storerooms. This fascinating reconstruction of the identification of a figure from history is directed with clarity and skill.” The awards ceremony was held on Sun. Nov. 25, and Gail was on hand to accept on behalf of NOVA. For more details on the festival check this website: http://www.kineon.be/.
International Festival of Archaeological Films Has Selected Mummy for Competition—Nov. 23–25, 2007
09/2007—The Mummy Who Would Be King will compete for one of six prizes at the 7th International Festival of Archaeological Films, to be held in Brussels, Belgium Nov. 23–25, 2007. The mission of the festival is to promote and popularize archaeology; prizes are awarded by a jury of experts, and by the audience.
Mummy Wins Emmy! —Sept. 24, 2007
09/2007—Actually, Gail won the Emmy for “Outstanding Individual Achievement in a Craft: Writing” for The Mummy Who Would Be King. She didn’t make it to the awards ceremony, but if she had, here’s what she might have said: “Everyone’s familiar with the so-called curse of the mummy, but in fact many ancient Egyptian tombs include an inscription that promises a blessing to anyone, still living, who continues to speak the name of the deceased and to remember his good deeds. I’d like to think that this Emmy is a blessing from Ramesses I—wherever he is!”
The Mummy Who Would Be King Nominated for Emmy for Writing—July 18, 2007
07/2007—This morning, the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) announced the nominations for the 28th Annual News and Documentary Emmy Awards—and Gail was nominated for Outstanding Individual Achievement in a Craft: Writing. Winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on Sept. 24 in New York.
Gemini Competes in International Documentary Challenge an Wins Award!—Sunday, April 29, 2007
04/2007—Back in March, we decided to enter the International Documentary Challenge, a timed filmmaking competition where filmmaking teams from around the world have just 5 days to make a short documentary film. All the teams must address the same theme, and each team is given a choice of two genres in which they must work. (For further information about the competition, check out http://documentarychallenge.org/.) This year’s theme was FAITH, and we had the option of doing a nature film or a social/political documentary. We opted for the nature genre, and came up with a 6-minute film titled Our Lady of the Horses. It’s a portrait of Lourdes Hernandez, the only female groom at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center, and horsewoman extraordinaire. The film explores the bonds of faith and trust between Lourdes and her equine charges. Gail did the shooting, Jill handled sound, our friend Lenny Feinstein did his usual magic in the editing room, and composers Andrew Gross & Gil Talmi provided music.
Our Lady of the Horses was screened on April 29 in Toronto at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Film Festival, and won an award for Best Use of Nature Genre. Was it fun to produce an entire film in just five days? Despite several exhausting days of shooting and 20 hours straight in the editing room, we had a blast. Will we enter again next year? We’ll see!
RX for Survival is among the 2006 International Documentary Association’s ‘Distinguished Documentary Nominees’. The series was nominated in two categories: “Limited Series” and the “Pare Lorentz Award.” Winners will be announced on Friday, December 8, 2006 at the Director Guild of America, in Los Angeles.
Galapogos US Broadcast Premiere — Sunday, March 18
03/2007—Last fall, we were approached by the National Geographic Channel to reversion their three-hour co-production with the BBC, Galapogos. Almost three years in the making, and culled from more than 300 hours of HD footage, Galapogos explores the geology and wildlife of the extraordinary islands that inspired Charles Darwin—and that still astound us today.
We re-edited the three shows, Gail wrote new narration scripts, and Jill worked with composers Andrew Gross and Gil Talmi on new music cues for the shows. Galapogos has its US broadcast premiere on Sunday, March 18, at 8 pm, on the National Geographic Channel. We’re delighted to have helped bring this special project to an American audience.
2006
RX for Survival Nominated for 2 IDA Awards — Nov. 13, 2006
11/2006—RX for Survival is among the 2006 International Documentary Association’s ‘Distinguished Documentary Nominees’. The series was nominated in two categories: “Limited Series” and the “Pare Lorentz Award.” Winners will be announced on Friday, December 8, 2006 at the Director Guild of America, in Los Angeles.
RX for Survival Wins Emmy! — Sept. 25, 2006
10/2006—RX for Survival was honored with the Emmy for Outstanding Informational Programming—Long Form, at the 27th Annual News and Documentary Emmy Awards ceremony in New York.
We were out of the country and couldn’t attend the awards—but we were there in spirit! Congratulations to all the great people who worked so hard to make the series such a success!
RX for Survival Nominated for Emmy—Jul. 18, 2006
10/2006—We’re delighted to announce that RX for Survival has been nominated for an Emmy for “Outstanding Informational Programming—Long Form.” It’s an honor to have our work on “Delivering the Goods” recognized in this way, and we congratulate our colleagues who produced and directed the other episodes in the series: Mike Beckham, Sarah Holt, Tabitha Jackson, Rob Whittlesey and Andy Young. If RX wins, each of us gets to take home one of those pretty gold statues. The 27th Annual News and Documentary Emmy Awards will be presented on Monday, September 25 in New York City. Fingers crossed til then.
Doing Our Documentary Duty — Apr. 9, 2006
04/2006—Yesterday we did our “doc duty” by serving as judges for this year’s U.S. International Film and Video Festival. With a couple colleagues of ours, we spent the afternoon viewing submissions from around the globe on wide range of topics. Our job was not to pick the winners, but the rate the programs we viewed—which varied widely in quality. The experience certainly put the whole “awards process” in perspective.
Heroes Featured in New RX Special–Apr. 12, 2006
04/2006—Highlights from the RX for Survival series have been compiled into a two-hour special that will air on Wed., April 12th on most PBS stations. Titled “The Heroes”, this new special focuses on the remarkable individuals whose tireless perseverance saves millions of lives across the globe—proving that one person really can make a different. Two of the sequences from our episode (“Delivering the Goods”) will be included: our profiles of Barry and Andrea Coleman, founders of Riders for Health, and of Rohima, a community health volunteer in Bangladesh. Check your local PBS listings for broadcast times.
Mummy Music Article on Apple Website — Feb. 10, 2006
02/2006—Gil Talmi and Andrew Gross, who composed the score for our doc The Mummy Who Would Be King, have been featured in an article posted on Apple’s website. In the article, titled “Music Fit for a King”, Gil and Andrew describe their creative process: “We wanted to do the mummy justice through the music. For us that meant mystery and respect, something regal that reflected ancient and distant times, hints of Middle Eastern influences, and…the melding of East and West, old and new.” You can check out the article at http://www.apple.com/pro/music/talmiandgross/.
Black Sky Takes Bronze —Jan. 27, 2006
01/2006—Black Sky: The Race For Space took home a Bronze World Medal for “International Television Programming in Science & Technology” from the New York Festivals 2006.
RX at Davos–January 25, 2006
01/2006—It’s the last week of January and, as they do every year, more than 2,300 executives and politicians are descending on snow-bound Davos, in the Swiss Alps, for the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF). To spread the word about global health, Vulcan Productions has arranged to distribute several thousand DVD copies of RX for Survival to forum attendees. Let’s hope they all watch and take notes. (The RX series was a co-production of the WGBH/NOVA Science Unit and Vulcan Productions Inc.)
The Mummy Who Would Be King—Jan. 3, 2006
01/2006—At long last! A year and a half after we finished this film, it finally had its broadcast premiere on NOVA on PBS on Jan. 3. The New York Times published a nice review (“A Leader as Notable in Death as He Was Powerful in Life”) by Ned Martel, who wrote: “The “Nova” treatment never seems as macabre or indiscreet as that mystifyingly popular “Bodies” exhibition of posed human specimens. And the producers know just how to pretty up the arcana. As the narrator reads from ancient Egyptian forecasts of what the afterlife would look like, the pharaoh’s actual travels seem fitting for a great leader, whose adventures in death have been nearly as interesting as his conquests in life.” Check out the WGBH/NOVA website for the show for further details on how the ancient Egyptians prepared a body for mummification. (Yes, they pulled the brain out through the nose.)
2005
Black Sky Finalist for New York Festivals—Dec. 6, 2005
01/2005—Black Sky: The Race for Space has been shortlisted for for the New York Festivals 2006 Television Programming & Promotions Awards in the category of Television Documentary and Information Programs/Science and Technology. Medals will be handed out on stage at a black-tie gala event in New York City on 1/27/06. Fingers crossed.
RX for Survival Events—Nov. 1–7, 2005
01/2005—The six episodes of RX for Survival (including our episode, Delivering the Goods) had their broadcast premiere on PBS on the evenings of Nov. 1-3. The shows were also featured at the TIME Global Health Summit in New York City (held on Nov. 1-3.) Supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the TIME Summit convened leaders in medicine, government, business, public policy and the arts to develop solutions to the global health crisis. Speakers included Bill Gates, Richard Branson, Ted Turner, Paul Farmer, Madeleine Albright, Julie Gerberding and Bono. And finally: TIME magazine in its Nov. 7 issue published a special section of articles on global health, including profiles of international health heroes, among them Barry and Andrea Coleman, founders of Riders for Health, who were featured in Delivering the Goods. Ride on!
Delivering the Goods—Oct. 12, 2005
10/2005—Our latest project, Delivering the Goods (aka Program 3 of Rx for Survival: A Global Health Challenge) is completed, and will be broadcast on PBS on Wed. Nov. 2 at 9 pm. We began work on the show in June 2004; shooting took us to Thailand, Bangladesh, the Gambia and Chad. Check out the series website for further details, and for Gail’s “Dispatch from the field.” (You can find a link on our Links page.)
We’re currently developing a new series for an old client – but it’s too soon to say much about it (and we don’t like to count our chicks, etc.) We hope to have further news after the New Year.
Peabody Award—May 16, 2005
05/2005—In April, we had just returned from Chad, where we were shooting for Delivering the Goods, when we got an exciting email from Vulcan Productions. Black Sky: The Race for Space had won a Peabody Award. On May 16th, we joined the other winners at the Waldorf Astoria, in New York, for the awards ceremony. Despite the rubber chicken lunch, it was a thrill to be there, and in such good company. (We were seated at a table next to Jon Stewart.)