American Experience is a television program airing on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the United States. The program airs documentaries, many of which have won awards, about important or interesting events and people in American history.
Geoffrey Champion Ward is an American editor, author, historian and writer of scripts for American history documentaries for public television. He is the author or co-author of 19 books, including 10 companion books to the documentaries he has written. He is the winner of seven Emmy Awards.
The Corner is a 2000 HBO drama television miniseries based on the nonfiction book The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood (1997) by David Simon and Ed Burns, and adapted for television by David Simon and David Mills. It premiered on HBO in the United States on April 16, 2000, and concluded its six-part run on May 21, 2000. The series was released on DVD on July 22, 2003. It won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Miniseries in 2000.
Ric Burns is an American documentary filmmaker and writer. He has written, directed and produced historical documentaries since the 1990s, beginning with his collaboration on the celebrated PBS series The Civil War (1990), which he produced with his older brother Ken Burns and wrote with Geoffrey Ward.
Paula S. Apsell is the television Executive Producer Emerita of PBS's NOVA and was director of the WGBH Science Unit.
Steeplechase Films is a documentary production company founded in 1989 by filmmaker Ric Burns. They produce films focusing on events and people in American history, mainly for the PBS series American Experience. Ric and his company are best known for the eight-part, seventeen-and-a-half-hour series, New York: A Documentary Film, which premiered nationally on PBS to wide public and critical acclaim when broadcast in three installments in November 1999, September 2001, and September 2003.
My Lai is a documentary film detailing the My Lai massacre. It aired as an episode of American Experience on PBS.
Patricia Alvarado Núñez is an American television producer, director, and published photographer based in Boston, Massachusetts. She has created, produced, co-produced, executive produced, written and directed television and digitally distributed documentaries, music specials and series on social and cultural issues including the American Experience PBS primetime documentary Fidel in 2004, an episode of PBS Kids' Postcards from Buster which was nominated for a 2008 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Children Series. She later served as the Creator and Series Producer of the WGBH series "Neighborhood Kitchens" which won an Emmy Award in 2014. Patricia was an Executive Producer of "Sing That Thing," an amateur choral group competition television series which ran for four seasons by broadcaster WGBH. Alvarado Núñez is currently the Executive Producer of WGBH's World Channel online, television, and podcast series "Stories from the Stage" which broadcast nationally on the PBS network and won two Webby Awards.
Marion "Muffie" Meyer is an American director, whose productions include documentaries, theatrical features, television series and children’s films. Films that she directed are the recipients of two Emmy Awards, CINE Golden Eagles, the Japan Prize, Christopher Awards, the Freddie Award, the Columbia-DuPont, and the Peabody Awards. Her work has been selected for festivals in Japan, Greece, London, Edinburgh, Cannes, Toronto, Chicago and New York, and she has been twice nominated by the Directors Guild of America.
Donald L. Miller is an American biographer and historian. He is the John Henry MacCracken Professor of History emeritus at Lafayette College in Pennsylvania. He is also a New York Times bestselling author of seven books, and one of the most respected authorities on World War II and U.S history. He has been nominated for and won a variety of awards. He is a frequent consultant and adviser to historical productions, including those for PBS and HBO.
Vietnam: A Television History (1983) is a 13-part documentary mini-series about the Vietnam War (1955–1975) from the perspective of the United States. It was produced for public television by WGBH-TV in Boston, Central Independent Television of the UK and Antenne-2 of France. It was originally broadcast on PBS between October 4 and December 20, 1983.
George H.W. Bush is a 2008 two-part biographical television film about former United States President George H. W. Bush. Produced by PBS for the American Experience documentary program, it recounts Bush's life from his childhood and experience in World War II up to the end of his presidency in 1993. Written, co-produced, and directed by Austin Hoyt, the film aired on PBS in two parts on May 5 and 6, 2008.
Jimmy Carter is a 2002 two-part television documentary film about Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States. Produced by PBS for the American Experience documentary program, it recounts Carter's life from childhood in Georgia to his post-presidency as peacemaker. The film was written, produced, and directed by Adriana Bosch, and was first aired on PBS in two parts on November 11 and 12, 2002.
John and Abigail Adams is a 2006 television documentary film about John Adams, the 2nd President of the United States, and his wife Abigail Adams. Produced by PBS for the American Experience documentary program, it recounts the Adams couple's lives and partnership through both dramatizations and interviews. The film was directed by Peter Jones and written and produced by Elizabeth Deane, and it first aired on PBS in the United States on January 23, 2006.
Ulysses S. Grant is a 2002 two-part television documentary film about Ulysses S. Grant, the 18th President of the United States. Produced by PBS for the American Experience documentary program, it recounts Grant's life from his childhood in Ohio to his presidency, with narration by Liev Schreiber. The film was released in two parts on May 5 and 6, 2002, with part one written, produced, and directed by Adriana Bosch, and part two written, produced, and directed by Elizabeth Deane.
The Wright Stuff is a 1996 television documentary film about Orville and Wilbur Wright, the brothers who invented the first successful motor-powered airplane. Produced by PBS for The American Experience documentary program, it recounts the lives of the Wright brothers from their early childhood in Ohio with dreams of flight to their subsequent fame after their successful 1908 demonstration in France. The film was written, produced, and directed by Nancy Porter, narrated by Garrison Keillor, and hosted by David McCullough, and was first aired on PBS in the United States on February 12, 1996.
MacArthur is a 1999 two-part television documentary film about Douglas MacArthur, a United States General of the Army. Produced by PBS for The American Experience documentary program, it recounts the significant events and controversies in MacArthur's life, from childhood to his death in 1964. Written and produced by Austin Hoyt, directed by Hoyt and Sarah Holt, and narrated by David Ogden Stiers, the film first aired on PBS in two parts on May 17 and 18, 1999.
Crucible of Empire: The Spanish–American War is a 1999 television documentary film about the Spanish–American War and American imperialism at the turn of the 20th century. Produced by the Great Projects Film Company and South Carolina ETV for PBS, it details how the United States' imperial ambitions largely grew out of its war with the Spanish Empire and was the harbinger for the American Century. Directed by Daniel A. Miller, written and produced by Miller and Daniel B. Polin, and narrated by Edward James Olmos, the film first aired on PBS in the United States on August 23, 1999.
The Chinese Exclusion Act is a 2017 documentary film about the United States Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. Produced by PBS as a "special presentation" for the American Experience documentary program, it explores how the Act's 61-year-long prohibition of Chinese immigrants to the United States had an effect on Chinese communities already living in the country. Directed by Ric Burns and Li-Shin Yu, who also served as writer and editor respectively, the film premiered in the 2017 CAAMFest and aired on PBS in the United States on May 29, 2018.
LBJ is a 1991 two-part television documentary film about Lyndon B. Johnson, the 36th president of the United States. Produced by PBS for The American Experience documentary program, it recounts Johnson's life from his childhood to his presidency up to his death. Written, co-produced and directed by David Grubin and narrated by David McCullough, the film first aired on PBS in two parts on September 30, 1991.
