California and the American Dream

(San Francisco) CALIFORNIA AND THE AMERICAN DREAM, a new four-part series narrated by Academy Award-winning actress Linda Hunt, explores the dynamics of culture, community and identity in one of the world's most diverse regions. In the last 35 years, California, a state with the world's sixth-largest economy, has seen dramatic changes in social, demographic and cultural trends, which have transformed the state so much that it bears little resemblance to the Hollywood dreamscape projected in previous decades. 

CALFORNIA AND THE AMERICAN DREAM tells the story of the "real" California, a state that is leading the nation in terms of innovation and solutions to the myriad of issues facing the country today. California is also a prime example of a post-industrial America in which minorities make up the majority of the population. In each episode, veteran filmmakers Jed Riffe, Paul Espinosa, Lyn Goldfarb and Emiko Omori offer an in-depth look at these issues and current trends — from changing demographics to new models of civic engagement; from the role of immigrants in neighborhood life to the democratic challenge of the initiative process; and from sustainable agriculture to Native American gaming and sovereignty. Each one of the hour-long four independently-produced films stands alone. However as a series, the four episodes examine a complex and crucial set of issues California currently faces, as well as the country as a whole. 

Order of Presentation 
Episode 1: California's 'Lost' Tribes Premieres Thursday, April 13, 2006
Producer/Director: Jed Riffe
Co-Producer: Jack Kohler
(California tribal member Karuk, Yurok, Hupa) 

In a few short years, some American Indian Tribes in California went from being the poorest people in the state to the richest — gaining extraordinary wealth from Casino gaming. However, California tribal members must still contend with a legacy of racism that thrives in the twenty-first century. In episode one, "California's 'Lost' Tribes," award-winning filmmakers Producer/Director Jed Riffe ("Ishi, the Last Yahi", "Who Owns the Past?") and Co-Producer Jack Kohler (California Tribal member Karuk, Yurok, Hupa) explore the historical underpinnings of Tribal sovereignty, the evolution of tribal gaming, and its effects on California's Native peoples and their non-Indian neighbors. 

In "California's 'Lost' Tribes," Tribal leaders tell their own stories of abundance, attempted genocide, survival, and resistance. The first documentary to go beyond the sensationalistic headlines, "California's 'Lost' Tribes" unravels the current conflicts over Indian gaming which is further fueled by the development of casinos in both urban and rural areas. "California's 'Lost' Tribes" weighs the impact of gaming on Indian self-determination, and explores the challenges Native peoples face in defining their identity for the future. "California's 'Lost' Tribes" was edited and co-written by Maureen Gosling ("Blossoms of Fire," "Burdens of Dreams"), and lensed by Vicente Franco ("Daughter from Danang").

Episode 2: The Price of Renewal Premieres Thursday, April 20, 2006
Producer/Director: Paul Espinosa 

In episode two, "The Price of Renewal," filmmaker Paul Espinosa ("The Border," "The U.S.-Mexican War") explores the long-term redevelopment of the once-deteriorating neighborhood of City Heights, often referred to as the Ellis Island of San Diego. City Heights has a rich mix of cultural values and peoples, including immigrants from Mexico and Latin America and refugees from Southeast Asia and East Africa. Profound redevelopment plans placed the community in an unlikely partnership with businessman and philanthropist Sol Price, the founder of the Price Club who is widely recognized as the father of the discount warehouse industry, and William Jones, an African-American real estate developer who was the youngest person ever elected to the San Diego City Council. 

The episode examines the double-edged sword that redevelopment can bring as an improbable alliance forms between community groups, public officials, philanthropists and business people as they work together to transform a community in decline. What are the challenges of crafting a vibrant urban village from an ethnically, culturally, and economically diverse population? "The Price of Renewal" explores what is gained and what is lost as a community develops and improves itself, through a collaboration among public, private and philanthropic agencies. 

"The Price of Renewal" key crew includes: Larry Asakawa, Associate Producer; Maria Zeiss, Editor and Howard Shack, Director of Photography. 

Episode 3: The New Los Angeles Premieres Thursday, April 27, 2006
Producer/Director: Lyn Goldfarb 

In episode three, "The New Los Angeles," Academy-Award nominated filmmaker Lyn Goldfarb ("With Babies and Banners", "The Roman Empire in the First Century") explores the complexities of inclusion in Los Angeles—the nation's largest majority minority city and the city with the largest divide between rich and poor. This powerful portrait of a city in transition begins in 1973 with the election of Mayor Tom Bradley, the first African American mayor of a major city without a black majority, and concludes with the political empowerment of Latinos and the election of Los Angeles's current Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Los Angeles's first Latino mayor in more than 130 years. The documentary looks beyond the Hollywood dreamscape to a vibrant city grappling with many of the issues now commonplace throughout the nation: immigration, globalization, de-industrialization and a shrinking middle class. This story profiles the efforts of immigrants and the working poor, in coalition with community organizations, labor unions and elected officials, to transform the environment in which they live and to make the city of Los Angeles accountable to its residents.

 "The New Los Angeles" explores the shifting political ground that is shaping the city's future and demonstrating that change is possible. This is a story about forging coalitions, nurturing inclusion, seeding innovation, salvaging identity and building community—issues that resonate throughout America and the world. "The New Los Angeles " key crew includes: Alison Sotomayor, Associate Producer; Gail Yasunaga, Editor and Sandra Chandler, Director of Photography. 

Episode 4: Ripe for Change Premieres Thursday, May 4, 2006
Producers: Emiko Omori and Jed Riffe
Director: Emiko Omori 

"Ripe for Change" brings to life the powerful stories of both large and small family farmers in California many of whom are struggling and succeeding in bringing a variety of healthy and diverse foods directly to consumers. 'Ripe for Change' offers voices, not often heard, in the debate about food. During the politically tumultuous 1960s and 70s in California, food and the growing of it became politically charged. Cesar Chavez brought the plight of farm workers to the attention of the country and raised awareness of the harmful effects of pesticides on workers, consumers, and the environment. 

After Proposition 13 passed in l978, with the ensuing loss of tax revenues, corporate interests began to dominate agricultural research. At the same time, the back-to-the-land movement was taking hold, supported by food activists like Alice Waters who created California Cuisine using local, fresh and seasonal produce. Concerned about health of his workers and neighbors, Paul Dolan, a fourth generation wine maker, took a bold step in making Fetzer Vineyards, the sixth largest winery in the country, organic, and sustainable. Fetzer Vineyards went on to support the first local ban on genetically modified food in Mendocino County. And yet, as Oil expert Richard Heinberg reveals, industrial food production continues to grow, heavily dependent on petrochemicals. As historic high oil and energy prices draws attention to our nation's over consumption of oil. Heinberg and Dolan offer hopeful and innovative alternatives that not only provide improved energy independence, but healthier foods as well. 

Through the "window" of food and agriculture, "Ripe for Change" reveals two parallel yet contrasting views of our world. One believes that large-scale agriculture, genetic engineering, and technology promise a hunger-less future. The other is for a more organic, sustainable, and locally focused farming that reclaims the aesthetic and nurturing qualities of food and considers the impact on the environment, on communities, and on workers. These two contrasting views are at the heart of California's agricultural dilemma. With diminishing resources and a growing population, how will the state and the nation cope? Will high tech industrial farming techniques feed us? Will the land survive the assault of chemicals? Are there viable alternatives? How can citizens participate in these life-affecting decisions? These debates have profound implications for all of America, especially in a world where scarcity may be becoming the norm and natural resources like land, water, and oil are being depleted. In this episode, revealing interviews with some of California's prominent farmers, chefs and food thinkers offer an opportunity to consider these complex questions. 

"Ripe for Change" is about the choices we make regarding what we eat and reclaiming the aesthetics and meaning of food as it nurtures and sustains our bodies. "Ripe for Change" was produced by award-winning filmmakers Emiko Omori ("Rabbit in the Moon", "Hot Summer Winds") and Jed Riffe (Ishi, the Last Yahi, Who Owns the Past?"), and directed by Emiko Omori. Key crew members include: Jocelyn Fabello, Associate Producer, Wendy Slick, Editor and Michael Chin, Director of Photography. 

Filmmaker Bios And Kew Crew 
PAUL ESPINOSA, Executive Producer, CALIFORNIA AND THE AMERICAN DREAM; Producer and Director, THE PRICE OF RENEWAL
Paul Espinosa is an award-winning independent filmmaker and producer who has produced, directed, written and executive produced numerous programs for PBS, including: The Border, a two-hour news magazine about contemporary life along the U.S.-Mexican border; The U.S. Mexican War: 1846-48, a four-hour documentary series; The Lemon Grove Incident; and films for PBS' THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE (The Hunt For Pancho Villa, Los Mineros) and AMERICAN PLAYHOUSE (… and the earth did not swallow him). Espinosa has won a national EMMY for Best Historical Program; five CINE Golden Eagle awards; two Ohio State Awards; and seven San Diego EMMYs. Espinosa has served on the National Board of the Association of Independent Video and Filmmakers, is a Professor at Arizona State University and holds a Ph.D. in Anthropology from Stanford University. 

LYN GOLDFARB, Executive Producer CALIFORNIA AND THE AMERICAN DREAM; Producer and Director, THE NEW LOS ANGELES
Lyn Goldfarb is an award-winning documentary filmmaker. She is Executive Producer, Director, Producer and Writer of Japan: Memoirs Of A Secret Empire and Executive Producer, Director and Producer for The Roman Empire In The First Century - two prime-time documentary series for PBS in association with Devillier Donegan Enterprises. She produced, directed, and wrote Total War, for the BBC/PBS series, THE GREAT WAR; We Have A Plan, for the PBS series THE GREAT DEPRESSION; Ways to Move and Without Barriers and Borders for the PBS series PEOPLE IN MOTION. She was Producer and Historian for the Academy Award nominated documentary With Babies and Banners, in addition to documentaries on subjects ranging from child labor to health care. Her honors include two EMMYs; a Peabody Award, two duPont-Columbia Awards, a Golden Mike Award and a Cable ACE nomination. Goldfarb is an Adjunct Professor in Film Production at USC and an alumni of the Directing Workshop for Women Program at AFI. She holds a Masters Degree in Women's Studies from George Washington University. 

JED RIFFE, Executive Producer, CALIFORNIA AND THE AMERICAN DREAM; Producer and Director, CALIFORNIA'S "LOST" TRIBES; Producer, RIPE FOR CHANGE
Jed Riffe has been independently producing documentary films for broadcast on public television in the US (PBS), and Japan (NHK) since l975. Riffe is best known as the Producer and Director of the award-winning dramatic documentary Ishi, the Last Yahi, which enjoyed a 14-month limited theatrical release prior to its broadcast on THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE. Riffe's other independently produced public television documentaries include Who Owns the Past? on PBS' INDEPENDENT LENS; Shut Up Sit Down and Listen for NHK-TV in Japan; and Rosebud to Dallas and Promise and Practice for regional broadcast on KERA-TV and KUSD-TV. Between 1999 and 2003, Riffe produced three HDTV programs in France, Brazil and the US. He most recently completed post-production on Waiting to Inhale, the first documentary to examine the national conflict over the legalization of cannabis for medicinal uses. Over the last thirty years, Riffe has produced a number of commercial and independent films, web sites, and interactive programs. He has a film, HDTV, and new media production company in Berkeley, California where he resides. 

EMIKO OMORI, Producer and Director, RIPE FOR CHANGE
Emiko Omori is a highly regarded cinematographer, writer, and director. At the 1999 Sundance Film Festival, she won the Best Documentary Cinematography Award for two films: her own, Rabbit In The Moon, (also the recipient of a National EMMY) and Barbara Sonneborn's Academy Award nominated Regret To Inform. Omori was Director and Writer of Hot Summer Winds, AMERICAN PLAYHOUSE and KCET; and The Departure, a short narrative film. She was Executive Producer for Pacific Diaries, a production of Pacific Islanders in Communications; Producer/Director for Tattoo City, a documentary on the art of Japanese-style tattooing; and Producer/Director for Skin Stories, broadcast on PBS. Omori's current project, The Technology of Orgasm, is in production for an early 2006 release. 

KEY CREW CREDITS 

Sandra Chandler, Director of Photography, is an award-winning cinematographer, whose work has been featured at film festivals; she has received theatrical exhibition and has been widely exhibited. She was nominated for an EMMY for cinematography for Living Dolls, directed by Shari Cookson, for HBO. Her credits include: The Eyes Of Tammy Faye, directed by Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey, for HBO: The First Year, directed by Davis Guggenheim, for PBS and The Getty (Peabody Award winner); The Residents, produced by RJ Cutler, for Actual Reality; Tobacco Blues, directed by Christine Fugate, for PBS/POV; People In Motion, directed by Lyn Goldfarb, for PBS; and Surfer Girl, directed by Donna Olson, for National Geographic Explorer. She has taught documentary camera at the University of Southern California School of Cinema and Television. 

Michael Chin, Director of Photography, is one of the nation's most well respected Cinematographers and has been the Director of Photography on numerous PBS specials and series. His credits include: Japan: Memoirs Of A Secret Empire, The Roman Empire In The First Century, Citizen King; Africans In America, A Hymn For Alvin Ailey, Ansel Adams (EMMY Award nominee), Zoot Suit Riots, Remember The Alamo, First Person Plural, Brain Fingerprinting, The Transcontinental Railroad, Mt. Rushmore, Kazan And Miller, Peter And Paul And The Christian Revolution, Chicago, The City Of The Century, This Far By Faith, Cadillac Desert, The Fight Over Citizen Kane (Academy Award nominee); In The Shadow Of The Stars (Academy Award winner). 

Vicente Franco, Director of Photography, a native of Madrid, Spain, has been working in Film and Television since 1982 as a Producer/Director/Writer for the Spanish Television Network (Univision) and on independent Film/TV productions in the United States and Latin America. His most recent film is the Academy Award-nominated Daughter From Danang, which he co-directed with Gail Dolgin. Mr. Franco lensed Jed Riffe's Waiting to Inhale, and shot the final interviews for Riffe's PBS documentary Who Owns The Past? As an Independent filmmaker, he has produced, directed, shot or edited numerous documentaries including Nicaragua: For The First Time, El Teatro Campesino: The First Twenty Years, Entre El Diablo y Los Tigres, Freedom On My Mind (Academy Award Nomination, 1994), The Fight In The Fields, The Good War, And Those Who Refused To Fight It. 

Howard Shack, Director of Photography, is a Cinematographer specializing in documentary film and video production. He is based in Los Angeles and has shot on location all over the U.S. as well as Scotland, France, Italy, Poland, Austria, Thailand, Burma, The Philippines, Japan, Indonesia, Cambodia and Nepal. His work has been seen on The National Geographic Channel, The Learning Channel. PBS, The BBC, Discovery and The Sundance Channel. A short film he shot for National Geographic on the life of mountaineer Alex Lowe was nominated for a National Emmy Award. He was also a cameraman on the documentary Scout's Honor, which won the Audience Award for Best Documentary at Sundance Film Festival in 2001. Howard also served as the Cinematographer for a one-hour National Geographic Explorer program, Volcano Hunters which was included in the series special B License. He earned his M.A. in Documentary Film Production from Stanford University and his B.A. with Honors in Film and Video Production from The University of Wisconsin – Madison. He was nominated for two Regional Emmy Awards for his work as Producer/Cameraman for KQED's San Francisco arts series, Spark. Howard also served as Cinematographer for David Yanofsky's PBS documentary Poetic. 

Jack Kohler, Co-Producer, has been producing for Native American Public Telecommunications since 1999. As a Yurok, Karuk, and Hupa Indian, Kohler focuses on issues significant to the Native American community. Kohler has produced PSAs and commercials for television and many short films for Native American film festivals in the US and Canada. He is a mentor and instructor for the American Indian Film Institute teaching the art of filmmaking to youth on Indian reservations. Kohler is also Executive Producer of Pikiawish: Fixing the World, a feature-length documentary portraying the environmental, political and cultural crisis of the Klamath River region by interweaving the complexities of issues ranging from water scarcity and wildfowl habitat protection to the economic survival of wild salmon fishing families and the cultural survival of Klamath River tribes, for whom wild salmon is sacred. Kohler is also a Screen Actor's Guild and Actor's Equity Association member, performing in film, television, and theatrical productions throughout the US and Japan. He holds a degree in Engineering from Stanford University. 

Larry Asakawa, Associate Producer, is an Emmy-Award winning documentary filmmaker and third-generation San Diegan. With a professional background in both the arts and sciences, he has created documentary projects on subjects ranging from the dancers of former Soviet Georgia to Whales of the North Pacific. He has created commissioned works for KPBS-San Diego, the National Endowment for the Arts, the San Diego Unified School District, and San Diego Community Foundation, among others. Asakawa has produced broadcast and non-broadcast documentaries about innovative children's education, including: Deep Learning, Young At Art, A Spiral Performance and Kidartz and has shot segments on the nationally syndicated children's show, Field Trip. His nature documentary credits include Encounters With Whales Of The Pacific for the San Diego Natural History Museum. 

Jocelyn Fabello, Associate Producer, was born in Manila, Philippines. Specializing in creative support for creative people, Fabello served as Associate Producer for The Community Project documentary in San Diego and as Production Coordinator for KPBS Public Television's award-winning news documentary program Full Focus. Fabello was Production Coordinator for the documentary Our Neighborhood, chronicling the initiatives to create community dialogues among citizens in San Diego in 2002 and Archival Researcher for the duPont-Columbia Award-winning documentary Culture of Hate, a powerful profile of young white racists in the 'pink ghettos' of Lakeside, CA. Fabello has served in a variety of roles for a number of independent productions, including Creating a Place at the Table, a documentary of three multicultural lesbian couples and their families, and Democracy Under Pressure: Japanese Americans & WWII, on the internment of Japanese Americans and their experiences after the war. 

Alison Sotomayor, Associate Producer, was born in East Los Angeles, California. Sotomayor began her career in public television as a Public Affairs Co-Host and Co-Producer for three years on the public television series Trendsetters. She worked as an Associate Producer, and later Producer for the award-winning public affairs series, Life & Times. As a creative force, she was instrumental in the Emmy award-winning efforts for Life & Times as Best Informational/Public Affairs Series for two years in a row. At KCET-TV in one year alone, Sotomayor became the first Producer to win three Golden Mikes ranging from Best Hard News Serious Reporting, Revolving Door: California's Mentally Ill to Best Light News Reporting, Women Air Force Service Pilots. Among other credits, Sotomayor produced award-winning segments in the categories of Best Sports Reporting, Best Serious Feature Reporting and Best News Reporting. 

Maureen Gosling, Editor, has been a documentary filmmaker for more than thirty years and is best known for her twenty-year collaboration with acclaimed independent director, Les Blank. She was co-filmmaker, editor and/or sound recordist with Blank on over twenty 16mm films (eg. Burden of Dreams, J_ai Eté au Bal: The Roots of Cajun and Zydeco). Gosling has also been sought after as an editor, working with directors Jed Riffe (Waiting to Inhale), Tom Weidlinger ( Boys Will Be Men), Amie Williams (Fallon, Deadly Oasis), Ashley James (Bomba, Dancing the Drum). Gosling_s 16mm feature documentary Blossoms Of Fire, on the legendary Zapotecs of southern Oaxaca, Mexico, won the Coral Award for Best Documentary by a Non-Latino Director at the Havana International Film Festival. The film was also broadcast on HBO Latino. Gosling's current projects are Bamako Chic: The Women Cloth Dyers of Mali, co-produced with Maxine Downs; and No Mouse Music: The Story of Chris Strachwitz and Arhoolie Records, co-produced with Chris Simon. Gosling's films have been seen in countless film festivals around the world, on national public and cable television, on television in Europe, Australia and Asia, and have been distributed widely to educational institutions. 

Gail Yasunuga Editor, has edited documentaries and independent features including the Academy Award nominated feature documentary Changing Our Minds: The Story Of Dr. Evelyn Hooker, directed by Richard Schmeichen; All We Are Saying, directed by Rosanna Arquette; Searching For Debra Winger, directed by Rosanna Arquette; Japan: Memoirs Of A Secret Empire, directed by Lyn Goldfarb and Deborah Ann DeSnoo; Toyo Miyatake: Infinite Shades Of Gray, directed by Robert Nakamura; Stand Up For Justice: The Ralph Lazo Story, directed by John Esaki; The Oscar Legacy, directed by David Haugland and Roots Of Resistance, directed by Orlando Bagwell. Films she has edited have been shown at Sundance Film Festival, the LA Independent Film Festival, Tribeca and others. She is a graduate of the UCLA Film School. 

Wendy Blair Slick, Editor, has produced, directed, and edited award-winning fiction, non-fiction, and educational media programs for over twenty years. She has created productions for PBS, LucasFilm, Disney, Showtime, American Playhouse, Apple Computer, National Geographic, CBS, VH-1, The Sundance Institute, and others. Her work has been honored with several Emmy and ACE nominations, a "1000 Points of Light" award, as well as awards from New York Film Festival, Houston Film Festival, Hawaii Film Festival, and several Cine Golden Eagle Awards. Slick is currently editing The Technology of Orgasm – a 90 minute documentary on women's' rights issues. Slick earned her Masters in Film and Television from Syracuse University and her B.A. in Art & Communications from Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio. 

Maria Zeiss, Editor, is an Emmy-nominated producer and editor based in San Diego, California. Originally from Venezuela, she has been working on different genres since 1981, but her passion and expertise lie primarily in editing long format projects like documentaries and films. Maria has been the recipient of several awards and recognition in Latin-American, Europe and the EU. She also served as Avid Editor as well as a Post Production Coordinator for HBO Latin-American Group (Warner Channel, HBO Olé, Cinemax and HBO Brazil in Caracas, Venezuela; and as Production Manager for Telefutura 61 in Fresno, California.

CALIFORNIA AND THE AMERICAN DREAM is a co-production of Executive Producers Paul Espinosa, Lyn Goldfarb and Jed Riffe and the Independent Television Service (ITVS). Executive Producer is Sally Jo Fifer. Major funding was provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting with additional funding provided by PBS, The Ford Foundation, the Independent Television Service, Native American Public Telecommunications, Skirball Foundation, Latino Public Broadcasting, Center for Asian American Media, The Rockefeller Foundation and the California Council for the Humanities. 

About Center for Asian American Media 
Since 1980, the Center for Asian American Media has been at the forefront of bringing Asian Pacific American media to the American public. The organization was formed to challenge the historical exclusion of Asian Pacific Americans from the media field and to counteract the distorted portrayals of Asians by mainstream press. The Center for Asian American Media's mission is to present stories that convey the richness and diversity of the Asian Pacific American experience. In addition to national public television broadcasts, the Center for Asian American Media fulfills its mission through educational distribution, presenting the annual San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival, and assistance and funding for media artists. 

About LPB 
Created in 1998 by Edward James Olmos and Marlene Dermer, Latino Public Broadcasting (LPB) is a non-profit organization funded by The Corporation for Public Broadcasting. LPB's mission is to support the development, production, post-production, acquisition and distribution of non-commercial educational and cultural television that is representative of or addresses issues of particular interest to U.S. Latinos. These programs are produced for dissemination to public broadcasting stations and other public telecommunication entities. Mr. Olmos is presently LPB's Chairman of the Board of Directors. 

About NAPT 
Native American Public Telecommunications (NAPT) is one of five national consortia chartered by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to provide minority programming to the public broadcasting system. For nearly 30 years, NAPT has supported the creation, promotion and distribution of Native public media. NAPT support has made it possible to bring to the PBS audience such quality programs as Homeland: Four Portraits of Native Action, Vis à Vis: Native Tongues, The Great American Foot Race, and many others. More information about NAPT is available on the web at www.nativetelecom.org. Other award-winning services of NAPT include the AIROS Radio Network, www.airos.org, and Visionmaker Video,www.visionmaker.org, distributor of authentic documentaries by and about Native Americans. NAPT receives major support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and the Ford Foundation. 

About PBS 
PBS is a private, nonprofit media enterprise that serves the nation's 348 public noncommercial television stations, reaching nearly 90 million people each week through on-air and online content. Bringing diverse viewpoints to television and the Internet, PBS provides high-quality documentary and dramatic entertainment, and consistently dominates the most prestigious award competitions. PBS is the leading provider of educational materials for K-12 teachers, and offers a broad array of educational services for adult learners. PBS' premier kids' TV programming and Web site, PBS KIDS Online (pbskids.org), continue to be parents' and teachers' most trusted learning environments for children. More information about PBS is available at pbs.org, one of the leading dot-org Web sites on the Internet. PBS is headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia. 

About ITVS 
Independent Television Service (ITVS) funds and presents award-winning documentaries and dramas on public television, innovative new media projects on the Web, and the Emmy Award-winning weekly series Independent Lens on Tuesday nights at 10pm on PBS. ITVS is a miracle of public policy created by media activists, citizens and politicians seeking to foster plurality and diversity in public television. ITVS was established by a historic mandate of Congress to champion independently produced programs that take creative risks, spark public dialogue and serve underserved audiences. Since ITVS's inception in 1991, its programs have revitalized the relationship between the public and public television, bringing television audiences face-to-face with the lives and concerns of their fellow Americans. More information about ITVS can be obtained by visiting itvs.org. ITVS is funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), a private corporation funded by the American people. 

Contact: Tiffany Woolf, 415-356-8383 ext. 250 or tiffany_woolf@itvs.org 
Randall Cole, 415-356-8383 ext. 254 or randall_cole@itvs.org 
Sybil Hippolyte, 510 845-2044 or sybil@californiadreamseries.org