----------------------------Original message----------------------------
For the information of GLIRT members and their friends. RAL
Ray Anne Lockard
Head, Frick Fine Arts Library
University Library System
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
Voice: 412-648-2410
Fax: 412-648-7568
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 13 Jun 1997 11:00:59 -0500 (EST)
From: Gay Lesbian Bisexual Student Support Services at Indiana University
<[log in to unmask]>
Subject: PBS CENSORS FILM ABOUT GAY AND LESBIAN WORKERS (fwd)
Forwarded by Request:
Please post widely:
If after reading this article you wish to email your objections, below
are a some e-mail addresses you can send email to (or snail mail if
you wish)
PBS
1320 Braddock Place
Alexandria, VA 22314
(703) 739-5000 (800) 356-2626 Fax: (703) 739-5295
http://www.pbs.org/
Email address: [log in to unmask]
and [log in to unmask]
and copy to: [log in to unmask]
****
> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>
> Contact: Kelly Anderson or Tami Gold
> 212-982-7222 voice/fax
> [log in to unmask]
>
> PBS CENSORS FILM ABOUT GAY AND LESBIAN WORKERS
>
> OUT AT WORK, a documentary about the critical issues facing lesbians and gay
> men on the job, was refused carriage by PBS last month on the grounds that
> it violated the network's underwriting guidelines. The film was scheduled
> to be part of the series "Point of View" ("P.O.V."), a national showcase for
> independent documentaries, but was dropped from the series after PBS refused
> to air it.
>
> The film, which was produced and directed by Kelly Anderson and Tami Gold
> and premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January, follows the stories
> of three gay and lesbian workers over the course of five years. Cheryl
> Summerville, a cook in a suburban Atlanta Cracker Barrel restaurant, was
> fired in 1991 for "failing to comply with normal heterosexual values." Ron
> Woods, a Chrysler Corp. auto plant electrician, underwent months of physical
> and
> verbal harassment after his co-workers found out he was gay. Bronx library
> clerk Nat Keitt found himself deeply in debt when his partner of 11 years
> became ill and lost his health benefits.
>
> "We found OUT AT WORK to be compelling television responsibly done on a
> significant issue of our times," wrote PBS Director of News and Information
> Programming Sandra Heberer in a letter to P.O.V., "but PBS's guidelines
> prohibit funding that might lead to an assumption that individual
> underwriters might have exercised editorial control over program content --
> even if, as is clear in this case, those underwriters did not."
>
> Twenty-three percent of the program's $65,000 budget came from sources
> defined in the letter as "problematical." Among the funders cited were the
> ASTRAEA National Lesbian Action Foundation and a number of labor unions.
> The remaining support came from arts funders, the largest being the American
> Film Institute Independent Film and Videomaker Program (NEA) ($20,000), the
> Soros Documentary Fund ($15,000) and the New York State Council on the Arts
> ($7,500).
>
> "It's a real blow to independent filmmaking when PBS refuses to allow
> funding from foundations with a programmatic interest in a film's subject
> matter," said producer Kelly Anderson. "None of the funders in question
> gave more than $5,000 to the project, and most gave $1,000 or less -- I feel
> like we're being punished for doing exactly the kind of grassroots
> fundraising that independent filmmaking depends on."
>
> "It appears there's a double standard here," said Ruby Lerner, Executive
> Director of the Association of Independent Video and Filmmakers. "Large
> corporate donations for any program never seem to be in question. Yet
> independents are penalized for their entrepreneurial success in raising
> small amounts of money from a diverse array of sources that might be
> genuinely interested in the exploration of a particular issue."
>
> Critics of PBS' underwriting guidelines have pointed out that the network
> aired a documentary funded by the New York Times about its own history,
> "James Reston: The Man Millions Read," and that corporations like Prudential
> Securities, Met Life and Travelers underwrite the PBS series "Wall Street
> Week" and "Adam Smith's Money World."
>
> "At the heart of independent filmmaking is freedom from editorial control,"
> said producer Tami Gold. "OUT AT WORK's subjects are everyday heroes whose
> life stories, though inspiring, have been absent from television. Public
> broadcasting was created to correct this imbalance -- and what we're finding
> is that PBS is failing in this mission."
>
> "Public television should celebrate the participation of labor organizations
> and, in fact, should itself be cultivating the ongoing participation of
> labor organizations in its programming," said Lerner.
>
> OUT AT WORK is available for purchase and rental. For distribution
> information contact Frameline, 346 Ninth St., San Francisco, CA 94103 (415)
> 703-8650 (voice) (415) 861-1404 (fax) [log in to unmask] (e-mail).
>
