Over the past few years, individual Tribe of Heart supporters have facilitated 11 PBS broadcasts of The Witness:
KBDI of Denver
WPBT of Miami
WCNY of Central NY
KLVX of Las Vegas
WNEO/WEAO of Central Ohio
WJCT of Jacksonville
WCVE/WHTJ of Central Virginia
and four broadcasts on KTEH of San Jose.
You too can help facilitate a PBS broadcast in your area. It takes a little preparation and persistance, but the enormous impact that a regional PBS broadcast can have makes the effort well worthwhile. Already, just a few committed people have been responsible for The Witness reaching several hundred thousand viewers.
First, a little background...
The PBS system is set up as a network of 300 independent stations around the US, all of which broadcast a mixture of national programming, such as Nova, Frontline and the MacNeil/Lehrer News Hour, and regional material selected and/or produced by the individual station’s staff.
In 2000, Tribe of Heart made a sustained effort to get The Witness accepted by PBS’s national division for broadcast on all their stations. Though we received encouragement from individuals within PBS who thought The Witness was an outstanding documentary, PBS national as an organization ultimately did not choose to include The Witness in their broadcasting schedule. However, this did not mean the door was closed, but rather, that we would need to submit The Witness to each station, one by one, to be considered for inclusion in that portion of their programming that is selected and produced by their in-house staff.
Each of the seven PBS stations that have so far agreed to show The Witness have locally produced independent film showcases or public affairs series, and the content of such programming is determined solely by the regional stations’ programming staff. In each case, The Witness was submitted to the stations’ programmers by a viewer from the station's broadcast region.
If you would like to submit The Witness to your regional station, here are some step-by-step guidelines. Some of those who have made successful submission to their PBS stations have followed each of these steps to the letter. Others just stopped by their station, introduced themselves to the programming staff, dropped off the film and press kit, and followed up with a phone call or email a few days later. In the end, it's up to you to decide which approach will work best in your community.
Step 1: Research & Preparation
If you are new to this sort of outreach effort, consider working with two or three other people as a team. Learn as much as you can about your regional PBS station by visiting their web site (click here to locate your PBS station's site), reading through recent program guides, and speaking with others in your community who are knowledgeable about the station. Find out if there are staff members at the station with a special interest in animal issues, independent film, public affairs, or documentary, and if the station has any locally produced series that focus on any of these four areas. If you can find someone who is knowledgeable about broadcasting in your region or a station staff member to advise you, even better.
Purchase a current version of The Witness and a Witness Press Kit from the TOH online shop to submit to station.
Step 2: Build Support
Before approaching the station directly, you can improve the odds of success by first speaking with local humane societies and other animal/social justice/educational organizations to see if they will give you a letter supporting the film for regional broadcast. This will carry weight, particularly if the groups are well respected in the community. Additionally, you can ask a professor or two from a local university to write a letter endorsing the film's educational value. It can also be helpful to enlist the participation of prominent local citizens, particularly those who are supporters of the station. PBS stations are community oriented, and programmers are encouraged by signs that a broad cross section of the community supports the broadcast of a film.
Step 3: Initial Contact
Once you have completed your research, decide who will be the primary contact for reaching out to the station. Have this person contact the programming department at the station and find out about their guidelines for submission. Be sure to ask if there is any specific information they would like you to address in your cover letter. You may find that their approach is informal, and that they just want you to drop materials off for them to view, or that they may even invite you to come into the station and meet with them. On the other hand, they may have a more formal process, giving you some paperwork to fill out, or indicating the specific points of information they will need covered in your letter. Remember that station programmers have a genuine desire to offer programming that is good for their community, and that the better you get to know them and the more you understand their point of view, the more likely is that your approach with The Witness will be successful.
Most of the programming staff’s questions about The Witness itself will be answered by viewing the film and going over the materials in the Press Kit. However, the friendliness and professionalism of your interactions with them will make it more likely for the film to get fair consideration, and you can play a critical role in helping the programming staff understand how The Witness fits in with current animal issues in your region. Simply by making the effort to approach them, you are sending the message that somebody in their viewing area really cares about getting this film seen.
Step 4: Submission & Cover Letter
What follows are some points that may be good to mention in your approach letter, which should be no longer than 2 pages. Remember that not all of these points may apply in your situation. It is best to write in your own words, in a style that feels comfortable to you. If you are not an experienced letter writer, consider getting advice and feedback from someone who is.
-- You are writing to submit the documentary The Witness for their consideration for broadcast (if they have an independent filmmaking series it would be good to mention it here)
-- So far, The Witness has been broadcast by eight PBS stations (copy the list from the beginning of this page.)
-- Howard Rosenberg, Pulitzer Prize-winning television critic for the Los Angeles Times says The Witness "is one man’s truth that cries out for mass exposure," and that it "may be the most powerful and persuasive film about animals ever made." (Los Angeles Times review, 12/8/00)
-- The Witness has been an official selection in 28 film festivals and has won six awards for Best Documentary, as well as one Best of Festival award.
-- Eddie Lama, whose story is the subject of The Witness, received the Peace Abbey’s Courage of Conscience award, an honor he shares with Dr. Patch Adams, Mother Teresa, and the Dalai Lama
-- Eddie Lama also appeared on The Montel Show, with a special focus on his sanctuary where most of the animal care is provided by men who are in recovery from drug and alcohol abuse. Eddie’s life story was detailed in a chapter of Montel Williams’ latest book, "A Dozen Ways to Sunday: Stories of Hope and Courage." Feature articles about him and his animal protection work have also appeared in two national magazines: ASPCA’s Animal Watch and Best Friends Magazine.
-- The Witness has been the subject of an extraordinary grassroots effort, through which people have held several hundred screenings in nearly all US states, and purchased over 10,000 copies of the film to show to others.
-- The Witness has been endorsed by the California Teacher’s Association, the United Federation of Teachers, and the Humane Society of the United States. The Witness has also received positive reviews and recommendations in the two leading national library publications, Library Journal and American Library Association’s Booklist, as well as The Video Librarian.
-- Tribe of Heart, the organization that produced The Witness, is a charitable non-profit production company specializing in films that tell the stories of individuals who have gone through extraordinary awakenings and who have then gone on to dedicate themselves to serving others.
-- The Witness is consistently well received by a broad spectrum of audience members. Written surveys administered at screenings across the country have shown that over 93% of audience members considered their viewing experience worthwhile and would recommend the film to others.
-- The Witness is available for broadcast in the BETACAM SP or DV formats.
You may also want to look at our press summary and the sample press release on our downloadable resources page to get a sense of how some of these ideas can be tied together.
Step 5: Following up
Remember that your main job is to first build support for the film’s broadcast before approaching the station, and then, once it has been submitted to them, to follow up with gentle reminders every few weeks to encourage a member of the programming staff to watch it. If, after viewing the film, they are interested, the next likely step is that they would contact Tribe of Heart, and we’ll follow through from there.
Don’t forget that programmers have a tough job, and that being respectful, enthusiastic, and patient will go a long way with these people who are looking to do what is best for the community and their station.
Please keep us informed by email of any submissions you make, and consider sharing what you learn along the way with our Heart2Heart discussion list, so others may benefit from your experience.
Copyright © 2006 Tribe of Heart Ltd. All rights reserved.
-XX-
PBS vs. Public Access:
What's the Difference?
Many people have contacted Tribe of Heart about getting permission to air The Witness on their local Public Access channel, also known as Cable Access or Community Access. These are channels with the specific mission of allowing any member of the community to have access to the airwaves. These channels are completely distinct from PBS stations.
Tribe of Heart is not presently giving permission for broadcast on Access channels, as this may hurt the chances of The Witness being accepted by regional PBS stations, which prefer to broadcast material that has not already been exposed to their audience. As PBS stations generally have a much larger viewership than Access channels, it makes sense for us to do all we can with PBS before moving on to permitting Access airings to smaller audiences.
We will at some point allow Access broadcasts, and will announce a program for this when the time comes. So for now, we are focusing on approaching PBS affiliate stations only. One simple way to recognize PBS affiliates is their use of the PBS logo.
To locate the PBS station in your area, click here (note that in some areas there are more than one PBS affiliate station).
KBDI of Denver
WPBT of Miami
WCNY of Central NY
KLVX of Las Vegas
WNEO/WEAO of Central Ohio
WJCT of Jacksonville
WCVE/WHTJ of Central Virginia
and four broadcasts on KTEH of San Jose.
You too can help facilitate a PBS broadcast in your area. It takes a little preparation and persistance, but the enormous impact that a regional PBS broadcast can have makes the effort well worthwhile. Already, just a few committed people have been responsible for The Witness reaching several hundred thousand viewers.
First, a little background...
The PBS system is set up as a network of 300 independent stations around the US, all of which broadcast a mixture of national programming, such as Nova, Frontline and the MacNeil/Lehrer News Hour, and regional material selected and/or produced by the individual station’s staff.
In 2000, Tribe of Heart made a sustained effort to get The Witness accepted by PBS’s national division for broadcast on all their stations. Though we received encouragement from individuals within PBS who thought The Witness was an outstanding documentary, PBS national as an organization ultimately did not choose to include The Witness in their broadcasting schedule. However, this did not mean the door was closed, but rather, that we would need to submit The Witness to each station, one by one, to be considered for inclusion in that portion of their programming that is selected and produced by their in-house staff.
Each of the seven PBS stations that have so far agreed to show The Witness have locally produced independent film showcases or public affairs series, and the content of such programming is determined solely by the regional stations’ programming staff. In each case, The Witness was submitted to the stations’ programmers by a viewer from the station's broadcast region.
If you would like to submit The Witness to your regional station, here are some step-by-step guidelines. Some of those who have made successful submission to their PBS stations have followed each of these steps to the letter. Others just stopped by their station, introduced themselves to the programming staff, dropped off the film and press kit, and followed up with a phone call or email a few days later. In the end, it's up to you to decide which approach will work best in your community.
Step 1: Research & Preparation
If you are new to this sort of outreach effort, consider working with two or three other people as a team. Learn as much as you can about your regional PBS station by visiting their web site (click here to locate your PBS station's site), reading through recent program guides, and speaking with others in your community who are knowledgeable about the station. Find out if there are staff members at the station with a special interest in animal issues, independent film, public affairs, or documentary, and if the station has any locally produced series that focus on any of these four areas. If you can find someone who is knowledgeable about broadcasting in your region or a station staff member to advise you, even better.
Purchase a current version of The Witness and a Witness Press Kit from the TOH online shop to submit to station.
Step 2: Build Support
Before approaching the station directly, you can improve the odds of success by first speaking with local humane societies and other animal/social justice/educational organizations to see if they will give you a letter supporting the film for regional broadcast. This will carry weight, particularly if the groups are well respected in the community. Additionally, you can ask a professor or two from a local university to write a letter endorsing the film's educational value. It can also be helpful to enlist the participation of prominent local citizens, particularly those who are supporters of the station. PBS stations are community oriented, and programmers are encouraged by signs that a broad cross section of the community supports the broadcast of a film.
Step 3: Initial Contact
Once you have completed your research, decide who will be the primary contact for reaching out to the station. Have this person contact the programming department at the station and find out about their guidelines for submission. Be sure to ask if there is any specific information they would like you to address in your cover letter. You may find that their approach is informal, and that they just want you to drop materials off for them to view, or that they may even invite you to come into the station and meet with them. On the other hand, they may have a more formal process, giving you some paperwork to fill out, or indicating the specific points of information they will need covered in your letter. Remember that station programmers have a genuine desire to offer programming that is good for their community, and that the better you get to know them and the more you understand their point of view, the more likely is that your approach with The Witness will be successful.
Most of the programming staff’s questions about The Witness itself will be answered by viewing the film and going over the materials in the Press Kit. However, the friendliness and professionalism of your interactions with them will make it more likely for the film to get fair consideration, and you can play a critical role in helping the programming staff understand how The Witness fits in with current animal issues in your region. Simply by making the effort to approach them, you are sending the message that somebody in their viewing area really cares about getting this film seen.
Step 4: Submission & Cover Letter
What follows are some points that may be good to mention in your approach letter, which should be no longer than 2 pages. Remember that not all of these points may apply in your situation. It is best to write in your own words, in a style that feels comfortable to you. If you are not an experienced letter writer, consider getting advice and feedback from someone who is.
-- You are writing to submit the documentary The Witness for their consideration for broadcast (if they have an independent filmmaking series it would be good to mention it here)
-- So far, The Witness has been broadcast by eight PBS stations (copy the list from the beginning of this page.)
-- Howard Rosenberg, Pulitzer Prize-winning television critic for the Los Angeles Times says The Witness "is one man’s truth that cries out for mass exposure," and that it "may be the most powerful and persuasive film about animals ever made." (Los Angeles Times review, 12/8/00)
-- The Witness has been an official selection in 28 film festivals and has won six awards for Best Documentary, as well as one Best of Festival award.
-- Eddie Lama, whose story is the subject of The Witness, received the Peace Abbey’s Courage of Conscience award, an honor he shares with Dr. Patch Adams, Mother Teresa, and the Dalai Lama
-- Eddie Lama also appeared on The Montel Show, with a special focus on his sanctuary where most of the animal care is provided by men who are in recovery from drug and alcohol abuse. Eddie’s life story was detailed in a chapter of Montel Williams’ latest book, "A Dozen Ways to Sunday: Stories of Hope and Courage." Feature articles about him and his animal protection work have also appeared in two national magazines: ASPCA’s Animal Watch and Best Friends Magazine.
-- The Witness has been the subject of an extraordinary grassroots effort, through which people have held several hundred screenings in nearly all US states, and purchased over 10,000 copies of the film to show to others.
-- The Witness has been endorsed by the California Teacher’s Association, the United Federation of Teachers, and the Humane Society of the United States. The Witness has also received positive reviews and recommendations in the two leading national library publications, Library Journal and American Library Association’s Booklist, as well as The Video Librarian.
-- Tribe of Heart, the organization that produced The Witness, is a charitable non-profit production company specializing in films that tell the stories of individuals who have gone through extraordinary awakenings and who have then gone on to dedicate themselves to serving others.
-- The Witness is consistently well received by a broad spectrum of audience members. Written surveys administered at screenings across the country have shown that over 93% of audience members considered their viewing experience worthwhile and would recommend the film to others.
-- The Witness is available for broadcast in the BETACAM SP or DV formats.
You may also want to look at our press summary and the sample press release on our downloadable resources page to get a sense of how some of these ideas can be tied together.
Step 5: Following up
Remember that your main job is to first build support for the film’s broadcast before approaching the station, and then, once it has been submitted to them, to follow up with gentle reminders every few weeks to encourage a member of the programming staff to watch it. If, after viewing the film, they are interested, the next likely step is that they would contact Tribe of Heart, and we’ll follow through from there.
Don’t forget that programmers have a tough job, and that being respectful, enthusiastic, and patient will go a long way with these people who are looking to do what is best for the community and their station.
Please keep us informed by email of any submissions you make, and consider sharing what you learn along the way with our Heart2Heart discussion list, so others may benefit from your experience.
Copyright © 2006 Tribe of Heart Ltd. All rights reserved.
-XX-
PBS vs. Public Access: Many people have contacted Tribe of Heart about getting permission to air The Witness on their local Public Access channel, also known as Cable Access or Community Access. These are channels with the specific mission of allowing any member of the community to have access to the airwaves. These channels are completely distinct from PBS stations. Tribe of Heart is not presently giving permission for broadcast on Access channels, as this may hurt the chances of The Witness being accepted by regional PBS stations, which prefer to broadcast material that has not already been exposed to their audience. As PBS stations generally have a much larger viewership than Access channels, it makes sense for us to do all we can with PBS before moving on to permitting Access airings to smaller audiences. We will at some point allow Access broadcasts, and will announce a program for this when the time comes. So for now, we are focusing on approaching PBS affiliate stations only. One simple way to recognize PBS affiliates is their use of the PBS logo.
To locate the PBS station in your area, click here (note that in some areas there are more than one PBS affiliate station). |