FACT SHEET
GREAT MUSEUMS®: YEAR OF THE
MUSEUMS SPECIALS II
TITLE:
TV-G
NATIONAL BASEBALL HALL OF FAME:
HOME BASE (1x60 & Pledge Version)
WALKER ART CENTER:
CREATIVE CATALYST (1x30)
BOSTON CHILDREN’S MUSEUM:
MIND OVER MATTER (1x30)
FORMAT:
High Definition and Standard versions available
NOLA CODE:
GMYS
CATEGORY:
Arts & Culture
OFFERED:
Spring 2006
EXPECTED RELEASE:
GMYS #201
National Baseball Hall of Fame: Home Base
Feeds Fall 2006
GMYS #202
Walker Art Center: Creative Catalyst
Feeds Fall 2006
GMYS #203
Boston Children’s Museum: Mind Over Matter
Feeds Fall 2006
CONTRACT TERMS:
Unlimited releases to be completed by September
30, 2008.
Noncommercial cable, school re-record, simulcast
and video-on-demand rights have been granted.
PROGRAM SUPPLIER:
Echo Pictures, Inc. via APT
Distributed and presented nationally by American Public Television
GREAT MUSEUMS / 2
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION:
FACT SHEET
GMYS #201
National Baseball Hall of Fame: Home Base
Baseball and America have grown up together. Our
language, literature, movies and summertime living
all bear the mark of this 19th-century game. Since
the first five men elected to the National Baseball
Hall of Fame in 1936, the National Baseball Hall of
Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York has
been “home base” for the American pastime.
GMYS #202
Walker Art Center: Creative Catalyst
A laboratory for the art of the future, the Walker Art
Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, begins where
most art museums leave off. In fact, many of the
pieces displayed, screened or performed here are
commissioned directly from the artists. Founded in
1879, the Walker began as the first public art gallery
west of the Mississippi and has become one of the
world’s leading contemporary art museums. The
special features interviews with choreographer and
dancer Bill T. Jones and artist Chuck Close.
GMYS #203
Boston Children’s Museum: Mind Over Matter
Rummaging through a trunk of old clothes in the
Grandparent’s Attic display, children are not just
trying on clothes; they’re trying on the business of
being an adult. Play is learning at the Boston
Children’s Museum (founded 1913), which
revolutionized the American museum experience
half a century ago by getting objects out of cases and
into children’s hands.
PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS:
Use above for listing. A press release; episode
descriptions; host & producer biographies; color and
B&W photographs. All materials, including digital
images for each episode are available at
www.APTonline.org.
PRODUCTION DATE:
©2006 Great Museums, LLC
PRODUCTION CREDITS:
Executive producers: Marc Doyle and Chesney
Blankenstein Doyle. An Echo Pictures, Inc.
production.
UNDERWRITERS:
The Eureka Foundation
Yawkey Foundation
SCHEDULING SUGGESTIONS:
National Baseball Hall of Fame: Home Base
Primetime in October before and during the baseball
playoffs and World Series.
GREAT MUSEUMS / 3
FACT SHEET
Walker Art Center: Creative Catalyst
Perfect companion to the November American
Masters on contemporary photographer Annie
Leibovitz.
Boston Children’s Museum: Mind Over Matter
Perfect companion to the October primetime
Independent Lens “The World According to Sesame
Street”.
ON-AIR PROMOTIONS:
Four :30 episodic promos and one :30 VOCA
opportunity to connect viewers to their local
museums.
RELATED MERCHANDISE:
Program DVDs:
National Baseball Hall of Fame: Home Base
$24.95 each, plus $5.95 s/h (1 hour)
Walker Art Center: Creative Catalyst
Boston Children’s Museum: Mind Over Matter
$19.95 each, plus $5.95 s/h (30 min)
To order, call 1-800-230-4453 or visit
www.greatmuseums.org.
PLEDGE:
National Baseball Hall of Fame: Home Base is
available in a pledge version. Premiums include:
2006 Hall of Fame Yearbook
Hall of Fame Thermal Travel Mug
Hall of Fame Baseball Cap
Program DVD
For details, please visit Connect Forums and contact
APT Station Services at 617-338-4455, ext. 121.
VIEWER INQUIRIES:
Echo Pictures: info@greatmuseums.org
WEB SITE:
www.greatmuseums.org
CONTACTS:
Station Relations:
De Shields Associates
(301) 388-2492
deshields@earthlink.net
Public Information:
Dawn Anderson
American Public Television
(617) 338-4455, ext. 149
dawn_anderson@APTonline.org
###
Press:
Donna Hardwick
American Public Television
(617) 338-4455, ext. 129
donna_hardwick@APTonline.org
PRESS RELEASE
Station Contact: De Shields Associates
deshields@earthlink.net
Press Contact: Donna Hardwick
donna_hardwick@APTonline.org
GREAT MUSEUMS® Continues the 2006 “Year of the Museum” Celebration
With Three New Specials
(Atlanta, GA, July 5, 2006) This fall GREAT MUSEUMS® is premiering three new
specials in continuation of America’s Year of the Museum celebration. A home run for
October, the 60-minute primetime special National Baseball Hall of Fame: Home Base
will fuel baseball enthusiasts with the history of America’s favorite pastime just in time
for the playoffs and the World Series. Walker Art Center: Creative Catalyst, a 30minute special on Minneapolis’ famed “laboratory for the art of the future” and arguably
the premier contemporary art museum in the world, features dance, theater, film and the
visual art of today.
And in time for the holidays, the half-hour special Boston
Children’s Museum: Mind Over Matter, will surprise viewers with the story of how
the country’s second oldest children’s museum, founded in 1913, revolutionized
America’s museum world.
As part of the 2006 Year of the Museum celebration, GREAT MUSEUMS®, the only
TV series devoted to America’s museum world, is continuing its mission to focus
attention on the cultural contributions of America’s museums. Spearheaded by the
American Association of Museums (AAM) on the centennial of its 1906 founding, 2006:
Year of the Museum is a call to action for the nation to celebrate, support and experience
the amazing and wondrous things museums do to enrich our lives and our communities.
“Every museum is unique. It has a philosophy, a personality, a mission. It was founded
for a specific reason, and it serves a particular community,” says Executive Producer,
Chesney Doyle. “Each museum is a part of the DNA of America’s identity.”
Each of these specials takes a look at a unique museum experience and underscores the
important contributions museums make to the American culture.
Since the first five
men elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936 -- Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth,
Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson and Walter Johnson – the museum and the village of
Cooperstown, New York, have been the stewards of America’s game. The theme of
Baseball as America covers everything from character education, to science, to civil
rights, to women’s history, to industrial technology. Founded in 1879 the Walker Art
Center was the first public art museum west of the Mississippi, became a center for
working artists during the WPA years, and is now internationally renown for its ability to
engage diverse audiences in the excitement of the creative process. The Walker has
launched careers of artists such as painter Chuck Close and dancer Bill T. Jones, both
featured in program. As a museum experience, the Boston Children's Museum’s
environment is informal, but its purpose is serious: to help children understand and enjoy
the world in which they live by encouraging imagination and curiosity through worldclass exhibits and hands-on experiences. From 1962 to 1985, the pioneering director
Michael Spock, son of the world’s most famous pediatrician, proved that play is learning,
a breakthrough that spawned nearly 300 children’s museums across America and
revolutionized the museum world.
With the release of three new specials this fall, GREAT MUSEUMS®, and its distributor
American Public Television, are continuing to open the doors of museums coast to coast
to millions of television viewers nationwide.
GREAT MUSEUMS® is an award-winning television series celebrating America’s
museum world, airing coast to coast on public television stations representing more than
85% of US households. The series opens the doors of America’s museums to millions of
Americans through public television, new media and community outreach with the goal
of “curating a community of learners.” Executive produced by Marc and Chesney Doyle,
GREAT MUSEUMS® is underwritten by the Eureka Foundation, a private 501 (c) (3)
operating foundation established to promote the educational power of television and new
media.
About American Public Television
For 44 years, American Public Television (APT) has been a prime source of
programming for the nation’s public television stations. APT distributes more than
10,000 hours of programming including JFK: Breaking the News, Simply Ming, Globe
Trekker, Rick Steves’ Europe, Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home, Battlefield Britain,
Jungle, America’s Test Kitchen, Lidia’s Family Table and classic movies. APT is known
for identifying innovative programs and developing creative distribution techniques for
producers. In four decades, it has established a tradition of providing public television
stations nationwide with program choices that enable them to strengthen and customize
their schedules. Press should contact Donna Hardwick at 617-338-4455 ext. 129 or via
email to Donna_Hardwick@APTonline.org. For more information about APT’s
programs and services visit APTonline.org.
###
PROGRAM DESCRIPTIONS
2006 AMERICA’S YEAR OF THE MUSEUM
GREAT MUSEUMS SPECIALS
GMYS #201 National Baseball Hall of Fame: Home Base (1x60; pledge version)
Baseball and America have grown up together. Our language, literature, movies
and summertime living all bear the mark of this 19th-century game. Since the
first five men elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936, the National
Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York has been “home
base” for the American pastime.
GMYS #202 Walker Art Center: Creative Catalyst (1x30)
A laboratory for the art of the future, the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis,
Minnesota, begins where most art museums leave off. The starting point is right
now, today! In fact, many of the pieces displayed, screened or performed here are
commissioned directly from the artists. Founded in 1879, the Walker began as
the first public art gallery west of the Mississippi and has become one of the
world’s leading contemporary art museums. The special features interviews with
choreographer/dancer Bill T. Jones and artist Chuck Close.
GMYS #203 Boston Children’s Museum: Mind Over Matter (1x30)
Rummaging through a trunk of old clothes in the Grandparent’s Attic display,
children are not just trying on clothes; they’re trying on the business of being an
adult. Play is learning at the Boston Children’s Museum (founded 1913), which
revolutionized the American museum experience half a century ago by getting
objects out of cases and into children’s hands.
Distributed and presented nationally by American Public Television
THE PRODUCERS
ECHO PICTURES
Echo Pictures, Inc. is an award-winning, independent television production company,
specializing in strategic content development, turnkey program production, and program
positioning. Building on a tradition of visionary leadership in the television industry that
spans four decades, Echo Pictures creates and produces quality informational television
programs, designed to cross generational, cultural, and societal boundaries. The marriage
of thoughtful research, dynamic storytelling, compelling visuals, and engaging interviews
marks Echo Pictures’ signature style and produces programs that are forever fresh.
Marc Doyle
President and Executive Producer
In his roles as President of Echo Pictures and Executive Producer of Great Museums,
Marc Doyle brings together the skills and experiences he has acquired over a 39-year
career as a journalist, a business executive, an author and a respected industry expert.
Doyle founded the independent production company Doyle & Associates (now Echo
Pictures) in 1988, after a 20-year career as a pioneering television news executive. For
Echo Pictures, he is involved in all phases of the production, including financing and
distribution. First and foremost, he has the journalist’s passion for curiosity and
discovery. Doyle’s first official television interview was for CBS News in 1969 with the
then District Attorney of Philadelphia, Arlen Specter. Today, as the principal on-location
interviewer for Great Museums, he sets a professional yet comfortable zone in which
museum scholars, curators and other professionals shine.
Throughout his career, Doyle has pioneered the potential of electronic technology to
improve the quality of the television experience. He is the architect of the Great
Museums High Definition strategy and is guiding the extension of the Great Museums
brand to multiple media platforms. In February 2005, he presented a High Definition
Case Study on Great Museums, identified as a “model success story” by RealScreen
magazine, to an audience of international television network executives and producers at
the RealScreen Summit in Washington, DC.
In recognition of lifetime achievement, Doyle was awarded the 2000 National Academy
of Television Arts & Sciences Silver Circle Award. Early on, he was twice named
television “News Leader” of the year by United Press International and, as executive
producer, he shared in the prestigious Peabody Award for the 1982 environmental
documentary, Paradise Saved. In 1996, as Manager of Production for the live
international coverage of all rowing events for the Summer Olympic Games, Doyle was
recognized by the IOB (International Olympic Broadcasting) for having produced the
best television rowing coverage in Olympic history. He has earned three Emmy Awards,
seven CINE Golden Eagle Awards, 12 Aurora Awards, four Medals of Achievement
from the New York Film/Tape Festival and 18 national Telly Awards.
Doyle provides specialized consulting services relating to the future of television to
network, new media and corporate clients. In 2000, he spearheaded the Interactive
Television Project, a global think tank sponsored by Young & Rubicam. He has lectured
and written about the new media frontier. The Future of Television, his industryacclaimed book on the global convergence of communications technologies, has had
three printings (1992 NTC Publishing, Chicago). Throughout his career, he has been
active in the affairs of the broadcast industry. He has served on the Board and Executive
Committee of the National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE) and
chaired the Futures Committee with a mandate to chart NATPE’s course for involvement
in emerging world television markets.
Chesney B. Doyle
Executive Vice President and Executive Producer
Creator of Great Museums, producer/writer Chesney Blankenstein Doyle set out to
design a concept destined to bridge the gap between the casual viewer looking for
entertainment and the voracious lifelong learner looking to consume information.
Viewers, stations and the museum world have applauded the award-winning series.
Chesney is the recipient of more than 30 international television awards, including seven
CINE Golden Eagle Awards, numerous national Telly Awards, 12 Aurora Awards, and
three Emmy nominations. She also was a finalist in the New York Festivals.
In addition to her hands-on production work, she oversees content development and the
production and editorial processes for Echo Pictures. Her strategic approach to the
business of content development is reflected in Echo’s productions. For the Scripps
networks (HGTV and the Do It Yourself Network), she created a hybrid one-hour special
format (documentary/ lifestyle/how-to) to assist in their transition from strictly how-to
programming to general lifestyle programming. (The Rose Story, The Orchid Mystique,
Fly Fishing in Yellowstone). She is creator/co-producer of a unique "banner-brand" series
of specials for the International Channel (In America, which documents America’s
immigrant experiences).
Prior to forming Echo Pictures in 1997 with veteran producer Marc Doyle, she was a
practicing attorney and management consultant to a variety of corporate and non-profit
clients, specializing in strategic communications, organizational development and
fundraising. From 1991 through the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta, she
produced lectures, seminars, festivals and other special events under the auspices of the
Institute for Southern Cultures, a nonprofit organization that she co-founded to enhance
public understanding of the historical cultural diversity of the American South. She is an
active member of National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS), NATPE
International, and the International Documentary Association. She has a BA degree in
English from the University of Virginia and a law degree from Vanderbilt University.
She is an active member of NATAS and the International Documentary Association.