Lichtenstein Creative Media receives two prestigious
Gracie Awards honoring documentary film
and public radio program examining domestic violence. .(New York, NY - For immediate release) Lichtenstein Creative Media, the New York-based producer of public television and radio programs and documentary films has been honored with two 2004 Gracie Allen Awards® from the American Women in Radio & Television (AWRT). The productions honored are West 47th Street, the highly-acclaimed feature documentary film, and the "Domestic Violence" episode of the national, weekly public radio series, The Infinite Mind.
Each year, the Gracies honor the best and the brightest in radio, television, cable and new media. Among the 2004 awardees are Bill Moyers (NOW/PBS), Candy Crowley (CNN), Jessica Lange (Normal/HBO), Sarah Jessica Parker (Sex in the City/HBO), and the CBS Evening News with Dan Rather. Awards will be presented at a black-tie gala in the Grand Ballroom of the New York Hilton Hotel on Tuesday, June 22, 2004.
"We are honored to have been selected for these prestigious awards," said Bill Lichtenstein, founder and president of Lichtenstein Creative Media. "In both broadcasts, we demonstrated the intrinsic value of taking a step back from major news stories, and devoting the time and resources required to thoughtfully probe the underlying issues and to offer possible solutions." LCM won two prior Gracie Awards: the first for a 2001 special documentary report, "Pam's Story: The Hidden World of Perinatal Loss," and the second for the landmark, five-part public radio series, "Mental Health in Troubled Times," produced and broadcast in the wake of the September 11th attacks.
West 47th Street reveals the human face of mental illness, and the faith and courage with which its victims fight to recover control of their lives. The award-winning documentary film, co-directed and produced by Bill Lichtenstein and June Peoples, follows the lives of four people with serious mental illness, over three years and provides an unprecedented window on the lives of those who are often feared and ignored, seldom understood. At times hilarious and at other times tragic, the film represents a radical return to cinema verite, without interviews or narration. West 47th Street was winner of "Best Documentary" at the Atlanta Film Festival and received the "Audience Award" at DC Independent Film Festival. Newsweek called the film "Must See," the Washington Post hailed it as "Remarkable" and the Tulsa World called the film "A life-altering cinema experience."
West 47th Street made its TV premiere on P.O.V., public television's showcase for independent documentary films. The executive producer of P.O.V. is Cara Mertes. The film is combined with an innovative, interactive PBS/P.O.V. website and a groundbreaking and effective community and educational outreach campaign. For more information on West 47th Street please visit the website http://www.pbs.org/pov/pov2003/west47thstreet
Also honored by the Gracie Awards was "Domestic Violence," an episode of the national, weekly public radio series, The Infinite Mind, hosted by Dr. Fred Goodwin. The program focused on the one million women who are battered by someone they know each year. The program, featuring guest host Dr. Peter Kramer, includes former batterers and domestic violence survivors; filmmaker Frederick Wiseman, whose most recent documentary films "Domestic Violence" and "Domestic Violence II" premiered on PBS in March 2003; singer-songwriter Suzanne Vega, performing and discussing her song "Luka," which put domestic violence on the Top-Ten music charts; Dr. Judith Herman, professor of clinical psychiatry at Harvard University Medical School; Clare Dalton, executive director of the Domestic Violence Institute at Northeastern University School of Law; and Dr. Edward Gondolf, professor of sociology at and research director of the Mid-Atlantic Addiction Training Institute. John Hockenberry offered commentary.
The executive producer of The Infinite Mind is June Peoples. Emily Fisher produced the "Domestic Violence" episode with associate producer Devorah Klahr and editor Greg Seaton. The senior executive producer of The Infinite Mind is Bill Lichtenstein. The Infinite Mind, now in its sixth year on the air, is heard in more than 200 public radio markets across the U.S. and Canada by 1,000,000 listeners weekly. (For more about this program, or to listen to it in RealAudio, visit http://www.lcmedia.com/mind293.htm).
LCM's current productions include “Juveniles in Crisis,” a four-part public TV series examining the interconnections between the juvenile justice, juvenile mental health, foster care and education systems, and “Hepatitis C: The Stealth Epidemic,” the first documentary film to examine the spread of the lethal virus and related medical, scientific and social issues through the lives of those affected. Both of these programs are being produced for PBS's 2005 Year of World Health. Also in production is "My Uncle Charlie," the 20-year chronicle of award-winning photographer Marc Asnin's relationship with his quixotic uncle, an old-time Jewish gangster with schizophrenia. For more information on LCM or any of our productions please visit LCMedia.com