|
Louis Alvarez and
Andrew Kolker, twice winners of both the Peabody Award and the
duPont-Columbia Journalism Award, have over the past 35 years produced
critically praised documentaries for their production companies, Kingfish
Productions and The Center for New American Media. In 2004 their creative partnership was
joined by Peter Odabashian, their longtime editor and a co-producer of
many of their recent films.
For the past year
they have been developing Past/Present, an innovative 3-D history game (formerly known as American Dynasties) to help teach American
history to middle schoolers. A detailed prototype has been produced
and funds are being sought to bring the game to market.
Their most recent
film is The
Anti-Americans (a hate/love relationship), a whimsical look at what
Europeans think of American politics and culture that was shown on
PBS. Another current project
consists of a series of one-minute PSAs on great novels for the National
Endowment for the Arts’ The
Big Read.
Other recent films
include Small
Ball: A Little League Story on PBS, a gripping and clear-eyed look at
a suburban California team’s triumphant march to the Little League
World Series in 2002, and Sex: female, a
surprising and funny look at female sexuality, which was broadcast
nationally on the Oxygen channel and has become an international film
festival favorite.
In 2001, Louis,
Andy, and Peter produced the acclaimed People
Like Us: Social Class in America, the first American documentary explicitly
about the American class system – a work that continues to resonate
with audiences around the world.
Previously, they produced and directed Moms (1999), a poignant and hilarious look at
motherhood starring more than 40 mothers who dish about what one calls
"the hardest job in the world – raising children".
Their previous credits include Vote for Me – Politics
in America, a four-hour
examination of politics, politicians and voters that the Chicago Tribune
called "the standout in a season of documentaries"; USA Today
said was "pure Americana, merry and marvelous and authentic";
and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution called "a masterpiece –
unmatched by anything you'll see this political season in the breadth and
depth with which it makes you laugh, makes you enraged, and – most
remarkable of all – makes you care about politics." Seen on
prime time PBS, "Vote for Me" was awarded the George Foster Peabody Award, the
duPont-Columbia Journalism Award and a News and Public Affairs Emmy Award
in 1997. The series was co-produced with Paul Stekler.
Alvarez and Kolker won their first Peabody in 1988 for
"American Tongues," about the differences in the way
Americans speak and the attitudes people have about regional and social
accents. It launched the PBS anthology series "P.O.V," and
since then has become something of a classic. The Washington
Post described it as "celebratory and swell, right down to the
closing credits" and The Los
Angeles Times wrote that "this is the
perfect example of a film that begins with a simple-enough subject and expands it seductively – it's
enthralling."
In 1993, Alvarez and Kolker received the
duPont-Columbia Journalism Award for their documentary Louisiana Boys – Raised
on Politics, a rollicking
look at Bayou State politics that The Washington Post called "as
insightful as it is entertaining... the first documentary within memory
to see the American political process for what it really is –
cultural anthropology." "Louisiana
Boys" was produced with Paul Stekler and broadcast on
"P.O.V."
Other work includes "L.A. Is It with
John Gregory Dunne,"a
meditation on the culture of Los Angeles produced for PBS'
"Travels" series that Entertainment Weekly called "deft,
sharp and pointed... one of "Travels'" best hours"; and The Japanese Version, an exploration of what happens when
American popular culture gets to Japan.
Shorter works include "The News Doctors,"a
look into TV news consultants produced for the 1996 ITVS/PBS series "Signal
to Noise,"and
a series of short films on permanent exhibit at the Ellis
Island Museum
of Immigration in New York.
Photo by
Laura Tolkow.
|
