WNET’s American Masters and Floating World Pictures celebrate American Masters’ Emmy® nomination in the category of “Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series” and the series’ representative film — the award-winning documentary TERRENCE MCNALLY: EVERY ACT OF LIFE this month. The film, highlighting the Tony® Award-winning playwright and LGBTQ activist Terrence McNally, is now streaming on pbs.org/americanmasters through August 31, 2020 for all to watch.
American Masters has earned 76 Emmy® nominations and 28 Emmy® Awards, including 10 for “Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series” and five for Outstanding Nonfiction Special.
The acclaimed PBS series asks: who has changed America? These carefully crafted programs illuminate the stories of our cultural giants. American Masters empowers independent producers to tell compelling, unvarnished stories. The series’ nominated season includes the following films:
- TERRENCE MCNALLY:EVERY ACT OF LIFE – DIRECTED BY JEFF KAUFMAN (The series’ representative film to the Emmys®)
- WORLDS OF URSULA K. LE GUIN- DIRECTED BY ARWEN CURRY
- RAÚL JULIÁ: THE WORLD’S A STAGE – DIRECTED BY BEN DEJESUS
- ROTHKO: PICTURES MUST BE MIRACULOUS – DIRECTED BY ERIC SLADE
- N. SCOTT MOMADAY: WORDS FROM A BEAR – DIRECTED BY JEFFREY PALMER
Special virtual online discussions and talkbacks featuring Emmy® nominees, playwrights, filmmakers and noted artists from the film TERRENCE MCNALLY: EVERY ACT OF LIFE will take place on August 12, 19 and 26 on the Ovee platform.
UPCOMING VIRTUAL DISCUSSIONS :
Wednesday, August 19 at 5:00 PM PST/8 PM EST
In conversation with Academy Award® winning actor – F. MURRAY ABRAHAM (AMADEUS; HOMELAND); Academy Award® nominee – MICHAEL SHANNON (THE SHAPE OF WATER) – *both actors starred in the Terrence McNally play – FRANKIE AND JOHNNY IN THE CLAIR DE LUNE; and Emmy® Nominees producer/director JEFF KAUFMAN and producer MARCIA S. ROSS moderated by journalist MATT CAREY (DEADLINE HOLLYWOOD).
Wednesday, August 26 at 5:00 PM PST/8 PM EST
Panel Guests and Moderator TBD
For more information on these events and how to RSVP please go to www.everyactoflife.com
TERRENCE MCNALLY: EVERY ACT OF LIFE, directed, written and produced by Jeff Kaufman and produced by Marcia Ross, traces McNally’s life – from escaping his troubled home in Corpus Christi, Texas to becoming one of America’s most groundbreaking and honored playwrights. The film includes interviews with actors Nathan Lane, Angela Lansbury, Rita Moreno, Chita Rivera, F. Murray Abraham, Audra McDonald, Edie Falco, John Slattery, and Billy Porter, to name a few, discussing McNally’s remarkable legacy. McNally sadly passed away from COVID-19 complications on March 24, 2020.
The film captures McNally’s essence and acts as a beacon of hope for future generations of writers, LGBTQ+ youth, and storytellers who also dream of living out loud. It premiered at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival to stellar reviews and endearing audience reactions. In June 2019, American Mastersbroadcast the film nationally on PBS.
This year’s Emmy® nominees for American Masters are as follows:
Michael Kantor Executive Producer
Jay Alix Executive Producer
Una Jackman Executive Producer
Suzi Dietz Executive Producer
Julie Sacks Series Producer
Jeff Kaufman Producer
Marcia S. Ross Producer
ABOUT AMERICAN MASTERS:
Launched in 1986 on PBS, American Masters set the standard for documentary film profiles, accruing widespread critical acclaim and earning 28 Emmy Awards — including 10 for Outstanding Non-Fiction Series and five for Outstanding Non-Fiction Special — 14 Peabodys, an Oscar, three Grammys, two Producers Guild Awards and many other honors. To further explore the lives and works of masters past and present, the American Masters website offers streaming video of select films, outtakes, filmmaker interviews, the American Masters Podcast, educational resources and more. The series is a production of THIRTEEN PRODUCTIONS LLC for WNET.
Funding for American Masters – Terrence McNally: Every Act of Life is provided in part by National Endowment for the Arts, plus The Edward F. Limato Foundation, The Noël Coward Foundation, and The Hunter Ward Foundation.
Major support for American Masters – Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin is provided, in part, by the National Endowment for the Humanities.. Additional support provided by: California Humanities, Berkeley Film Foundation, Alex Borstein, Kent Rasmussen & Celia Ramsay, Paul D. Jarman, Mary Kay Kare, and others.
American Masters — Raúl Juliá: The World’s a Stage is a special presentation of American Masters and VOCES. Major support for American Masters – Raúl Juliá: The World’s a Stage is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Additional support has been provided by the National Endowment for the Arts.
Major support for American Masters — Rothko: Pictures Must Be Miraculous is provided by The Harold & Arlene Schnitzer CARE Foundation Endowed Fund for Excellence; National Endowment for the Arts. The Kinsman Foundation; Kay Kitagawa and Andy Johnson-Laird; John and Patricia Beckman Fund, The Wyss Foundation, The Jackson Foundation, The Roundhouse Foundation, Lee and Marcia Stevenson.
Funding for American Masters – N. Scott Momaday: Words from a Bear is provided by JustFilms | Ford Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, Firelight Media, and Elizabeth Weatherford.
Major support for American Masters is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, AARP, Rosalind P. Walter, Judith and Burton Resnick, Cheryl & Philip Milstein Family Foundation, The Vital Projects Fund, Lillian Goldman Programming Endowment, The Blanche & Irving Laurie Foundation, Seton J. Melvin, Philip and Janice Levin Foundation, Ellen and James S. Marcus,The André and Elizabeth Kertész Foundation, and public television viewers.
About WNET
WNET is America’s flagship PBS station: parent company of New York’s THIRTEEN and WLIW21 and operator of NJTV, the statewide public media network in New Jersey. Through its new ALL ARTS multi-platform initiative, its broadcast channels, three cable services (THIRTEEN PBS KIDS, Create and World) and online streaming sites, WNET brings quality arts, education and public affairs programming to more than five million viewers each month. WNET produces and presents a wide range of acclaimed PBS series, including Nature, Great Performances, American Masters, PBS NewsHour Weekend, and the nightly interview program Amanpour and Company. In addition, WNET produces numerous documentaries, children’s programs, and local news and cultural offerings, as well as multi-platform initiatives addressing poverty and climate. Through THIRTEEN Passport and WLIW Passport, station members can stream new and archival THIRTEEN, WLIW and PBS programming anytime, anywhere.