Production Launches Today for New KCETLink Aerospace Documentary with Acclaimed Filmmaker Peter Jones
CONTACT
Ariel Carpenter
ACarpenter@kcet.org
747-201-5243
BLUE SKY METROPOLIS Set to Premiere in 2019 on KCET and Link TV
Commemorating Semicentennial Moon Landing Anniversary
Select KCET programs also stream on Roku and Apple TV.
Burbank, Calif. – Dec. 4, 2017 – KCETLink Media Group, a leading national independent nonprofit public broadcast and digital network, announced today that it is commencing production on a new original documentary series entitled BLUE SKY METROPOLIS in partnership with Emmy Award®-winning filmmaker Peter Jones. Beginning production today with a planned 64-week schedule, the four-part series will showcase a century of aerospace in Southern California. The series will feature extraordinary archival material and is set to premiere on KCET public television in Southern California and Link TV nationwide (available to all subscribers of Dish Network and DirecTV) in the summer of 2019, timed to the 50th anniversary of man’s first Moon landing.
Produced in partnership with Peter Jones Productions, BLUE SKY METROPOLIS is a 21st century story that looks at the past, present and future of aerospace exploring the intersection of aerospace and Southern California from multiple perspectives including science, culture, politics, race, business, labor, environment and gender. The aerospace century will unfold through the lives and words of the men and women who created it. BLUE SKY METROPOLIS will feature many of the current major players in the aerospace industry in California, which is quickly becoming the hub of modern day aerospace engineering.
“After teaming with Peter Jones previously on Inventing LA: The Chandlers and Their Times, KCETLink is thrilled to be working once again with him on BLUE SKY METROPOLIS,” said Juan Devis, Chief Creative Officer, KCETLink Media Group. “Southern California attracts many dreamers who become trailblazers for the nation. We look forward to exploring these incredible stories tied to one of humankind’s greatest achievements.”
“Why did Southern California become the aerospace capital of the world?” asks filmmaker Peter Jones. “I’m approaching this series as a treasure hunt, investigating the many ways the aerospace industry deeply affected the growth of modern Los Angeles. There’s a culture of secrecy surrounding this industry that has made its history a mystery to the world. It’s thrilling to be exploring so much uncharted territory.”
An ideal programming match for KCET and Link TV audiences, the series focuses on the Southern California region and the people behind the aerospace movement.
Peter Jones has been nominated for a Primetime Emmy® Award five times, winning twice: for his A&E Biography special Judy Garland: Beyond the Rainbow (1997), and for Stardust: The Bette Davis Story (2006). His Peabody Award-winning Inventing LA: The Chandlers and Their Times (2009) premiered as a national primetime special on PBS, and Johnny Carson: King of Late Night (2012) remains the highest rated film in the 31-year history of the PBS series American Masters. Over the course of a decade, Peter Jones Productions created 85 profiles for A&E Biography, many written and directed by Jones.
Peter is a graduate of Stanford (BA, American Studies) and Northwestern (Masters, Medill School of Journalism). He has twice been the recipient of the Producer of the Year Award from The Producers Guild of America.
ABOUT KCETLINK MEDIA GROUP
KCETLink Media Group is a national independent, nonprofit, digital and broadcast network that provides high-quality, culturally diverse programming designed to engage the public in innovative, entertaining and transformative ways. With a commitment to independent perspectives, smart global entertainment, local communities, and opportunities for engagement and social action, KCETLink depicts people and the world through a lens unavailable elsewhere in U.S. media. A viewer-supported 501(c)(3) organization, KCETLink content is distributed nationally via satellite on Link TV DIRECTV channel 375 and DISH Network channel 9410 and on KCET in Southern and Central California via broadcast and cable, as well as through various digital delivery systems. For additional information about KCET and Link TV productions, web-exclusive content, programming schedules and community events, please visit kcet.org or linktv.org. Select programming from KCET and Link TV is also available for streaming on Apple TV and Roku platforms.
