Filmmaker Ken Burns interview about Prohibition and The Civil War on the TV Time Machine radio show

PRLog (Press Release) - Sep. 26, 2011 - Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns, best known for his ground-breaking PBS documentary “The Civil War”, talks about his upcoming film “Prohibition”, airing nationally on PBS October 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, in a one-hour interview on the radio show “TV Time Machine” hosted by TV historian Jim Benson, heard online at http://www.tvtimemachine.com and every Saturday at 3PM PT in Southern California on 1170 KCBQ-AM.

Ken Burns gives one of his most comprehensive interviews on “TV Time Machine”, discussing his early influences and days as an aspiring filmmaker, and his thirty years of creating documentaries that explore both the American and human experience: “Brooklyn Bridge”,  “The Civil War”,” Baseball”, “The War”,”Jazz”, and “The National Parks” are among the many masterful documentaries that Ken Burns has created for both the small and large screens, including his latest PBS documentary co-produced with Lynn Novick, “Prohibition”.

“ ‘Prohibition’ helps take those superficial images we have of Model T’s careening around rain slick Chicago streets, Tommy Guns blasting, or the flapper in the short skirt and the bobbed hair dancing drunk on top of the table top in a Speakeasy—they’re all there—and our film is sexy and dangerous and exciting,” says Burns. “But there’s a whole other story and many, many other levels to this that we were thrilled to learn about and to share. Just as The Civil War engages in themes that seem so contemporary, so too, Prohibition is just one of those subjects that seems to be firing on all cylinders.”

Ken Burns’ “Prohibition” shows that present day social and political issues such as women’s rights, race relations, taxes and immigration are mirrored in the past, saying:
“If I had told you that this was a film about single issue political campaigns that metastasized with horrible unintended consequences, that this is a film about the demonization of recent immigrants to the United States, that this is a film about smear campaigns during Presidential elections, that it’s the story of a group of people who feel like they’ve lost control of their country and want to take it back…you would tell me ‘Ken, you have just abandoned history for contemporary politics.’ And I would say, ‘Nope—it’s just what happened.’”  


Ken Burns is an Emmy-Award winning filmmaker whose memorable PBS documentaries (many of which he has co-produced producer Lynn Novick) have entertained, educated and enlightened millions of television viewers over the past thirty years. Mr. Burns documentaries for the screen have included Brooklyn Bridge (nominated for an Academy Award), and The Statue of Liberty. His many PBS documentaries include The Shakers, Huey Long, The Congress, Thomas Jefferson, The Civil War, Baseball, Jazz, The War, Mark Twain and The National Parks.  

TV Time Machine, heard online http://www.tvtimemachine.com and every Saturday at 3PM PT on 1170 KCBQ-AM in Southern California, is an entertaining and fascinating radio show that explores television’s past, present and future. Host Jim Benson has interviewed many of the entertainment industry’s biggest names including Mel Brooks, “Mad Men” creator/producer Matthew Weiner, and acclaimed director Guillermo Del Toro. Legendary actor Peter Falk (“Columbo”) gave his last interview ever on “TV Time Machine”, in 2007.

Jim Benson, host of “TV Time Machine”, has interviewed a multitude of legendary TV celebrities, authors and experts of all stripes on his radio program, covering shows ranging from “Mr. Ed” to “Meet the Press” and topics such as “Technology on TV” and “TV's Turning Points”. A TV historian for over twenty-five years, Mr. Benson has contributed to dozens of TV productions-- including a recent appearance on Penn & Teller's Bullshit!, and was a Historical Consultant on Universal Studios' DVD release of “Rod Serling's Night Gallery: Season Two.”

CONTACT:
Lisa Rothstein
(310) 987-2433
producer@tvtimemachine.com

Photo:
http://www.prlog.org/11674539/1