MUSEUM OF TELEVISION & RADIO SEMINAR SERIES, THE: CULTURE ON TELEVISION: THE ART OF THE INTERNATIONAL COPRODUCTION {LONG VERSION}
Summary
One in this series of seminars conducted by The Museum of Television & Radio. This seminar, held in New York in conjunction with the Museum's screening series "Television Without Borders: A Tribute to ARTE" and moderated by Museum president Robert M. Batscha, features a panel discussion exploring the ways companies and nations work together to make the arts available to audiences around the world. Three of the panelists are from ARTE, the French-German cultural channel that provides innovative programming for the European community.
Museum television curator Ron Simon introduces a promotional tape from ARTE containing highlights from the Museum's ARTE screening series. Batscha then introduces ARTE president Jerome Clement; ARTE deputy program director Hans Robert Eisenhauer; Joshua Sapan, the president of Rainbow Media Holding, Inc.; John Rockwell, the director of the Lincoln Center Festival; and the deputy director-general of ARTE, Michel Athonioz. The panelists discuss the following topics, among others: the origins of ARTE; ARTE's mission to stimulate the cultural imagination; ARTE's plans for worldwide expansion; the structure of ARTE's programming schedule; ARTE's innovative "theme" nights; ARTE's success featuring documentaries in primetime; the centrality of international viewpoints in ARTE's programming, and the difficulties inherent in this philosophy; the American cultural channels Bravo and the Independent Film Channel; the symbolic importance of the French-German coproductions; the consistently high quality of ARTE's programming; the possibility of ARTE becoming available in the United States; the American lack of confidence regarding "culture," and the vitality of Europe's shared cultural assumptions; Bravo's methods for making money; proposed scenarios linking ARTE to existing American cable channels; the difficulties of producing cultural programming without government financial support; the changing nature of the presentation of cultural programming in the current era; the feasibility of making ARTE available as a satellite channel for the United States; the high success for ARTE of fiction films, music programs, and documentaries on historical subjects that explicitly explore international issues, and the difficulty of building an audience for theater programs; efforts to make all ARTE programming relevent to the international audience; Bravo's mission to make their programs accessible and familiar, as in the program "Inside the Actors Studio"; and tensions between "high" and "low" culture in the United States. The panel then takes questions from the seminar audience, discussing the following topics, among others: which of the ARTE programs Bravo may license to show; France's (as opposed to Germany) greater willingness to engage in coproductions with America; the financial intricacies of coproduction; Hollywood's total lack of interest in the kinds of programs produced by ARTE; and fears that support for ARTE in France and Germany may diminish in the same way that support has eroded for the Public Broadcasting System in America.
Details
- NETWORK: Paley
- DATE: September 18, 1997 6:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:23:48
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:50367
- GENRE: Seminars
- SUBJECT HEADING: N/A
- SERIES RUN: N/A
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Robert M. Batscha … Moderator
- Ron Simon … Host
- Michel Anthonioz … Guest
- Jerome Clement … Guest
- Hans Robert Eisenhauer … Guest
- John Rockwell … Guest
- Joshua Sapan … Guest