Two New Docs on the Infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Fire

Trailer

HBO is premiering a new doc on the historic Triangle Shirtwaist Fire that sparked the modern Labor Movement. I was very struck with this story when I first read it in a third or fourth grade history book. You learn a hundred little lessons along the way, but this story always stuck with me. And now some 30+ years later I work a block away from this very building, so the story has even more personal resonance.

The American Experience series on PBS just did a an excellent hour show (The entire epiosode, plus extras is available free online - see below) on the same topic a month ago, so I'm curious to see how HBO's treatment will stack up.

I knew about the fire, but I really had no clue how rough and tumble life was in this very area a century ago...We've got nothing to complain about on any job compared to what these women and girls endured long before the fire even struck.

Watch the full episode. See more American Experience.

Hey You Guyyyyyyyys!!!

Okay, this has little to do with filmmaking and I'm definitely, gonna date myself with this entry, but I just read that the classic children's tv show, The Electric Company is returning to PBS. They are currently shooting here in NYC and have updated the show to reflect today's sensibilities.

For those of you who have never heard of the show, it's essentially a funkier, musical and joke-filled cross between Sesame Street, Saturday Night Live and Soul Train. Bill Cosby was also on of the regular cast members. (He's in the green shirt in the picture to the right.)

There's lots of music, dancing and skits and somewhere in between all that, kids are actually tricked into learning to read. We used to watch it all the time when I was in the second and third grades and I always preferred it to Sesame Street, which wasn't nearly as cool or funky.

It was also a major influence on my work when I got my first real job in the industry and moved up to producing children's television for The Education Channel. Of all the various types of projects, films and shows that I've worked on, I still feel that working in kids tv was by far the most rewarding and I hope one day to return to the genre. (Puppets are so much easier to work with than people.)

Anyway, read the NY Times article yourself here and set your DVR's if you have kids. Here's a video clip of the opening from the classic show. I can't believe I still get a little giddy listening to this catchy song..."Hey you guyyyyyyyyyys!!!":