BPS 388: Hemingway and the Art of the Documentary with Lynn Novick

I am a huge fan of today’s guest. Since seeing one of her first
documentaries, I was transfixed by her power of storytelling. Our
guest is an Emmy and Peabody award-winning documentary filmmaker,
Lynn Novick---a formidable and respected PBS documentary filmmaker
with thirty-plus years of experience in the business.Her archival
mini and docu-series documentaries bring historically true events
to the big screen alongside her filmmaking partner, Ken
Burns. You’ve most likely seen some of her landmark
documentary films. The likes of Vietnam (2017), TV Mini-Series
documentary The Civil War (1990), College Behind Bars (2019),
eighteen hours mini-series, Baseball (2010), and many more.

All are available on PBS Documentaries Prime Video Channel.Just
this year, the pair premiered their latest co-produced and
co-directed three parts documentary on PBD---recapitulating the
life, loves, and labors of Ernest Hemingway. The series explores
the painstaking process through which Hemingway created some of the
most important works of fiction in American letters. Novick is
an experienced-learned documentary filmmaker. In the mid-1980s, she
applied to film school but did not pursue that lane when she
couldn’t find a documentary filmmaking-specific program. Instead,
she sought out apprenticeships. Starting at the PBS station in New
York City WNET, for six months.

And then worked for Bill Moyers as an assistant producer on a
series of projects, including her debut production in 1994 with
Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth, followed by A World of Ideas
with Bill Moyers, etc. The Civil War is a comprehensive survey
of the American Civil War.Novick’s decades-long collaboration with
Ken Burns emerged in 1989 and has led to the co-production of a
number of renowned docu-series. 

First, there was the highly acclaimed ‘The Civil War’ which traced
the course of the U.S. Civil War from the abolitionist movement
through all the major battles to the death of President Lincoln and
the beginnings of Reconstruction. Her vast experience as a
researcher comes in handy on these kinds of projects, she explains
during our convo. She won an Emmy Award in 1994 for producing the
Baseball documentary and won a Peabody Award in 1998 for her
co-directing and co-producing of Frank Lloyd Wright's documentary.
Baseball covers the history of the sport with major topics
including Afro-American players, player/team owner relations, and
the resilience of the game.Other must mention include multi-Emmy
nominations documentary ‘Prohibition’, The Vietnam War, Jazz, and
Novick’s first solo directing, College Behind Bars (2019). College
Behind Bars explores urgent questions like What is the essence of
prisons? Who in America has access to educational opportunities?
Six years in the making, the series immerses viewers in the
inspiring and transformational journey of a small group of
incarcerated men and women serving time for serious crimes, as they
try to earn college degrees in one of the most rigorous prison
education programs in America – the Bard Prison Initiative
(BPI).Novick is one of those filmmakers who have combed through an
obscene amount of knowledge and understanding of documentary films.
I have a feeling you will enjoy this chat as much as I did.

Enjoy my conversation with Lynn Novick.

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