Film revives spirit of rebellious Boston radio - Live365 photos

Film revives spirit of rebellious Boston radio
Published in Current, October 9, 2012
By Mike Janssen
Turn on the black light, cue up a Doors album and sink into your beanbag chair: The American Revolution is
going to transport you to a time when radio riled America’s youth.
The 83-minute documentary, forthcoming in August 2013, chronicles the glory days of Boston’s WBCN, a
commercial radio station that became one of the country’s foremost freeform rock stations and a mirror of
the antiwar, anti-establishment foment of the hippie days. Musicians such as Lou Reed, Howlin’ Wolf and the
Who formed the station’s soundtrack, while the station’s reporters hit the streets to capture the sounds of
youth in revolt against Vietnam, Watergate and racial prejudice.
Director Bill Lichtenstein is known in public media for projects such
as West 47th Street, a film about four mentally ill people that aired on
POV in 2001, and The Infinite Mind, a public radio show about health
and science that aired from 1998 to 2008. But before all that, he got
his start in broadcasting at WBCN as a 14-year-old intern.
“People felt like they had access to the airwaves” through WBCN,
Lichtenstein says. “People knew that if they called the radio station
they would be heard, and possibly put on the air. It was a social
network of its time . . . . It was critical for that period.”
WBCN aired only classical music until 1968, when rock-club
owner Ray Riepen suggested to the station’s owners that they air
rock music in the overnight hours. Rock was new to FM radio at the
time, and Riepen’s deejays interviewed big-time acts as they left the
stage of his club, the Boston Tea Party. In its early days, the station
broadcast from the Tea Party’s dressing room.
Led Zeppelin at the Boston Tea Party 1969
© Steve Borack
In 1969 Led Zeppelin performed six concerts at the Boston Tea Party,
a synagogue-turned-rock-venue operated by WCBN owner Ray
Riepen.
Riepen also started the Boston Phoenix, the city’s alternative
newspaper. “It would be the equivalent if Bill Graham in New York
had owned the Fillmore, the Village Voice and WNEW,” Lichtenstein says.
WBCN Studios 1970 © Peter Simon
In addition to the music, WBCN captured the countercultural mood of Boston and the country in its news reporting
— Lichtenstein’s first assignment was to cover a Black Panther protest outside a police station. And listeners heard it
all from a strong signal on top of Boston’s tallest building, which sent the broadcast into four states.
The station served as an electronic equivalent to the underground newspapers of the day, says Danny Schecter, a
media critic and TV producer who served as WBCN’s “News Dissector” during the ’70s. “For many people in Boston,
WBCN was the voice of the real America,” he says.
Lichtenstein started working on The American Revolution about seven years ago. The station lacked an
archive, and he began searching the Internet for WBCN memorabilia. He was able to find a few clips, such as a
long-lost recording of Bruce Springsteen’s first radio interview.
The director then posted queries online for photos, audio and video related to WBCN and the Boston Tea
Party. He got hundreds of responses. “Without all this material that was shared with us, we wouldn’t be able
to make this film,” he says. Lichtenstein has been working with an archivist to clean up and preserve the reelto-reel recordings he’s turned up.
Kickstarter campaigns are providing about a third of the documentary’s budget, with additional funding
coming from individual donors and Mass Humanities, the Massachusetts NEH affiliate. Lichtenstein
anticipates creating a book, a radio show and a mobile app to complement The American Revolution, as well as
an educational outreach campaign that will focus on the role media can play in promoting social change.
The film “speaks to how powerful radio was and can be in terms of reaching people and creating change,”
Lichtenstein says. “Hopefully, it will inspire people to look at radio, media and public media, and see how they
can be used to affect changes in their own lives.”
Pipeline 2013
Published in Current, , October 9, 2012
Compiled by Theodore Fischer
2013 Public Television Pipeline
Summer ’13
The American Revolution
Producing organization: Lichtenstein Creative Media, Inc. Distributor: PBS. Episodes: 1 x 83.
Status: postproduction. Budget: $900,000. Major funders: Kickstarter.com campaign, Mass.
Humanities. Associate producers: David Bieber, Jay Rooney. Director of photography: Boyd
Estus. Contact: Bill Lichtenstein, [email protected], 617-682-3708. Pledge special chronicles
the early days of radio station WBCN-FM and Boston’s other underground media to show “how
a radio station, politics and rock and roll changed everything” in the late ’60s through early ’70s.
Premiums include program DVD, companion book and related merchandise.
Web: www.theamericanrevolution.fm
When WBCN changed the world
By Gayle Fee and Laura Raposa with Megan Johnson | December 5, 2011
Before there was Facebook or Twitter, there was Boston rock giant WBCN an audio
homepage for a generation.
“I think we literally helped change the world,” said former longtime morning man
Charles Laquidara. “We didn’t know it at the time, we thought we were just getting
high and playing music. But a day doesn’t go by where someone doesn’t say to me,
‘That thing you said’ or ‘That song you played , it changed my life.’ ”
Bill Lichtenstein
Photo by Don Sanford
Bruce Springsteen did his first radio interview ever on ’BCN. Grateful Dead main men Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir, along
with Allman Brothers bro Duane Allman, stopped into the studio at 2 one morning and jammed for an hour.
When Nixon invaded Cambodia, ’BCN got local college kids to strike.
“WBCN had a tremendous national impact both musically and politically,” said Bill Lichtenstein, who at age 14 became
the youngest DJ in station history. “We didn’t know it at the time, but I think we literally helped change the world.”
Lichtenstein, a filmmaker who has done TV and documentaries for PBS, set out to record the history of the station
from 1968 to 1974 and the result is “The American Revolution,” a documentary he plans to debut in about a year.
“ ’BCN was almost like the Facebook of that time. It connected everyone back then,” he said. “It’s an interesting study
in how the media can be used to affect social change.”
Lichtenstein has been interviewing former DJs and BCN staffers and plowing through mountains of donated images,
audio recordings, and archival footage, including live in-studio performances, most of which has never been seen
before for the flick.
“We’ve amassed a tremendous amount of material, even though there was no station archives from that period,” he
said. “People weren’t thinking about saving stuff, it was just happening.”
As a result, the filmmaker has been “crowd sourcing,” and he’s gathered more than 50,000 pieces of memorabilia,
donated by people across the country. There’s the famous 1974 Springsteen performance at the Harvard Square
Theatre that prompted then Real Paper critic Jon Landau to proclaim, “I saw rock and roll’s future and its name is
Bruce Springsteen.”
And because the station broadcast from a backroom at the Boston Tea Party, the legendary concert hall, the film will
showcase famous early performances by Led Zeppelin and Tea Party “house band” Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground.
Lichtenstein needs about $104,000 (in honor of ’BCN’s dial position) to finish the flick and he’s asking listeners and fans
to donate online via Kickstarter. There are lots of incentives for donors at every level, including an invite to the
screening bash Dec. 3, 2012, which will go to anyone who ponies up $104 or more.
“Don Law has already donated The Paradise and pretty much anyone we ask we expect will play,” Laquidara said.
“And no one gets in, no matter who they are, unless they donate $104.” Go to KickstartWBCN.com to pony up.
Framing ’BCN’s legend
By Mark Shanahan and Meredith Goldstein | GLOBE STAFF
OCTOBER 24, 2011
WBCN, as we knew it, is gone but not forgotten.
Filmmaker Bill Lichtenstein is making a feature-length documentary about the legendary Boston radio
station, and he gave friends a sneak peek of the unfinished film over the weekend. Lichtenstein, a former
TV news writer producer, screened some of “The American Revolution’’ at the Milton manse of Jay and
Kate Rooney. Guests included promoter Don Law, former ’BCN jocks Charles Laquidara and Oedipus,
Playbill’s Tim Montgomery, photographer Jon Strymish, Phoenix exec David Bieber, former ’BCN
program director Sam Kopper, and TV type Barry Nolan.
Don Law, promoter and former Tim Montgomery, Playbill and
Tim Montgomery with WBCN’s
WBCN’s Sam Kopper.
Boston Tea Party manager with former WBCN sales executive,
Jim Parry and Charles Laquidara.
WBCN’s Charles Laquidara.
With David Bieber, Boston Phoenix,
and “The American Revolution”
archival director.
WBCN former program director
Oedipus with Bill Lichtenstein,
“The American Revolution”
producer and former WBCN
announcer.
(Photos by Jay Rooney)
August 11, 2009
WBCN documentary looking for contributors
WBCN 104.1 FM rock radio may be off the air this week, but its legacy lives on beyond the
current retrospectives and flashback re-broadcasts (which have been incredible, by the way).
Former newscaster and on-air announcer Bill Lichtenstein, who first took to the ‘BCN airwaves
as a high school teenager in the early ‘70s, is producing the independent documentary “The
American Revolution,” detailing the station’s pivotal role in Boston history – from breaking new
music to covering current events.
And Lichtenstein, who is creating the doc with his Peabody award-winning LCMedia Inc.
(formerly Lichtenstein Creative Media) wants your help and input.
“The film …chronicles WBCN during the years 1968 to 1975, and examines the station’s role in
covering and promoting the profound social, political, and cultural changes of that era,”
Lichtenstein told Hotline. “We are collecting personal recollections as well as memorabilia, audio
tapes, photos, etc. for use in the film at the web siteWBCNthefilm.com.”
Check it out, and contribute accordingly.
Lichtenstein has also been filming the station’s final days for use in the film, and sent along this
photo. “From the WBCN FM studios on the station’s final weekend, from the Class of late‘60s/early-‘70s: “Rocket Bob” Slavin, Joe “Mississippi” Rogers, Bradley Jay, Sam Kopper, Tim
Montgomery and “Little Bill” Lichtenstein, who were all on the air one last time on Sunday.”
Bill Lichtenstein
Bill Lichtenstein's award-winning work as a print and broadcast journalist and documentary producer spans
more than 35 years, and has been honored with more than 60 major journalism awards.
Posted: August 11, 2009 01:14 PM
WBCN and "The American Revolution"
On July 14, CBS, current owners of the legendary FM rock station WBCN-FM in Boston, announced
they would be closing the station effective August 13, to make room for the city's second "sports talk"
radio outlet. The demise of the "Rock of Boston," as WBCN is known, including the retirement of its
call letters, quickly became the talk of Boston. And it's not hard to understand why.
Since March 1968, WBCN has been a major artery for relevant music, culture and politics for
generations of listeners in Boston. The press coverage surrounding the station's closing has focused on
WBCN's impressive role in breaking four decades of bands, including the Who, Aerosmith, J. Geils,
and U2, among others. However, it was arguably during WBCN's early days, from 1968 to 1975, as one
of the nation's first "free-form progressive rock" radio stations, that WBCN had its greatest impact in
Boston and nationally, as it both chronicled and helped promote the great social, cultural and political
upheavals of that era.
I worked at WBCN starting in 1970, at the age of 14, first as an intern, and soon after covering news
and hosting my own weekly show. With the recent announcement of the station's closing, I reflected
on the station's early days, and its legacy, in an Op-Ed article in the Boston Globe. It began:
"The year was 1968. Young Americans were dying in an unpopular war halfway around the world.
Protesters were battling police on campuses and in the streets throughout the country. A national
upheaval was underway involving the anti-war, civil rights, feminist, and gay and lesbian movements.
These revolutions would forever transform the nation socially, culturally, and politically. But you
would never know it from listening to the radio, where fast-talking DJs played ads for acne cream
along with Top 40 pop ballads like Frank and Nancy Sinatra's "Something Stupid.''
And then came WBCN-FM.
The radio station, which billed itself as "The American Revolution,'' was the vision of a young, hip
entrepreneur named Ray Riepen, who simultaneously created the "alternative'' newspaper The Boston
Phoenix and the legendary rock club the Boston Tea Party. WBCN began broadcasting from the back
room of the Boston Tea Party on March 15, 1968. From the moment it hit the air, the station helped
define, as well as promote, popular culture and politics in Boston for the '60s/boomer generation in a
way that nothing had before. And its impact quickly spilled over nationally.
Since Tuesday's announcement that WBCN's owner, CBS, will take the station off the air in August, its
role in launching music careers, including The Who, The J. Geils Band, Aerosmith, and U2, has been
widely cited. But WBCN was more than a cultural innovator. It was a social and political force as well,
particularly from 1968 to 1975, when, long before Facebook or MySpace, the station served as the
social medium that connected a generation in Boston . . ."
The closing of WBCN-FM comes at a time when there is a growing disconnection between the general
public, and community and national media, as well as a fading of the belief that one reporter, or one
newspaper, or one community radio station, can make a difference. To help today's young people
understand the power of media to create social change, a new documentary film, The American
Revolution, is being produced. It will examine WBCN, from 1968 through 1975, and the social,
cultural and political impact the station had. My company is producing the film, and as part of its
creation, we are collecting personal recollections from that era, as well as archival material, including
audio, photographs, and memorabilia, both from WBCN as well as that era generally. You can see
more about the documentary, and how to share your recollections and material, at the film's web site
at WBCNthefilm.com
It is ironic that for the final four days of WBCN, CBS relaxed its programming rules, so that, for the
first time in decades, announcers could play or discuss whatever they wanted on-air. I was driving
around Cambridge yesterday, listening to WBCN, which sounded as good as it ever had. There was the
live version of Jimi Hendrix's "Band of Gypsies" (with the five-minute guitar solo); unreleased live U2
performances; the Ramones; tapes of unsigned local bands; a discussion about Timothy Leary's
lasting impact on popular culture; and even some dead air. It may be going away, but for one last
weekend, WBCN was back. And it was good.
Follow Bill Lichtenstein on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Bill_LCMedia
The American Revolution:
A conversation with filmmaker, Bill Lichtenstein
By Erin Finicane on March 05, 2012
Bill Lichtenstein interviewing WBCN's
Charles Laquidara for film. Photo taken by Jay Rooney
“WBCN brought humanity to the airwaves; a new rhythm to life; a cast of characters we loved
and identified with (Charles, Sam, Tommy, Jim, Bill, JJ, Mississippi, Al...); music which evolved
as the world changed; real news reflecting real happenings, without the taint of corporate
America (thanks to Danny Schechter); and a sense of community that brought several
generations together. We lived and loved well, and through it all was WBCN. I think we all
need to reconnect with those values and realize how important WBCN was to us, and to the
community.”
– Dan Beach (Kickstarter supporter and WBCN listener)
Here at the Center we are very familiar with the power that different
forms of media can have to impact change. We strive to showcase new
and innovative uses of digital technology and social media that inspire
action. But as we continue to forge ahead in this quest, we must remind
ourselves to pause every now and then to reflect on the sequence of
events that lead us here. Much can be learned from our predecessors and
perhaps now is a good time to revisit an age before Facebook and
Twitter, where the World Wide Web was still a distant dream, and
where even television was just starting to grow into its current form. But
even without all of the fancy gadgetry that we take for granted today,
the late 60s/early 70s was an age where media proved as powerful an
Bill Lichtenstein,
1973, age 16 on air
at WBCN. Photo by
Don Sanford
agent of change as we have ever seen it. In Boston, MA, between 1968 and 1974, a single radio
station played a momentous role in mobilizing the public and inspiring the dramatic social,
political and cultural shifts taking place across the nation. I had the great fortune to chat with
longtime friend and supporter of the Center, filmmaker Bill Lichtenstein, founder and president
of Lichtenstein Creative Media. A pioneer in designing for impact, Lichtenstein is knee deep in
his latest documentary, The American Revolution, which explores the formative years of the
freeform Boston radio station WBCN. Sitting on top the tallest building in Boston, WBCN
became a hub for pop culture as well as a facilitator of social and political interaction, promoting
dialogue around some of the most pressing issues of the time. Rock stars, radicals, movers and
shakers, movements and counter-movements embraced WBCN as an outlet for refreshing and
honest social discourse. For many, this freeform radio station, with its revolutionary mix of rock
music, politics and news, will forever remain a defining texture in the social fabric of the city.
But whereas the subject matter of The American Revolution simply comments on the power of
media to impact change, the film’s production strategy actually lives it. And it is this strategy
that we at the Center find particularly note-worthy. Lichtenstein and his colleagues have
designed a production approach that leverages the public’s participation in the media-making
process and serves as a wonderful demonstration of how fair use and crowdsourcing can
successfully enhance a documentary production. When initially asked to elaborate on his
approach to the film, Lichtenstein references this unique production strategy:
“It was our intention (even before anybody used the word crowdsourced) back in 2005 when we
first started thinking about doing the film, to do it in a way—and it seemed to call out to be done
in a way—that turns out to be really consistent with all of the things that you at the Center are
interested in. From fair use to crowdsourcing, to this kind of transformation of material…”
The “transformation of material” that Lichtenstein refers to is their solution to a production
challenge that emerged when, upon the station’s closing in 2009, they discovered an absence of
any archival material:
“There were no archives. There were no records. Basically nothing. So what this gets to is a
central point and that is that the history of that period—a very important period where so much
changed for everything, from feminism to the anti war movement to music, art, culture and
politics—the story of that period as it evolved in Boston had really never been told. And if we
didn’t tell it – we being the people who were in the middle of it – if we didn’t tell that story, it
was not going to get told…or it would be told by Viacom in a half hour TV special or
something…it wasn’t going to get told in a way that really captured what went on. And so from
the very beginning we reached out to people who lived it, who were there, who were a part of it,
and we started asking if they had any material that they could share….”
So Lichtenstein and his colleagues began crowdsourcing archival material from WBCN listeners
and supporters:
“In 2006, when people were still literally saying, “you mean, you can like post photographs on
the internet? How do you do that?.” This was before Facebook, and we had this vision that we
could create a kind of interactive community for people who lived through the period, who had
material, and we would share it! And we would use that material and these stories to help evolve
the film both archival research-wise and editorially.”
Photo of girl at
demonstration.
Photo taken by
Eric Engstrom
According to Lichtenstein, the response they received was
immediately supportive as nostalgic WBCN listeners rallied around
the making of this film, offering up their stories, photographs,
recordings and footage to contribute to what Lichtenstein describes
as the first “open source” documentary. Lichtenstein even
comments that he feels more like acurator now-a-days and less like
a filmmaker, as he compiles this crowdsourced material into a
virtual archive that will not just be used in the documentary, but
will also be made available to the public and to scholars interested
in learning about that time period and contributing their own stories
to that learning process. And taking a cue from the Center for Social
Media’s Best Practices in Fair Use, Lichtenstein is not shying away
from using copyrighted material that is critical to the messaging of
the film nor is he hesitating to share his own material to the public
before the film’s actual release. In his own words, he has
“embraced” this new wave of collaborative, participant filmmaking:
“A lot of filmmakers are just standing around this pool of new ways of doing things and they’re
kind of dipping their toe in to kind of see if it’s okay…But what we’ve done is we’ve embraced all
of it. And I think by just jumping in, head first, and swimming around in it, what we’ve found out
is that it’s a much better way of making films. But you have to be willing to just immerse yourself
in it…. So what you find for example is that for every precious thing we have for the film that we
put up online and wonder if somebody is going to steal or see before the release of the film, that
we get twenty things. People go, “Oh! That recording of the Grateful Dead at MIT the day after
the Kent State Massacre where four students were shot…well I was there and I have
photographs!” Or “I have a better version of that song taped.”…And so my advice would be to
listen carefully to what your Center and others are saying about these things and really embrace
them, because I think his film has benefited from becoming a true believer in all of it.
Using the combined power of the media, crowdsourcing and a
basic understanding of fair use, The American Revolution is
itself proving to be a revolution in documentary filmmaking
and a model that the Center for Social Media is proud to
support.
As our conversation comes to a close, I ask Lichtenstein what
he hopes will be the take away from the WBCN story and how
it might be applied to the more contemporary context of
designing media for impact. In his response, he recognizes the
enormous potential that social media and new media technology has for impacting change, but
he also reminds us that the media is but a tool, and it is in fact the people who are the real agents
of change…They must believe it’s possible:
“I think it’s rarer and rarer that people listen to a discussion or are part of a discussion that
helps them formulate a view of what’s going on. I think more and more people feel helpless...and
I think if there’s anything that we’re hoping the film will do, regardless of their political
viewpoint, we’re hoping that it makes people feel like they can create changes in their life and
for society—cultural, political and social changes—by using media and by speaking up. And
particularly, if they’re an artist or a musician, I think everyone has a real imperative to get
involved and try to make some sort of change.”
So despite the limited technology of the time period, WBCN became an enabler for dialogue,
collaboration and action. And as we continue our efforts in designing media for impact,
Lichtenstein reminds us that before media can serve as an effective tool, the public needs to
know how to use it to its full potential. And indeed, the outreach toolkit for The American
Revolution is designed for precisely this purpose: through a facilitation guide, it will deconstruct
what media can do for social change and educate communities and activists on how to use media
strategically during the organizing process:
“We want to create a facilitation guide so that schools and community groups can show the film
and then have a discussion about the use of media to create social change, which I think is really
important. Because I don’t think people feel empowered or they understand how they go about
making yourself heard and targeting a particular thing that you don’t like and trying to get
change. For a lot of people it’s clicking. I’m going to click on this petition or I’m going to click
“LIKE” on the website that stands up for the things I believe in. But real social change
historically has taken much more commitment and dedication and I think this is a way of seeing
how that can happen.”
Media can empower people to take action, and The American Revolution demonstrates this in
both its subject matter and production strategy. Inspiring us all to become creative citizens who
play an active role in shaping our own history and our own future, Lichtenstein and his
colleagues continue to enlist the help of the public in this participatory and collaborative
filmmaking experience. We look forward to seeing their progress.
Spaceman Bill Lee has a ball at
benefit for WBCN documentary
Backstage with Ray Riepen, founder of WBCN, left, Charles
Laquidara, Willie “Loco” Alexander, and Bill Lichtenstein, who’s
making documentary, “The American Revolution,' about WBCN.
By Mark Shanahan & Meredith Goldstein—December 4, 2012
Former Red Sox pitcher Bill Lee had a ball at this week’s fund-raiser for the WBCN
documentary “The American Revolution.” The Spaceman said he drove the 226 miles from his
home in Vermont to support Bill Lichtenstein ’s film and also to see his old friend, former ’BCN
DJ Charles Laquidara , who flew in from Hawaii for the show. “Me and Chuck go way back,”
Lee told us. “I love that guy.” He also enjoyed the evening’s entertainment, which included
performances by Al Kooper , Jonathan Edwards , Billy Squier , Willie “Loco” Alexander , James
Montgomery , and former Boston members Barry Goudreau and Sib Hashian , whose medley
of songs from the band’s record-breaking first LP had Lee playing some serious air guitar in the
crowd. “Dennis Eckersley and I used to smoke with those guys in the runway at Fenway Park,”
Lee said. (Since he was in a mood to chat, we asked if the 66-year-old lefty likes the Mike
Napoli signing. In a word: No!) Aside from the many luminaries on stage, there were a few
familiar faces in the crowd, including promoter Don Law, arts patron Ted Cutler, who was with
girlfriend, former ’BCN DJ Carolyn Fox, WBCN founder Ray Riepen, “Here & Now” host Robin
Young, WXRT’s Norm Winer, Phoenix Media’s David Bieber, venture capitalist Mitchell
Kertzman, and CBS Radio marketing man Chachi Loprete and his wife, Stephanie.
Spider John Koerner (L-R) with Kate Taylor and Jonathan Edwards
at benefit Monday night in Boston for documentary about WBCN.
Legends of rock, folk let love for WBCN shine
By Scott McLennan—December 4, 2012
WBCN may have been known as the “Rock of Boston,” but it was folk artist Tom Rush who captured the impact of
the radio station when he played the traditional “Wasn’t That a Mighty Storm” Monday night at the House of Blues
in a multi-genre musical love letter to the early days of the renegade broadcast outlet.
The four-hour concert celebrated the initial fund-raising drive for production of “The American Revolution” and
raised more money for the documentary about the station due out next year. Rush and a folk ensemble that
included Spider John Koerner, Jon Pousette-Dart, Jonathan Edwards, Kate Taylor, Livingston Taylor, and Steve
Mayone began the show with a spirited song circle that tapped not only tradition but also anthems that bubbled up
in the era, songs such as Edwards’s “Sunshine” and “Shanty” and Pousette-Dart’s “County Line.”
The acoustic set reminded of how WBCN blossomed at a time when rock and folk were on equal footing in the
counterculture that embraced the fledgling broadcast outlet. That sense of diversity within a like-minded community
rippled through the concert even as it went electric.
James Montgomery, who led a rocking blues band that backed many of the night’s performers, said that celebrating
WBCN was akin to celebrating “a culture, a community where people cared about each other.” Billy Squier, who
closed the main set, recalled growing up in Wellesley and listening to Peter Wolf deejay from “the college of musical
knowledge,” surmising that some on stage that night may not have been there without that education.
The free-form nature of early ’BCN came across in a show that spanned the soul of Al Kooper’s teaming with the
Uptown Horns to the frivolity of the Fools singing “Life Sucks, Then You Die.” It was a night when Willie Alexander’s
underground anthem “Mass Ave” was home with “More Than a Feeling” and medley of other monster hits
performed by former members of the band Boston. The show offered both homegrown hits, such as Robin Lane
singing “When Things Go Wrong,” and enduring native talent such as Montgomery, Kooper, Charlie Farren, Johnny
A., Jon Butcher, and all of their band members.
Longtime ’BCN morning man Charles Laquidara addressed the crowd a few times, but saved his biggest surprise for
the finale when he filled the stage with on-air talent from throughout the station’s run from 1968 to 2009 and had
that choir tackle Cream’s “I Feel Free,” the first song WBCN broadcast. It was perfectly off the rails.
Local legends unite behind WBCN
at the House of Blues
By Jed Gottlieb—November 28, 2012
‘BCN was the only station that mattered in Boston for a long time. But changing times and
competing stations — WFNX mostly — hurt ‘BCN and the station went digital-only in 2009.
Filmmaker and former WBCN DJ Bill Lichtenstein is working on a documentary about the
station called “The American Revolution.” He’s already received a ton of help — one of the
most successful Kickstarter fundraising campaigns in Boston history saw nearly 900 donors
contribute a total of $114,419 toward production of the film. Now the former jock is getting a
hand from a group of local legends.
On Monday, at the House of Blues, there is a benefit
extravaganza for the film featuring “Folk Revolution” stars Tom
Rush, Livingston Taylor, Jonathan Edwards and “Spider” John
Koerner, and “Rock Revolution” heroes Billy Squier, members
of Boston, and The Uptown Horns.
Additional performers include Danny Klein of The J. Geils Band, Peter Case, Jon-Pousette
Dart, Kate Taylor, Willie “Loco” Alexander, The Fools, Sandy MacDonald, Johnny A., Tosh1,
Barbara Holliday, members of both Duke & the Drivers and Barry & the Remains. In addition
to performing, James Montgomery is serving as musical director for the evening’s festivities.
Charlie “Master Blaster” Daniels, original concert emcee at the legendary Boston Tea Party,
which stood on the location of the House of Blues, will host the event.
Fans who donate $104 to the film’s fundraising campaign at Ticketmaster.com receive
admission to the event with their contribution, along with a special thanks in the film and other
perks. Additional concert-related donation benefits include exclusive seating offers and tickets
to the after-party. Due to the rising number of supporters, the concert, originally scheduled for
the Paradise, has been moved to the House of Blues, which has been donated for the evening.
As a result, a limited number of tickets are available at Ticketmaster.com.
Rockin’ fund-raiser for WBCN film
‘The American Revolution’ set for Monday
DECEMBER 01, 2012 “The American Revolution,” Bill Lichtenstein’s longgestating documentary about radio station WBCN, isn’t finished. That’s the bad news.
The good news is it’s close.
Monday, Lichtenstein and a legion of Boston rockers are getting together at the House
of Blues for a fund-raiser they hope will put the project over the top financially. Partygoers will get an early glimpse of footage from the film along with photos and other
archival material gathered by Lichtenstein during production. (Fans who donated $104
to the film’s successful Kickstarter campaign last year get free admission, but tickets are
still available at www.KickstartWBCN.com.
Among those set to perform Monday are Tom Rush, Livingston Taylor, Jonathan
Edwards, and “Spider” John Koerner. Also on the bill are former members of the band
Boston, Billy Squier, the Uptown Horns, Danny Klein of the J. Geils Band, Peter Case,
Jon-Pousette Dart, Kate Taylor, Willie “Loco” Alexander, theJames Montgomery Band,
The Fools, Sandy MacDonald, Johnny A., Tosh1, Barbara Holliday, and members of
Duke & the Drivers and Barry & the Remains. Handling the host duties will be — who
else? —Charlie “Master Blaster” Daniels, the emcee at the legendary Boston Tea Party.
Lichtenstein, a journalist and documentary producer whose broadcast career began in
1970 — at the age of 14 — with a job at WBCN, has been working on “The American
Revolution” since 2006.
We hear: Al Kooper...
By Gayle Fee & Laura Raposa Inside Track
Monday December 3, 2012
That classic rock and folk fans should head to the House of Blues tonight for the
American Revolution Benefit concert featuring an all-star lineup that includes rockers
Al Kooper and Billy Squier, Tom Rush, Jonathan Edwards, Living-ston
Taylor, The Fools, The Uptown Horns, Jon Butcher, Jon Pousette-Dart,
Kate Taylor and more. The show will feature a chat fest with Boston radio legend
Charles Laquidara and ex-Red Sox Spaceman Bill Lee. It will raise funds to
complete “The American Revolution,” a documentary about the early days of
legendary rock radio station WBCN. Tickets are available at Ticketmaster or by
donating $104 to the film project at kickstartWBCN.com.
“The American Revolution” on Fox 25 News
with host Gene Lavanchy,
musician James Montgomery,
and producer Bill Lichtenstein
View Fox 25 report at: www.Bit.ly/Fox25Report
EDITORS' CHOICE
FOR TUESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2003
West 47th Street
10:00 PM PBS P.O.V.
90 min.
“West 47th Street,” an affecting cinéma-vérité documentary, follows four
people living with mental illnesses at the Manhattan rehabilitation center Fountain
House for three years.
Tex Gordon, who was first institutionalized as a teen, has recovered to the point
that a judge deems him “competent.” “I'm my own boss,” he exults. Zeinab Wali is
an excellent cook, and Frances Olivero takes an interest in politics. But Fitzroy
Frederick still wrestles with demons and fights with others at Fountain House,
Wali among them. Filmmaker Bill Lichtenstein, who has struggled with depression
himself, also produces the public-radio series The Infinite Mind. (VCR Plus+ 41548)
.
ScreenScene
These
individuals
found their
way to a
home for
mentally ill
homeless.
This
documentary
tells their
stories with
dignity
Tulsa World • Page D3 • Thursday, July 24, 2003
[Four rooms]
Lichtenstein Creative Media/Courtesy
These are the four subjects of the film “West 47th Street,” clockwise from top left: Fitzroy Frederick, a formerly homeless Rastafarian with
schizophrenia; Zeinab Wali, a talented cook; Frances Olivero, who evolves into an effective advocate for the mentally ill; and Nathaniel “Tex” Gordon, a former rodeo star.
S TORIES
BY
D ENNIS K ING
World Scene Writer
T
hey’re just the sort of
disheveled, twitchy,
haunted people you see
on the streets of Tulsa
or any other sizable city
in America. Seemingly
homeless, uncomfortable in their own skins
and dogged by demons
unseen by the rest of us.
They’re the people we rush past on the
errands of our busy lives; people we pretend
not to notice as we scurry by.
But as shown by “West 47th Street” — a gripping, compassionate documentary by Bill Lichtenstein and June Peoples — they’re human
beings worthy of our attention, in need of our
understanding and capable of touching us with
their unrealized hopes, dreams and potential.
The product of more than three years of
painstaking journalism and dogged filmmaking,
“West 47th Street” offers a sometimes frustrating, frequently sad, often hopeful and ultimately
inspiring look at serious mental illness in America and one innovative, practical and sympathetic
program dedicated to helping those who suffer.
The documentary focuses on New York
City’s Fountain House, for 50 years a model
program in providing housing, counseling and
job placement services for those afflicted with
serious mental illness.
More importantly, it focuses on four people
whom the filmmakers help us get to know inti-
mately as they struggle to get through each
day and cope with the mental anguish that has
crippled their lives.
Filmmakers Lichtenstein and Peoples spent
months volunteering at the Fountain House,
located in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood, and getting to know staff and residents
before they ever picked up their cameras. After
winning the trust of those around them, they
spent three years following daily events at the
facility and shooting more than 350 hours of
digital video footage for the film.
The result is a truly dramatic and heartwrenching glimpse into the lives of four Fountain House residents who put achingly honest
and benevolent human faces on the abstract
concept of mental illness.
The four are:
Zeinab Wali, whose husband abused her and
finally fled with their children to Egypt as her
schizophrenia worsened. At Fountain House,
she’s haunted by painful memories but finds
solace and purpose in cooking delicious meals
for fellow residents.
Tex Gordon, who was committed to mental institutions as a child and spent his youth locked up.
Even after being released, he’s lived for 20 years
under court-ordered restraints. His dream is to
be freed from court supervision and to set off on
the first vacation of his life — to Las Vegas.
Fitzroy Frederick, a homeless, dreadlocked
Rastafarian who suffers schizophrenia and
barely controlled bouts of rage. He has periods
of lucidity when his charm wins over everyone
around him, but his penchant for street drugs
and crackpot home remedies causes him to suf-
fer setbacks that put him back among the ranks
of the homeless.
Frances Olivero, whom we first meet wearing
a flowered skirt and explaining that his given
name, Kenneth, is a terrible mistake. Despite
his gender issues and mental problems,
Frances becomes an articulate, determined
advocate for people with mental illness — ultimately helping pass important legislation and
winning honors for his work but finally facing a
heart-breaking medical diagnosis that truly
tests his will to live.
With amazing patience and perseverance, the
filmmakers piece together vivid portraits of
these people’s struggles, creating a tapestry of
real-life drama that few novelists or playwrights
could hope to imagine.
The film was shot in cinema verite style (a
stripped-down, candid approach without voiceover explanations, talking-head interviews or
other narrative intrusions) and for that radical,
throw-back tradition alone “West 47th Street”
deserves high praise. Its craftsmanship, thoroughness, smart editing and sensitive but cleareyed handling of its delicate subject matter
make it a work of remarkable passion and
uncommon decency.
Most amazing of all, “West 47th Street” has
the power to be a life-altering cinema experience. Watch it and you’ll no longer be able to
pass those troubled souls on the street without
noticing, without caring, without understanding
that attention must be paid.
Dennis King 581-8479
[email protected]
movie review
“ WEST 47TH STREET”
Theaters
the Westby Cinema, 309 E. Second St. (call 583-3977 for
show times)
Studio
P.O.V./Lichtenstein Creative Media
Running Time:
98 minutes
Rated
Not rated (language, adult themes)
Quality: ★★★1/2
(on a scale of zero to four stars)
Special screening
A special screening of the acclaimed documentary “West 47th Street” will be hosted
Thursday evening by The Crossroads Clubhouse, featuring an appearance by filmmakers
Bill Lichtenstein and June Peoples.
Thursday’s event — a “friend-raising” program that will offer information on the Tulsabased Clubhouse, a social and vocational rehabilitation program for adults with serious mental illness — is completely booked and no more
tickets are available.
However, “West 47th Street” will be shown
two more times at the Westby Cinema — at
6:15 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. Saturday. Admission to those shows is $7 for adults; $5 for seniors and students.
Director drew from firsthand experience in chronicling burdens of mental illness
Aside from his painstaking journalistic research into the subject, filmmaker Bill Lichtenstein has firsthand understanding of the dark corridors of mental illness.
The one-time producer at ABC
News, who with his wife and partner
June Peoples has made the celebrated documentary “West 47th Street,”
has himself suffered from manicdepressive illness that he said cost
him his job, his friends and his selfesteem.
“I know how devastating that can
be, and how crippling the disease is,”
Lichtenstein said by telephone this
week from his Manhattan office.
On Thursday, the two filmmakers
will be in Tulsa to accompany their
film on a short theatrical run at the
Westby Cinema, before it debuts as
part of “P.O.V.,” PBS’s long-running
documentary series, on Aug. 19.
Lichtenstein enjoyed a successful
career in broadcasting and journalism before his bout with mental illness. A graduate of Brown University
and the Columbia University School
of Journalism, he worked in the
news divisions of several major networks, including CBS, CNN and
ABC, and won many awards.
It was after his own illness, he
said, “that I became acutely aware of
Lichtenstein Creative Media/Courtesy
Filmmakers Bill Lichtenstein and
June Peoples at work on their documentary “West 47th Street.”
how little people really understood
about mental illness itself, and about
programs of treatment and the people who’ve overcome and recovered
and are living productive lives.”
It was that knowledge that led him
to produce his public radio series on
mental illness, “Voices of an Illness,”
which garnered a George Foster
Peabody Award, broadcasting’s highest honor. And since then he and
Peoples have produced a weekly
public radio program called “The
Infinite Mind,” which explores the
art and science of the human mind.
Lichtenstein said the idea for
“West 47th Street” was a logical
extension of his interest in the subject and his desire to inform people
about mental illness and the possibilities for effective treatment, care and
rehabilitation.
That naturally led him to Fountain
House, a half-century-old program in
New York City that has become a
model for similar programs throughout the country, including Tulsa’s
Crossroads Clubhouse.
The filmmaker said he made contacts at Fountain House and he and
Peoples spent three months volunteering there, “peeling potatoes, licking stamps, doing odd jobs, just to
get to know the place and to win people’s trust.”
He said he knew going in that his
story had to be told on a human
scale and that he would need to profile individual residents to capture
the larger picture.
“It was clear that the film would
have to be driven by people’s stories, as opposed to being topic driven,” Lichtenstein said. “Our model
was the movie ‘Rain Man.’ You
know, people did not go to that
movie because they wanted to see a
film about autism. They went
because they wanted to see a compelling story about a guy and his
brother overcoming obstacles and
bonding. It just happened to offer a
lot of valuable information about
autism.”
As Lichtenstein and Peoples hung
around and became familiar figures
at Fountain House, they were drawn
to certain residents, people they felt
offered particularly compelling possibilities for drama.
They narrowed the candidates
down to about a dozen, then further
focused on the film’s four principles
when they finally showed up at the
House with cameras and sound
equipment.
“By then, we were familiar figures
to everyone,” he said. “They trusted
us. They let down their guards
around us. And so when we showed
up and started shooting regularly, we
were just Bill and June with cameras.”
Originally, Lichtenstein said he
thought the project could be
wrapped up in six months. “But
that was naive,” he said. “We ended
up shooting for three years before
we felt we’d captured enough
footage to really do justice to the
stories.”
“It was grueling at times, and it
demanded a huge amount of
patience on our part,” he said. “But
as we went along, we could see that
it was worth it, that these stories
were growing and taking surprising
turns right before our eyes.”
Even after the shooting was concluded, the filmmakers spent 16
months in the editing room with veteran editor Spiro C. Lampros and
story consultant Charlotte Zwerin,
two old pros in cinema verite circles,
to trim 350 hours down to a crisp 98
minutes.
“It was worth it, I think,” Lichtenstein said, “if people come away from
the film looking at those with mental
illness with more understanding and
with a willingness to help rather than
turn away. You know, the nicest thing
that’s been said was by Michael
Faenza, president of the National
Mental Health Association. He said
the movie has the potential to
change the way Americans look at
people with mental illness. If that’s
true, we’re happy. We couldn’t ask
for more.”
Dennis King 581-8479
[email protected]
.
Here’s what the press is saying about the West 47th Street and the Community
Engagement and Educational Outreach Campaign
“There is Hollywood’s too-perfect version of mental illness—‘Ordinary People,’ ‘Rain Man,’ ‘A Beautiful Mind.’
And then there’s the raw stuff of ‘West 47th Street,’ a documentary airing this week and next on publictelevision stations nation-wide (check local listings at pbs.org/pov/pov2003/west47thstreet) . . . The film
debuts at a time when the country’s mental-health system is under fire. A recent presidential commission
called it “fragmented, disconnected and often inadequate.” For those battling mental illness, better services
are critical. So is respect.” - Newsweek
“Editors’ Choice – Pick of the Night” – TV Guide
“Its craftsmanship, thoroughness, smart editing and sensitive but clear-eyed handling of its delicate subject
matter make it a work of remarkable passion and uncommon decency. Most amazing of all, West 47th
Street has the power to be a life-altering cinema experience. Watch it and you'll no longer be able to pass
those troubled souls on the street without noticing, without caring, without understanding that attention must
be paid." -- Dennis King, Tulsa World
“With its four memorable characters, West 47th Street gives emotional oomph to Lichtenstein’s multimedia
campaign for understanding mental illness, plowing like an icebreaker through frozen assumptions about
homeless people.” - Current, the newspaper of public broadcasting
“The most wrenching moments in the Cleveland International Film Festival belonged not to any scripted plot,
but to a special preview of this vérité documentary masterpiece.” - Cleveland International Film Festival
“You feel as a viewer as if you're right in there with these people … the filmmakers wrestled with 350 hours
of footage to tell, in less than two hours, the stories.”- Lisa Simeone, host, NPR’s Weekend All Things
Considered
"Filmed in the manner of strict cinéma vérité style, the film borrows from documentary giants like Frederick
Wiseman the ability of film to observe from a distance ... fiction could never invent such beautiful characters."
- FilmFestivals.com
“Involving, insightful documentary”- Variety
“Told entirely without interviews or narration, this is radical, engaged filmmaking in the finest cinéma vérité
tradition: it observes its subjects from a distance, without judging them, without framing them in a message,
without telling us how to respond. This restraint makes our experience, as spectators, all the more powerful
and unforgettable..- Vancouver Film Festival
“I saw tears in the eyes of more than one person during the discussion. Thank you for this great
opportunity … Our society needs as many opportunities as possible to raise consciousness about the poor
and disabled among us.”
– Response following community screening in Billings, Montana
sponsored by the Billing Chapter of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill.
West 47th Street Educational and Community Engagement Campaign
West 47th Street is an intimate cinéma vérité portrait of four people struggling to recover from
serious mental illness. The feature length film offers an unprecedented window onto the lives of
people who are often feared and ignored, but seldom understood. The film is produced by the
Peabody Award-winning Lichtenstein Creative Media (LCM), creators of public radio's "The Infinite
Mind."
When the national TV broadcast premiered on Tuesday, August 19th at 10 pm on PBS's P.O.V., the
national community and educational engagement campaign was also launched to coincide with the
national television broadcast and continue beyond. This effort has successfully channeled the
powerful, emotional response viewers have had to the film into a targeted effort impacting public
policy and attitudes about issues surrounding mental illness. This campaign involved mental health
groups, grassroots advocacy and educational groups and local public television stations and was
funded and coordinated by LCM and P.O.V.
Some of the events that have occurred or are currently scheduled include:
June 22, 2005
Corporation for Supportive Housing national conference
Minneapolis, MN
Screening and keynote address by Bill Lichtenstein
May 2005
Bristol Bay Counseling Center
Dillingham, AK
Screening event and community discussion
Thursday, November 4, 2004
Anthology Theatre
32 Second Avenue (corner of Second Street), New York, NY
Screening of West 47th Street with filmmaker Bill Lichtenstein for Q&A following film.
Thursday, August 26, 7pm.
Global Visions Documentary Series
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Metro Cinema, 9828 101 Avenue, 780-425-9212
Wednesday, August 4, 2004
Hot Springs, Arkansas
32nd Annual Arkansas Mental Health Institute,
Arlington Resort Hotel, Hot Springs, Arkansas,
3:30pm - 5pm August 3 (Filmmakers in attendance)
Wednesday, February 11, 2004
The Austin Film Society
Austin, Texas
The Austin Film Society will screen West 47th Street as part of their Texas Documentary Tour.
Bill Lichtenstein and June Peoples will be in attendance. The Austin Film Society promotes the
appreciation of film and supports creative filmmaking. The screening will take place at 7:00PM, at
the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in downtown Austin. For further information, please check the
Austin Film Society website: www.austinfilm.org
Thursday, February 5, 2004
Southcentral Counseling Center
Anchorage, Alaska
In conjunction with the Southcentral Counseling Center, public TV stations KSKA/KAKM, and the
UAA Human Services Club will present at the University of Alaska. A panel of mental health
experts will follow the film.
Wednesday and Thursday, December 17th and 18th, 2003
Cinema Arts Centre
Huntington, New York
The Clubhouse of Suffolk in conjunction with Lichtenstein Creative Media held two screenings of
West 47th Street at Cinema Arts Centre for the community of Huntington, Long Island. A Q&A
followed the Wednesday night screening with Filmmakers, June Peoples and Bill Lichtenstein and
Thursday evening, Michael Stoltz, Executive Director, Clubhouse of Suffolk spoke following the
screening.
Friday, November 21, 2003
Scottsdale, Arizona
West 47th Street was screened as part of the Beautiful Minds & Creative People: Erasing the Stigma of
Mental Illness conference sponsored by the University of Arizona Health Science Center and
Institute for Mental Health Research. Producer Bill Lichtenstein spoke and answered questions
about the film and its impact on public attitudes about people with mental illness. Also speaking at
the conference were Miss Arizona 2002, Laura Lawless, who has clinical depression, and Texas
Representative Garnet F. Coleman, who has manic depression.
-2-
Friday, October 10, 2003
Honolulu, Hawaii
A community psychiatrist at Kalihi-Palama Health Care for the Homeless Project sponsored an
event for consumers, family members, advocacy groups, key members of the state mental health
system including the commissioner, service providers, legislators, media, and the general public
during National Mental Illness Awareness Week highlighting the film West 47th Street, followed by
a panel discussion.
Friday, October 3, 2003
Jackson, Mississippi
The Jackson Mental Health Center in conjunction with the Mississippi Department of Mental
Health, National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI) & MS Mental Health Association (MSMHA)
hosted an all day conference including a screening of West 47th Street and lunch speakers from
the state Department of Mental Health, NAMI and MSMHA at The Jackson House, a clubhouse
modeled after Fountain House in Jackson, Mississippi. Events included breakout sessions
appropriate for consumers and providers to educate and increase familiarity with local treatment
options.
Tuesday, September 16, 2003
Long Beach, CA
The Long Beach Community Health Council hosted a community forum with the Long Beach
Chapter of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill at the Long Beach Community Hospital. The
forum featured West 47th Street followed by a panel discussion. This group also hosted another
event on August 22nd.
Wednesday, August 28, 2003
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Twin Cities Public Television, Minnesota Alliance for the Mentally Ill, Vail Place, Blake School,
Mount Olivet Lutheran Church and the Hopkins School District will have a special screening of
West 47th Street and community dialogue on August 28th. The screening was held at Hopkins
Center for the Arts, Hopkins, MN. The public participated in this evening of dialogue with the
medical community, state and local legislators and NAMI members. For further information
contact Ann Sunwall: [email protected]
Friday, August 22, 2003
Sacramento, CA
West 47th Street was screened at a meeting of regional coordinators for a proposed statewide
assembly bill which if passed funds 26 programs throughout California to provide a comprehensive
system of care for adults with serious mental illness who are homeless or at risk of being
homeless, hospitalized or incarcerated. Representatives from the California Department of Mental
Health, California Institute for Mental Health, Corporation for Supportive Housing and county
mental health agencies attended the screening.
Thursday August 21, 2003
Wentworth, NC
The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill--Rockingham County, in partnership with UNC-TV,
hosted a screening and discussion event at Calvary Baptist Church. For more information email
[email protected]
-3-
Tuesday, August 19, 2003
Billings, Montana
The NAMI-Billings affiliate screened West 47th Street at Deaconess Billings Clinic, Mary Alice
Fortin Health Conference Center, Billings, Montana. The screening was followed by a discussion
with area legislators, school district members, churches, law enforcement officials and the general
public.
Tuesday August 19, 2003
Green Bay, WI
Villa Hope Community Service Program held a special screening to coincide with the national
broadcast of West 47th Street, followed by a panel of local mental health professionals and an
educational program targeted at local law professionals. Villa Hope organized this special screening
and community discussion on a shoestring budget with space donated by a local theater.
Tuesday August 19, 2003
New York, NY
Lichtenstein Creative Media, Thirteen/WNET New York, and P.O.V. held a special screening of
West 47th Street, followed by a discussion and Q&A with the filmmakers Bill Lichtenstein and
June Peoples, and Tex Gordon and Zeinab Ali, stars of film. A reception and “informational salon”
followed the screening. The event was held at New School University's Tishman Auditorium,
located at 66 West 12th Street, between 5th & 6th Avenues, in New York City.
Sunday August 18
San Francisco, CA
Crisis Prevention Institute sponsored a screening of West 47th Street during their annual
symposium. Attendees consisted of mental health facility administrators, mental health advocates,
state legislators and the general public. The screening and follow-up discussion was held at The
Ramada Plaza Hotel, San Francisco, CA.
Sunday August 17, 2003
Los Angeles, CA
The Museum of Tolerance, located at 1399 South Roxbury Drive, hosted a standing room only
screening of the film followed by a discussion moderated by Rabbi Ari Hier. The event took place
in the museum's Simon Weisenthal Center. For more information email [email protected]
Thursday August 14, 2003
Eliot, ME
William Fogg Public Library, located at One Old Road, Eliot, ME, screened the film to promote
further understanding of a misunderstood population living within their towns and neighborhoods.
A local mental health worker led the follow-up discussion.
Wednesday, August 13, 2003
Milwaukee, WI
The Grand Avenue Club, NAMI of Greater Milwaukee and the Wisconsin Psychiatric Association
held a very well-received screening and follow-up reception and panel discussion for doctors-in
training, family members and service providers at The Grand Avenue Club, 210 E. Michigan,
Milwaukee, Wisconsin. For further information contact Grand Avenue Club Executive Director
Rachel Forman by email: [email protected]
-4-
Wednesday August 13, 2003
Carrboro, North Carolina
Club Nova hosted a screening of donors, legislators, friends and members at a special event at the
Carrboro Arts Center. Club Nova and community members followed the screening with a
discussion of the film over coffee and dessert. For further information email [email protected]
Tuesday August 12, 2003
Elk Grove Village, IL
The Kenneth Young Center, a community mental health agency, hosted a screening followed by a
panel discussion and Q&A moderated by a community mental health provider, family members,
consumers, and NAMI members. The event took place at the Center, located at 1001 Rohlwing
Road, Elk Grove Village, IL. For more information email [email protected]
Tuesday August 12, 2003
Salt Lake City, UT
KUED held an extremely successful screening at the city library, in partnership with the Salt Lake
City Film Center. The follow-up discussion was led by multiple panel members from the Utah
Psychiatric Association, Utah Rehabilitation Clinics, United Way, and the University of Utah
Neuropsychiatric Institute. For more information email [email protected]
Tuesday August 12, 2003
Atlanta, GA
WABE/WPBA 30, NAMI Atlanta and NMHA Atlanta hosted a joint event at The Woodruff Center
on Tuesday, August 12th. The event consisted of a screening of the film, meeting the filmmakers, a
panel with local and national mental health advocates including the Carter Center and reception
for more than 500 people. Bill Lichtenstein and June Peoples, producers and directors of the film,
along with other notable members of the local mental health professional community, were in
attendance. For more information go to http://www.wabe.org/
Thursday August 7, 2003
Madison, WI
Wisconsin Public Television and the Wisconsin Chapter of the National Alliance for the Mentally
Ill and the Wisconsin Psychiatric Association held a screening followed by a panel discussion at
Vilas Hall on the University of Wisconsin campus. For more information email
[email protected]
Tuesday August 5, 2003
Toledo, OH
WGTE in Toledo, Ohio, hosted a screening and follow-up discussion at their studios. Their major
partner was the Alliance of the Mentally Ill for Greater Toledo. For more information email
[email protected]
Tuesday August 5, 2003
Watertown, NY
WPBS hosted a screening of West 47th Street and panel discussion event at Jefferson
Community College (in the Jules Center, Amphitheatre, room 6-002). The screening was
conducted in partnership with the Mental Health Association in Jefferson County. For more
information email [email protected]
-5-
Tuesday August 5, 2003
Ephrata, PA
The Ephrata Public Library hosted a screening of West 47th Street as part of their Reality @
Your Library series, a documentary series that has been running since October 2002. Their
mission is to offer the widest variety of educational and informational items to their patrons. The
library is located at 550 South Reading Road. For more information contact Penny Talbert at 717738-9291 or [email protected]
Tuesday August 5, 2003
Boone, NC
Carolina Friendship House, located at 347 Oak Street, hosted a screening and discussion event in
partnership with UNC-TV. For more information email [email protected]
Sunday August 3, 2003
San Diego, CA
The library, located at 820 E Street, San Diego, CA, hosted a screening and discussion event in
partnership with St Vincent de Paul's. For more information email [email protected]
Friday July 25, 2003
Binghamton, NY
WSKG hosted a screening of the film, followed by a discussion which was facilitated by the
Executive Director of The Broome County Recipient Affairs Office, Mr. Anthony Palmitier.
Interstitials were created from this community screening to be shown on television to promote
the August 19th broadcast of West 47th Street. At the end of the discussion, a network of
resources was created by attending agencies and participants and posted on their website for
community use. For more information email [email protected]
Thursday July 24, 2003
Eliot, ME
The William Fogg Public Library, located at 1 Old Road, screened the film to promote further
understanding of a misunderstood population living within their towns and neighborhoods.
Discussion was led by a local mental health worker. For more information email [email protected]
Thursday July 24, 2003
Tulsa, OK
The Crossroads Clubhouse hosted a screening at Westby Cinema, located at 309 E. 2nd Street,
Tulsa, OK. The event served as a "Friend-Raising" event for the Crossroads Clubhouse, a social
and vocational rehabilitation program for adults with serious mental illness. Patrons also met coproducer/director Bill Lichtenstein prior to the film during a reception. The showing was free and
open to the public, with donations to The Clubhouse accepted. The event was co-sponsored by
Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services and National Alliance for
Mental Illness (NAMI) - Oklahoma.
-6-
Lichtenstein Creative Media
One Broadway Cambridge Massachusetts 02142
617-682-3700 Fax: 617-682-3710 [email protected]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 7, 2005
Bill Lichtenstein Named Guggenheim Fellow
President of Multi-Media Company Honored for Work in Radio and Film
CAMBRIDGE – The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation today named Bill Lichtenstein one of this
year’s Guggenheim Fellows. Lichtenstein is president of the Peabody Award-winning Lichtenstein Creative
Media, the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based independent media production company that works in film, TV,
and radio. LCM’s productions, which include the national public radio series, The Infinite Mind, focus on
health, human rights, and other social issues.
Guggenheim Fellows are appointed on the basis of distinguished achievement in the past and exceptional
promise for future accomplishment. The financial awards, which totaled more than $7 million, are intended to
enable gifted and skilled people to work with more creative freedom. Fellowships are presented to professionals
who have demonstrated exceptional ability in the natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, and arts.
In his application, Lichtenstein cited his work-in-progress, Juveniles in Crisis, a groundbreaking documentary
film that focuses on the social welfare of young people in America. The non-profit production will be the first to
collectively examine the nation’s inextricably intertwined juvenile mental health, juvenile justice, education, and
foster care systems, and the impact that each has on the other three. The documentary is for festival and
theatrical release and is slated to air on PBS in 2007.
The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship Awards recently celebrated their 80th anniversary.
Past fellowship recipients include Ansel Adams, Aaron Copeland, Martha Graham, Henry Kissinger, Vladimir
Nabokov, Eudora Welty, Langston Hughes, Isamu Noguchi, Linus Pauling, Paul Samuelson, Philip Roth, Derek
Walcott, James Watson, along with scores of Nobel Laureates, Pulitzer, and other prize winners.
In 2003, Lichtenstein co-produced West 47th Street, an award-winning documentary film, which follows four
people with mental illness over a period of three years. West 47th Street was broadcast nationally on the PBS
and was accompanied by a major educational outreach campaign that involved more than 100 screenings across
the country. The film was winner of “Best Documentary” at the Atlanta Film Festival and the “Audience
Award” at the DC Independent Film Festival. West 47th Street has sold out theatres across the U.S. and
internationally from Vancouver to Dublin to South Korea. It was called "must see" by Newsweek and
"remarkable" by the Washington Post.
The public radio program, The Infinite Mind is hosted by Dr. Peter Kramer and is each week heard by one
million listeners in 240 markets across the nation. Lichtenstein, who produced investigative reports for ABC
News, 20/20, World News Tonight, and Nightline, founded LCM in 1990.
Lichtenstein has been a member of the faculty of the New School for Social Research, in New York City, since
1980, where he has taught courses on investigative reporting for television and documentary filmmaking. His
writings and photography have appeared in such publications as the Nation, Village Voice, New York Daily
News and the Baltimore Sun. Previous honors for Lichtenstein’s work include a George Foster Peabody Award,
TV and radio’s highest honor, a Media Award from the United Nations, eight National Headliner Awards, three
nominations for National News Emmy Awards and four Gracie Awards from American Women in Radio and
Television. Lichtenstein is a graduate of Brown University and Columbia University Graduate School of
Journalism, and resides in Lexington, Mass, with wife June Peoples and daughter Rose. For more on LCM and
The Infinite Mind visit www.LCMedia.com.
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MEDIA CONTACT: Jackie Herskovitz, (617) 269-7171, jackie@teakmedia.
UNITED NATIONS HONORS LICHTENSTEIN CREATIVE MEDIA
AND THE INFINITE MIND FOR PROGRAM EXAMINING "WAR"
June 25, 2004 (New York) Lichtenstein Creative Media was honored by the United Nations for its
program "War: A Special Report," which aired as part of the national, weekly public radio series, The
Infinite Mind.
The UN award was presented as part of this year's International Radio Awards of the New York Festivals
at a ceremony in New York City. Lichtenstein Creative Media swept the New York Festivals by winning a
Grand Award in the Information and Documentary category and a Gold World Medal for the program.
The special broadcast presentation, hosted by veteran broadcast journalist and author John
Hockenberry, presents an insightful and powerful vision of war and how to prevent it, going behind the
headlines to explore the social and psychological underpinnings of war. Guests include Michael Walzer,
an expert on "just" wars; Col. Anthony Hartle, West Point professor of ethics; Steven LeBlanc,
Harvard archeologist; Chris Hedges, New York Times war correspondent and best-selling author; and
William Vendley and William Tolbert of the World Conference of Religions for Peace. The program
also includes a special report on the inherent appeal of recreational war games such as paintball, a
performance of a starkly different "peace anthem" and discussion with anarchist rockers
Chumbawamba, interviews with soldiers who describes the thrill of battlefield conflict ("a part of me
would certainly love to have that feeling again"), and civilians who have survived war.
The UN Award, sponsored jointly by the United Nations Department of Public Information and The
New York Festivals, has been given annually since 1990 in recognition of radio, television and public
service programming that best reflects and exemplifies the values and concerns of the United Nations.
The selection of the award is made by the United Nations Department of Public Information, the
centerpiece of communications in the UN Secretariat. It is headed by the Under-Secretary-General for
Communications and Public Information, reports to the Secretary-General and serves the Secretariat,
agencies and programs of the UN system, delegations, regional organizations, the press, educational
institutions, NGOs, along with the general public.
The program was selected from 495 shows that were submitted to the International Radio Festival and 15
finalists. Runners-up included submissions from National Public Radio the BBC, Canadian Broadcasting
Corporation, ABC News Radio, and Radio Netherlands. Lichtenstein Creative Media also won Best of
Show honors from the New York Festivals for the program, in the Information and Documentary
category.
"War: A Special Report" was produced by Macky Alston and June Peoples, and edited by Greg Seaton.
Executive producer of The Infinite Mind is June Peoples. Senior Executive Producer is Bill Lichtenstein.
Major underwriting for the program was provided by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur
Foundation, the Nonprofit Finance Fund and Auburn Media, a division of the Center for Multifaith
Education at Auburn Seminary. The Infinite Mind is a non-profit production of Lichtenstein Creative
Media in association with WNYC/NY and the New York Foundation for the Arts.
November 15, 2006
Why Savvy CEOs Hang Out in Second Life
Some of business's top guns create their own avatars to explore firsthand the
potential of the online virtual marketplace
Bill Lichtenstein, President and CEO
Lichtenstein Creative Media
Award-winning former producer for 20/20, World News Tonight, and Nightline,
Bill Lichtenstein oversaw the first ever Second Life concert series in August
when his independent production company invited singer Suzanne Vega to
perform and author Kurt Vonnegut to sit down for an interview -- in avatar
form. “This is a new medium where you are able to convey an experience,
rather than just transmit images and information,” he says.
Show's got ideas on the brain
The classic CBS series "M*A*S*H" would have been perceived very differently, it turns out,
if it had been broadcast without its laugh track.
"When you show it to people with the laugh track, which it had on CBS, they see it as light
and sometimes almost silly," says Bill Lichtenstein, creator of the syndicated radio show
"The Infinite Mind."
"When you show it to them without the laugh track, it becomes something very different. It
becomes dark."
The "M*A*S*H" producers also thought the laugh track changed the whole show, but could
only convince CBS to drop it for operating room scenes.
CBS, of course, figured "light and funny" would draw more viewers than "dark," which was true. But then, part of
the subtle genius of "M*A*S*H" is that it worked on multiple levels.
In any case, what's interesting is that researchers would break down the difference a laugh track makes. Reporting
that kind of information is the mission of "The Infinite Mind," which Lichtenstein started in 1998 and for which he
just won a Guggenheim Fellowship.
The show just got a new host, Dr. Peter Kramer, and New Yorkers can check it out on WNYC (820 AM) at 7 a.m.
Sundays. It won't update the Michael Jackson trial, but it can explain why we feel and act the way we do.
Take that laugh business. Turns out 70%-80% of the times that we laugh, it's not because anything was funny. We're
using laughter as a social mechanism to help put someone at ease.
After Sept. 11, "The Infinite Mind" explained why "trauma and tension" debilitated many people to the point where
they lost interest in food or sex.
"When we feel threatened," explains Lichtenstein, "the brain channels all its resources into protection."
Soon after the Iraq war began, "The Infinite Mind" asked this: "If everyone's for peace, why do we always end up at war?"
"We looked at studies that measure people's instinctive response to, for instance, blowing things up," says
Lichtenstein. "People like it. Put the data together and it becomes clear war is driven less by the geopolitical reasons
that are usually cited than by primal needs of man."
As this might suggest, the goal of "The Infinite Mind" isn't to stake out a position and outtalk or outshout anyone
who disagrees. The program seems to have found a place anyway, which is encouraging.
"The model for this show was 'Cosmos,'" says Lichtenstein, referring to the 1980s public television series about the
universe. "We try to make neuroscience entertaining. Maybe someday we'll inspire our own 'Star Wars' or 'Star Trek.'"
Originally published on April 14, 2005
Living Arts.
Saturday, November 5, 2005
By Carol Beggy & Mark Shanahan
In town for yesterday's opening of the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT,
Jane Pauley stopped by the Cambridge studio of Bill Lichtenstein to record a piece on
how she's dealt with bipolar disease.
The interview was for his national radio show ''The Infinite Mind"