UNC-TV Presents…
NORTH CAROLINA’S WORLD WAR II EXPERIENCE
Two-Hour Original Production Honors North Carolina's "Greatest Generation"

On Tuesday, December 7, 2010, at 8 PM, UNC-TV honors North Carolina's "Greatest Generation" with the premiere of the two-hour documentary event, NORTH CAROLINA's WWII EXPERIENCE. Through a remarkable array of revealing personal accounts from local veterans and civilians, this UNC-TV original production stands as a moving testament to those North Carolinians who served and sacrificed during the Second World War. From the home front, where camps and bases sprang up across the state and Nazi U-boats targeted merchant ships off the Outer Banks, to the battle fronts of North Africa, Europe and the Pacific, NORTH CAROLINA’S WORLD WAR II EXPERIENCE weaves together personal stories with stunning archival footage, photographs and newspaper headlines.

"This was the most complicated story I've ever tried to tell, said NORTH CAROLINA’S WORLD WAR II EXPERIENCE director, Scott Davis. “We not only describe how North Carolinians experienced the war on the home front, we also relate the combat stories of ten Tar Heel veterans who served in Europe and the Pacific.”

Between Veteran’s Day on November 11, and the documentary’s Pearl Harbor Day premiere on December 7, audiences and media can get an exclusive online sneak peek at one of 20 “Acts” making up NORTH CAROLINA’S WORLD WAR II EXPERIENCE by visiting UNC-TV’s Facebook (facebook.com/unctv) and YouTube presences (youtube.com/exploreunctv). Those taking advantage of this exclusive first-look at the documentary are also welcome to provide feedback and commentary on both social networks, as well as on Twitter (twitter.com/unctv) using the hashtag: #unctvwwii. Audiences and Media can access documentary stills and archival imagery at UNC-TV’s NORTH CAROLINA’S WORLD WAR II EXPERIENCE Flickr collection.

As an added bonus, audiences can own “the experience” with a tax-deductible contribution to UNC-TV of $60, simply by visiting unctv.org/wwii or by calling 1-888-292-7070.

Major funding provided by Robert D. Teer, Jr., John Bratton, Jr. and Michelle Bratton, and UHS-Pruitt Corporation. Additional funding provided by Wayne J. Griffin Electric, Inc., W.M. Kirby Foundation, Fentress Architects, Mary Duke Biddle Foundation, O'Brien/Atkins Associates, Dale and Glenna Blann, David and Sheila Groves, and The American Legion (Department of North Carolina). A complete list of donors is available at unctv.org. For more information about NORTH CAROLINA’S WORLD WAR II EXPERIENCE, please visit unctv.org/wwii. As North Carolina’s only statewide television network, made possible through a unique partnership of public investment and private support, UNC-TV remains committed to producing and broadcasting programs for and about North Carolina.

NORTH CAROLINA’S WORLD WAR II EXPERIENCE BIOS

Brenda Hughes - Producer

Brenda Hughes is the producer and co-writer of UNC-TV's NORTH CAROLINA’S WORLD WAR II EXPERIENCE, a two hour public television documentary that focuses on North Carolina's role in the Second World War. Told through the personal accounts of 25 veterans and home front civilians, the documentary pays tribute to the service, sacrifice and commitment of North Carolinians who participated in America's victory over German and Japanese aggression.

A former news anchor/reporter at NBC affiliates in Washington, NC and Richmond, VA, Brenda Hughes began her broadcast career working with Jefferson Pilot Teleproductions as one of the first female sports reporters in the Southeast. Her first two documentaries, Thank You, Eddie Hart (an independent production) and Sing Behind the Plow  (produced for UNC-TV) both won regional Emmys.  Her latest independent documentary, Marching Once More, about veterans of the Battle of the Bulge who return to the battlefield 60 years later, will be broadcast on UNC-TV in January 2011. Brenda is a graduate of Meredith College and holds an MS from East Carolina University where she was named one of 100 Incredible ECU Women in 2007.

NORTH CAROLINA’S WORLD WAR II EXPERIENCE
Thoughts about the experience of making the documentary, by Brenda Hughes

On my connection to the era:
”The World War II generation is my parents’ generation so I felt a strong connection to the times and the people we interviewed who, in many cases, were just like the neighbors I grew up with.  It is such an honor to be able to help tell their stories – there will never be another generation like this one and we owe them so much.”

On what I learned from the project:
“Being a native North Carolinian, it was so exciting to delve into the history of this state and realize how all-encompassing the war effort was.  People from every corner rallied to do their part.  For example, it made me so proud that the textile mill in my little hometown of Swannanoa made blankets for the Army and that ladies I knew had knitted hats and scarves for soldiers overseas.  I’m a strong believer that we must learn from history.  So, having the opportunity to hear stories about World War II from people all across North Carolina deepened my appreciation for the price that has been paid for our freedom and the generation that paid it.  I’m not sure we could do it today but if they hadn’t rallied to fight against the Nazi machine, there is no telling what the world would look like today.  When you hear about the carnage on the beaches of Iwo Jima, about careening out of an airplane into the darkness over Normandy – bullets flying all around – and about a Burlington mother burying her only son,  it really hits home that we have so very much to be thankful for.”

On our interviewees and what impressed me about them:

“These are down to earth North Carolinians - simple, hard working, not expecting anything in return, honest and sincere.  That’s the way they told their stories.  In this reality crazed star-driven world we live in, these are the true reality stars – people who lived through such tough times – the depression, the war – and survived with their spirits and resilience intact.  The country and our world is so much better because of them and what they did in the name of freedom.”

Scott H. Davis – Director and Editor

Scott H. Davis is the director, editor, co-writer and executive producer of NORTH CAROLINA’S WORLD WAR II EXPERIENCE, a UNC-TV public television documentary that focuses on North Carolina's role in the Second World War.

Scott's career spans more than 30 years in public broadcasting. He has worked as a producer and director for public television stations and networks in California, New York, Ohio, Maryland and North Carolina. He is currently Executive Producer for External Productions at UNC-TV, North Carolina's statewide public television network, where he develops projects with independent producers and partnering organizations.

Scott was the founding Executive Producer for North Carolina NOW and has produced several documentaries for UNC-TV, including a series of programs on special exhibitions at the North Carolina Museum of Art and Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University.

He has received several awards for his work, including two Parents’ Choice Awards and six Emmy Awards.

Lisa Waldo – Associate Producer

Lisa Waldo is the associate producer of NORTH CAROLINA’S WORLD WAR II EXPERIENCE. After attending the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University where she completed a short film on the Women’s Prison Repertory Company, Lisa joined the staff of UNC-TV where she served as the associate producer of Our State and North Carolina’s WWII Experience.

Mike Urben – Narrator

Mike has been a voice-over performer for thirty years on radio and television commercials as well as for corporate audio-visual presentations, having recorded nearly a thousand projects for companies such as Glaxo Smith-Kline, IBM, Martin Marietta, Raytheon, Golden Corral, Hitachi and many more. He was a disc jockey for many years before becoming a full-time radio commercial producer.

Mike has also narrated numerous special programs produced by UNC-TV, including Sing Behind the Plow, Monet in Normandy and El Greco to Velazquez: Art during the Reign of Philip III.

Mike and his wife Renee live in Cary and have three children between the ages of 16 and 23.

Fred Story – Composer

Fred Story began his broadcasting career in 1972 as a disc jockey at his hometown radio station in Erwin, Tennessee.  He continued to work in radio while studying music education in college, and remained in broadcasting for 18 years.

In 1981, Fred moved to Charlotte, North Carolina to work for Jefferson-Pilot Broadcasting.  He began composing for TV and advertising in 1982 after being given the opportunity to write the theme for a television pilot.  Although the show never got off the ground, the producer began referring Fred for other scoring jobs and the phone started to ring.  During this time, he studied composition for seven years with Ziggy Hurwitz, famous for his work with artists as diverse as Woody Herman and the London Symphony Orchestra.  By 1990, the scoring work became so plentiful that Fred left broadcasting to become a full time composer.

Today, Concentrix Music and Sound Design employs 4 composers, a full time sound designer and production support staff, with Fred at the helm as President and Creative Director.   

Fred’s list of composer credits for television and film is lengthy.  Among the many awards he has received are four Emmy Awards, three Telly Awards, a New York Festivals Gold Award, numerous Addy Awards, and dozens of Silver Microphone Awards.

Throughout his career, one force has driven Fred more than any other…passion.  Not only his passion for writing music, but for applying his craft to strengthen the story, enhance the emotion, and make the end result more compelling. 

—UNC-TV—