A GREAT STORY, WELL TOLD

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When you peel away the intricatelayers of a memorable PBS docu-mentary, what you often find is asimple concept. A great story, welltold. “When we get it right, it’sabout the story and the character. Itdoesn’t matter how long you were inthe field, how many interviews yougathered, if it was high-def…it’s allfor nought if you don’t have thatfundamental underpinning,” saysJohn Wilson, PBS senior VP andchief TV programming executive.

With a growing on-air and onlinepresence of 124 million viewers amonth, PBS is ever-conscious of itsaudience’s expectation for highquality programming. “We don’tdumb it down to the lowest commondenominator,” says Wilson with

Rick Sebak crafts his newest PBS documentary with laughter,enthusiasm and surprise. By Cally Jamis Vennare

IMAGES COURTESY OF WQED PITTSBURGH

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pride. “We really do adhere to theprinciples of fairness and accuracy[by] approaching the subject withan open mind and respecting theviewers’ intelligence.”

After seven locally-produced doc-umentaries and years of being “verynicely turned down,” filmmaker RickSebak finally piqued PBS’ interestwith Pennsylvania Diners and OtherRoadside Restaurants (1993). Sincethat first moment of PBS glory, thisveteran writer, producer and talentfrom Pittsburgh’s WQED (one ofPBS’ 356 member stations) has suc-cessfully produced 14 national PBSdocumentaries. His newest,Breakfast Special, airs this spring.

The making of a PBS documen-tary involves months of planningand precise, efficient execution. Itbegins quite simply enough with a

series of ideas—some brand new,others slightly re-crafted for recon-sideration. Such was the case withBreakfast Special, which was origi-nally conceived years ago asBreakfast Anytime.

After tweaking his original break-fast concept, Sebak confidentlyadded it to his “laundry list of ideas”and headed to Washington, D.C. forthe all important meetings with PBSand the Corporation for PublicBroadcasting (CPB).

Is the market more competitive

than ever? “It’s invisible competi-tion,” explains Sebak, who is now aknown commodity at PBS. “I’m com-peting with myself to come up withsomething good enough that theysay yes.”

Working in Sebak’s favor is thefact that his documentaries are rela-tively low-cost in comparison to themillion dollar budgets associatedwith many PBS specials. At$300,000, Sebak considers his budg-et to be at the “high end of low” fora documentary that will be precisely56 minutes and 46 seconds long.

He prefers to work with a smallproduction team of no more thanfour individuals—the writer/produc-er/narrator (Sebak), a camera per-son and a sound person. If the budg-et allows, Sebak adds an associateproducer. The timeline from start to

finish: 6-9 months. The mode ofcross-country transportation: aWQED van. “We’re like a rockband!” Sebak says. “Out for a while,come back, rest and go out again.”

Our first interview takes place(over breakfast of course) at one ofSebak’s initial location shoots—theSquare Café in Pittsburgh. YetSebak is still choosing the remain-ing spots for Breakfast Special. PBSdemands “geographic diversity” sohe will eventually travel to 14 othernational destinations. At the

moment, he is strongly consideringDetroit, Charleston and evenHawaii, where he is anxious to re-experience Loco Moco, a savorybreakfast featuring a bowl of ricewith hamburger, gravy and eggs ontop. The eclectic nature of this dishreminds me of my own favoritebreakfast treat: Huevos Motuleñosat Santa Fe’s Café Pasquale. Not sur-prisingly, both the dish and the spotare already on his hit list.

Since Sebak’s budget lacks dollarsfor location scouting, he often takescues from friends and, increasingly,fans that follow him online. Socialmedia gives Sebak an opportunityfor interactive dialogue with hisgrowing fan base. To date, almost100 recommendations have surfacedas possible Breakfast Special desti-nations through his Facebook page

and his blog, “A Breakfast Blog.”Is there anything that Sebak does-

n’t like about his job? The long daysof traveling? The extensive hours ofshooting? The lengthy editingprocess of taking hours and hours ofvideo down to only 56:46? “I love itall!” he says with enthusiasm. “But Iparticularly love being surprised. Iwant to share the pure joy that weall get learning this stuff. That’salways my goal: to capture someaspect of that unexpected momentso the viewer can be surprised too.”

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To order any of

Rick Sebak’sshows, visit

shopwqed.org

HIS EYES TWINKLE. HIS FACE RADIATESWITH PASSION AND EXCITEMENT. HEDRAWS YOU IN AND, BEFORE YOU KNOWIT, HE’S SHARING STORIES ABOUT FOOD,FAMILY AND FRIENDS.

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