From Ken Burns to Rory Kennedy to Louis Gates Jr., PBS has been the home to some of the world’s best filmmakers.  Programs like American Experience, FRONTLINE, American Masters and Independent Lens, feature the very best storytellers who educate and entertain a curious public broadcasting audience. This Spotlight cruise will showcase the writers, directors and producers who produce documentaries, independent features and investigative programs on PBS.  Speakers will share their personal stories about how and when they got into the “film” business, share insights and lessons learned that have been applied to their craft and screen their most recent work via screenings and talk back sessions.  All this while we experience the best of Southeast Asia. 

•       This 12-night itinerary offers travelers access to the very best of PBS filmmakers and storytellers.  Speakers will discuss their latest film or documentary projects with special screenings and talk backs planned.  They will also share their journey as a professional filmmaker; what brought them to filmmaking and how they are navigating the broadcast and streaming world in funding, producing and promoting their future projects.  These presentations will be coupled with celebrations of arts, culture and history courtesy of filmmakers from PBS’ American Experience, American Masters and FRONTLINE.

•       Meet and engage with these experts and their featured guests at panel discussions, presentations, as well as private dinners and cocktail receptions which allow for one-on-one interaction during the unforgettable voyage. 

•       Spotlight programming and events: Beginning with a festive Welcome Reception, guests will have the opportunity to greet speakers and performers in-person, register for fascinating private dinners and hear more about the acclaimed work of public broadcasting entities from America. Lectures and special screenings will be offered on sea days and certain afternoons in port.  Several PBS films will be screened in the Constellation Theater and on 2 broadcast channels in guest cabins.  A special Group Dinner mid-way through the voyage will allow for an exclusive opportunity to meet other passengers with similar interests and also engage closely with speakers and performers following their time on stage. Both a Mid-cruise Reception and a Farewell Reception are also offered during this unique offering.  Additional on-board activities and custom shore excursions will be added soon.

Speakers/Entertainment:

Lois Vossen is the Executive Producer of Independent Lens and has been with the show since its inception as a primetime series on PBS. Lois is responsible for commissioning new films, programming the series and working with filmmakers on editorial and broadcast issues. Independent Lens films have received 17 Emmy Awards, 16 George Foster Peabody Awards, five Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Journalism Awards and eight Academy Award nominations. The series was honored in 2013, 2014, 2015  and 2017 with the International Documentary Association (IDA) Award for Best Series. Before joining ITVS, Lois was the Associate Managing Director of Sundance Film Festival and Sundance Labs. Lois is a member of the Television Academy Board of Governors, representing the documentary branch. She has served on the jury at Shanghai Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, SXSW, DOC New Zealand and Palm Springs International Film Festival, among others. Under her leadership, films funded or presented on Independent Lensinclude I Am Not Your Negro, TOWER, The Force, Newtown, Best of Enemies, The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution, (T)ERROR, The Waiting Room, The House I Live In, The Invisible War, The Trials of Muhammad Ali, God Loves Uganda, Hell and Back Again, Waste Land, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, and The Weather Underground, among many others.

Jeff Dupre – along with production partner Maro Chermayeff – is the Producer and Director of SOUNDBREAKING: STORIES FROM THE CUTTING EDGE OF RECORDED MUSIC, an eight-episode PBS series that explores the art of music recording and its impact on the modern world. The series aired in November 2016 on PBS and was nominated for both an Emmy and a Grammy.  Jeff’s work has earned numerous illustrious honors, establishing him as producer/director with a knack both for managing complex productions and for bringing his subjects to life. He conceived and was the Producer and Co-Director of Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present, a feature documentary on the legendary performance artist that premiered at Sundance in 2012.  The film won an Emmy Award, the George Foster Peabody Award, the Panorama Audience Award at the 2012 Berlinale and the Special Jury Prize at the Sheffield Doc Fest. Jeff directed and produced Kehinde Wiley: An Economy of Grace, that won the Jury Prize for Best Documentary Short at the 2014 SXSW Film Festival. The film was nominated for two Emmy Awards, was shortlisted for an Academy Award nomination and aired on PBS. He was an Executive Producer of Half the Sky, the groundbreaking documentary series and transmedia project based on the bestselling book by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl Wudunn. Together with Show of Force partner Maro Chermayeff, Jeff directed and was executive producer of Circus, a 6-part documentary series that premiered on PBS in November 2010. He was also a producer of Carrier, the Emmy Award-winning ten-part documentary series that premiered on PBS in April 2008 to widespread critical acclaim.  Prior to founding Show of Force, Jeff was a producer of Broadway: The American Musical, a six-part series that premiered on PBS in October 2004.  The series won the 2005 Emmy Award for outstanding nonfiction series. Jeff’s directorial debut, Out of the Past, won the audience award for best documentary at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival. The film, which was broadcast on PBS in October, 1998, also garnered the Audience Award at Outfest ’98 and won the 1998 GLAAD Media Award for Best Documentary.

*Additional speakers to be announced.

To join the group:   Spotlight lectures, dinners, and cocktail parties, all unrivaled experiences – are open to all Regent guests at no extra charge.  Join our “community at sea” by mentioning the group code “SPO” (for Spotlight)  at the time of booking or add this experience to your “On Board Options” via Destination Services to reflect your interest in attending Spotlight on Public Broadcasting events so we can keep you advised of related activities while you are on board.  A programming agenda will be delivered to your suite upon embarkation and exclusive invitations to activities and events will be sent to your suite throughout the journey. You will then have the choice to determine which events to attend or participate.