 | |
| Company type | Privatenon-profit |
|---|---|
| Industry | Television,Film |
| Founded | September 22, 1989; 35 years ago (1989-09-22) |
| Headquarters | , U.S. |
Area served | United States |
Key people | Carrie Lozano,[1]President andCEO |
Number of employees | 65 |
| Website | www |
ITVS (Independent Television Service) is a service in theUnited States which funds and presents documentaries onpublic television through distribution byPBS andAmerican Public Television, new media projects on theInternet, and the weekly seriesIndependent Lens[2] on PBS. Aside from Independent Lens, ITVS funded and produced films for more than 40 television hours per year on the PBS seriesPOV,Frontline,American Masters andAmerican Experience. Some ITVS programs are produced along with organizations likeLatino Public Broadcasting andKQED.
BesidesIndependent Lens, ITVS series includeIndie Lens Storycast onYouTube andWomen of the World withWomen and Girls Lead Global. Prior series includeGlobal Voices (onWorld) andFutureStates.[3]
ITVS is funded by theCorporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), and is based inSan Francisco.
ITVS has funded more than 1,400 films, with an eye on diversity and underrepresented audiences and filmmakers. The organization champions inclusion on the screen and behind the camera: Nearly 70% of ITVS funds go to diverse producers, 50% to women.[4]
ITVS was established through legislation by theUnited States Congress in 1988,[5][6] “to expand the diversity and innovativeness of programming available to public broadcasting,”[7] and began funding new programming via production licensing agreements[8] in 1990. From 2005-2010, it expanded its reach through the creation of the Global Perspectives Project, which facilitated the international exchange of documentary films made by independent producers. In 2017, ITVS was named the recipient of aPeabody Institutional Award for its contributions to storytelling in television; the Peabody board of jurors cited "an accomplished range of work as rich as any broadcaster or funder,"[9] and in the same year the organization learned it was to receive the 2017 Emmy Governors Award chosen by the Television Academy Board of Governors, awarded during the Creative Arts Emmy Awards ceremony on Saturday, September 9, 2017.[10]
ITVS has discovered and nurtured prominent filmmakers, including one of the first films by Oscar-winning directorBarry Jenkins, who made a film.[11] In 2015, ITVS created a new digital journalism initiative[12]
Among the prominent films funded by ITVS:
Since 1999, ITVS has producedIndependent Lens, a weekly television series airing on PBS presenting documentary films made by independent filmmakers. For the first three seasons Independent Lens aired 10 episodes each fall season. In 2002, PBS announced that in 2003 the series would relaunch and expand to 29 primetime episodes a year.
In 2017, ITVS announced Indie Lens Storycast, a free subscription-based docuseries channel on YouTube, co-produced with PBS Digital Studios. Storycast launched in September of that year with docuseriesIron Maidens andThe F Word.[16]
In addition, ITVS produces Indie Lens Pop-Up, formerly Community Cinema, an in-person series that brings people together for film screenings and community-driven conversations, featuring documentaries seen on Independent Lens.[17]
32 ITVS films have won Peabody Awards,[18] includingHow to Survive a Plague by David France; Marco Williams and Whitney Dow’sTwo Towns of Jasper; Leslee Udwin’sIndia’s Daughter; andThe Invisible War by Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering.
ITVS-Supported Peabody Winners
ITVS-Supported News & Documentary Emmy Winners
ITVS-Supported Primetime Emmy Winners[32]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
