The Connecticut Experience Series
Since 1989, Jeremy Brecher has served as Humanities Scholar-in-Residence at Connecticut Public Television and Radio, a position supported by the Connecticut Humanities Council. His primary responsibility has been the development of the CPTV series The Connecticut Experience. In 1995 The Connecticut Experience won the Federation of State Humanities Council’s Schwartz Prize as the “best state council-conducted project in the nation.” The Schwartz Prize Committee called the series:
“A superb example of Council-conducted initiative, joining the best talents of the Council with those of the television profession to produce programs of prize-winning quality and broad appeal. In addition to the triumph in media-program administration, by using the humanities to illuminate specific, complex issues currently confronting the state, it produced the most comprehensive and effective contribution, by any council project we know of, to the self-definition of the state.”
The Connecticut Experience series has included the following programs:
AFRICAN AMERICANS IN CONNECTICUT: CIVIL WAR TO CIVIL RIGHTS, 2000 documentary on black history. Brecher served as co-writer.
AFRICAN AMERICANS IN CONNECTICUT: THE COLONIAL ERA TO THE CIVIL WAR, 1998 documentary on black history. Brecher served as writer.
- Cine Golden Eagle Award, 1999
- Iris Award Nomination, National Association of Television Programming Executives, 1999
SCHOOLS GOOD ENOUGH FOR ALL, 1999 documentary on history of education
SUBURBIA, 1997 documentary on Connecticut suburbs.
COLT’S EMPIRE, 1997 documentary on Samuel Colt.
- Emmy Nomination, Best Cultural Affairs Program, 1997
PUERTO RICAN PASSAGES, 1995 documentary on Connecticut Puerto Ricans.
- Winner, National Cine Golden Eagle Award
- Nominated for “Outstanding Made-For-Television Documentary,” National Council of La Raza Bravo Awards, 1996.
- Nominated for three Emmy awards, National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, Boston/New England, 1994.
- Telly Award
AS WE TELL OUR STORIES, 1994 documentary on Connecticut Indians.
- Emmy Award, Best Cultural Affairs Program, National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, Boston/New England, 1994.
THE ROOTS OF ROE, 1994 documentary history of contraception and abortion, broadcast nationally by PBS in 1997. Brecher served as writer and received two Emmy Awards and the Edgar Dale Screenwriting Award. The program has won more than 20 awards, including:
- The New York International Festivals, Finalist, Documentary/History & Society, 1995
- EEN Local Program Awards, Honorable Mention, Documentary, 1995
- Emmy Award, Writing, National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, Boston/New England, 1994
- Emmy Award, Documentary, National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, Boston/New England, 1994
- Emmy Award, Directing, National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, Boston/New England, 1994
- Cine Golden Eagle Winner, (International) Documentary, 1994
- Philadelphia International Film Festival, Finalist, Documentary, 1994
- Chicago International Film Festival, Certificate of Merit, Documentary/History, 1994
- Houston International Film & Video Festival, Gold, Women’s issues, 1994
- U.S.A. Film Festival, Finalist, Documentary, 1994
- New York Expo of Short Film & Video, Special Jury Award, Documentary, 1994
- Connecticut Associated Press, Best Feature, 1994
- Connecticut Vision Awards Gold Award for Documentary
- James A. Brady Script Doctor Gold Award for Scriptwriting, Connecticut Vision Awards, 1996
- Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Silver, Documentary, 1994
- U.S. International Film and Video Festival, Second Place “Silver Screen Award,” History, Biography, 1995
- The Nancy Susan Reynolds Award, The Media Project, finalist, 1997
- Gold Award, WorldFest-Charleston International Film Festival, 1997
BETWEEN BOSTON AND NEW YORK, 1992 documentary on Connecticut identity.
- Emmy Award, Best Public Affairs Special, National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, Boston/New England, 1993.
- Best Program – Cultural Affairs, Eastern Educational Network
Other CPTV Documentaries
SCHOOLS IN BLACK AND WHITE, documentary on segregation in public schools. Brecher served as writer.
- Emmy Nomination, National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, Boston/New England 1991.
RUST VALLEY, a documentary on responses to plant closings and deindustrialization in the Naugatuck Valley. Brecher served as writer.
BRASS CITY MUSIC, documentary on ethnic music in Waterbury, Connecticut. Brecher served as co-producer and writer.
GENERAL ASSEMBLY, documentary on the history of the Connecticut legislature.
Independent Video Productions
LOOP DREAMS, 2001 documentary on the making of a low-budget feature film. Brecher served as co-writer.
GLOBAL VILLAGE OR GLOBAL PILLAGE?, 2000 documentary on grassroots response to globalization. Brecher served as producer and writer.
ELECTRONIC ROAD FILM: AN AMERICAN ODYSSEY, 1996 documentary on national commonalties and diversities. Brecher co-authored the script and received an Emmy for “Outstanding Individual Achievement-Program Writing.” The program’s awards include:
- WorldFest Charleston, Gold Award, Travelogue, 1996.
- Emmy Award, Outstanding Entertainment Program, National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, Boston/New England, 1996.
- Emmy Award, Outstanding Individual Achievement-Program Writing, National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, Boston/New England 1996.
- New York International Independent Film & Video Festival, Documentary, 1997.
- Telluride Independent Film & Screenwriters Festival, Documentary, 1997.
- Columbus International Film & Video Festival, Science/Technology/Travel, Honorable Mention, 1996.
- Intercom, Certificate of Merit, Travel and Transportation, 1996.
- New Haven Film Festival, Documentary, 1997.
- Connecticut Vision Awards, Documentary, 1997.
THE AMISTAD REVOLT, 1995 documentary on the Amistad incident. Brecher wrote the script.
- American Bar Association Silver Gavel Award, 1997.
- Three Emmy Nominations, including “Outstanding Program Writing” for Brecher, by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, Boston/New England, 1995.
- Silver Hugo Award, INTERCOM (International Communication Film and Video Festival, Chicago, Illinois), 1996.
- Honorable Mention, Columbus International Film and video Festival, 1996.
DANCE ON THE WIND, the story of Eno Washington, an African-American dancer, and how he discovered the African roots of black American vernacular dance. Distributed by Cinema Guild. Brecher served as writer and part of the production team. Distributed by Cinema Guild.
- Winner, Connecticut Film and Video Competition, 1992
- New England Film & Video Festival, Judges’ Special Merit Award
BRASS VALLEY, documentary on history of Naugatuck Valley brass workers, distributed by Cinema Guild.
Radio
REMEMBERING CONNECTICUT, a series of more than 80 short, interview-based programs on aspects of Connecticut history. Researched, written, and hosted by Brecher and broadcast on Connecticut Public Radio. The Oral History Review called this series “One of the most ambitious, and certainly the longest-running, radio history series in the United States . . . Historically grounded to a degree rare in programming of this sort . . . Accesible, engaging, and far ranging.”
BRASS CITY MUSIC, a series of 13 half-hour programs on the multicultural musical heritage of Waterbury researched, written, and hosted by Brecher.
Audiotape
Connecticut Freedom Trail: The story of the struggle for freedom, justice and equality in Connecticut from 1600 to 1947, boxed audiotape set written by Jeremy Brecher (with Frank Mitchell).