American Documentary

Overview

New York, NY – July 13, 2023 – American Documentary (AmDoc), the parent nonprofit media organization of the award-winning PBS series' "POV" and "POV Shorts" announced the promotion of Opal H. Bennett to Executive Producer, POV Shorts and Senior Producer, POV. Bennett joined American Documentary | POV as Producer for POV Shorts in November, 2019 and was named Co-Producer for POV in March, 2021.

In her tenure at POV Shorts, Bennett led the acquisitions of the Emmy®-nominated The Love Bugs; Oscars®-shortlisted A Broken House, Aguilas, Shut up and Paint, andHappiness is £4M; Canadian Screen Awards winner Sing Me a Lullaby, and Call Me Anytime, I’m Not Leaving the House. As POV Shorts' first ever Executive Producer, Bennett plans to grow the number of acquisitions through cultivating a larger presence at key festivals and marketplaces as well as exploring strategic partnerships to bring shorts to new audiences. Bennett will also take greater responsibility as Senior Producer of POV, alongside long-time EP Chris White, for shaping the POV brand as it moves into its next phase.

Bennett 's curatorial and programming work has already received wide acclaim. She has led POV Shorts, the public television series dedicated to short-form nonfiction films, to two wins for "Best Short Form Series" at IDA's annual awards in 2020 and 2022. And the series broadcast the 2021 News & Documentary Emmy winner for Short Documentary, The Love Bugs. POV Shorts will premiere its sixth season on July 25, 2023.

“During her time at American Documentary, Opal has developed and curated one of the most important short documentary strands on television today," said AmDoc's Executive Director and Executive Producer, Erika Dilday. She continued, "Working with the programming and production team, she has forged new partnerships and brought innovative thinking and a sharp curatorial eye to POV. She is an enormous talent and continues to be a major asset to American Documentary.”

“It’s been a privilege to work alongside this dedicated and talented team at American Documentary and I’m so excited to step into these new roles," said Opal H. Bennett. “I’m proud to have been a part of standout seasons at POV and to be advancing POV Shorts into new initiatives. In these challenging times within the documentary landscape, I believe that POV continues to have an essential role to play, and I’m excited to devote my energies to its continued success and vitality.”

Under the leadership of Executive Producers Erika Dilday and Chris White on the POV programming and production team, Bennett oversees the efforts of Coordinating Producer Robert Y. Chang, Associate Producer Kerry LeVielle, Media Coordinators Cayla Clements and Annick Laurent, and Editor Paloma Hernandez.

Prior to joining AmDoc, Bennett was Shorts Programmer and Director of Artist Development at DOC NYC and Senior Programmer at Athena Film Festival. She is a member of the AMPAS Documentary branch and has served as a programmer and jury member for festivals including Aspen ShortsFest, Athena Film Festival, DOC NYC, SxSW and HotDocs. She consults for the March on Washington Film Festival.

More about Opal H. Bennett

Opal H. Bennett is the Emmy-winning Executive Producer at POV Shorts and Senior Producer at POV. Under her curation, POV Shorts won the 2020 and 2022 IDA Award for Best Short Form Series and the series broadcast the 2021 News & Documentary Emmy winner for Short Documentary, The Love Bugs.

Previously, Opal was Shorts Programmer and Director of Artist Development at DOC NYC and Senior Programmer at Athena Film Festival. Prior to that, Opal also worked with Nantucket Film Festival, Aspen ShortsFest, Tribeca Film Festival and consulted for The Gotham (formerly IFP). She is a Programming Consultant for the March on Washington Film Festival. Opal is a member of the AMPAS Documentary branch. She has served on juries for SxSW, HotDocs, Aspen & Palm Springs ShortsFests, Cleveland, Milwaukee and Seattle International Film Festivals and IndieMemphis Film Festival among others. She has also served on the shorts selection committees for Cinema Eye Honors and the IDA. Opal has participated on various selection committees for film programming and grants.

A Columbia Law grad, Opal holds a Masters in Media Studies from the London School of Economics, and received her B.A. from New York University.

About

About POV Shorts

POV Shorts launched in 2018 as one of the first PBS series dedicated to bold and timely short-form documentaries.The series is known for its curation, and for broadcasting award-winning titles, including: Emmy® nominated Earthrise, Water Warriors, The Changing Same, Emmy® winner The Love Bugs and the Oscar® shortlisted A Broken House and Aguilas. It won Best Short Form Series at the IDA Documentary Awards in 2022 and 2020.

About POV

Produced by American Documentary, POV is the longest-running independent documentary showcase on American television. Since 1988, POV has presented films on PBS that capture the full spectrum of the human experience, with a long commitment to centering women and people of color in front of, and behind, the camera. The series is known for introducing generations of viewers to groundbreaking works like Tongues Untied, American Promise, Minding The Gap and Not Going Quietly, and innovative filmmakers including Jonathan Demme, Laura Poitras and Nanfu Wang. In 2018, POV Shorts launched as one of the first PBS series dedicated to bold and timely short-form documentaries. All POV programs are available for streaming concurrent with broadcast on all station-branded PBS platforms, including PBS.org and the PBS App, available on iOS, Android, Roku streaming devices, Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, Samsung Smart TV, Chromecast and VIZIO. For more information about PBS Passport, visit the PBS Passport FAQ website.

POV goes “beyond the broadcast” to bring powerful nonfiction storytelling to viewers wherever they are. Free educational resources accompany every film and a community network of thousands of partners nationwide work with POV to spark dialogue around today’s most pressing issues. POV continues to explore the future of documentary through innovative productions with partners such as The New York Times and The National Film Board of Canada and on platforms including Snapchat and Instagram.

POV films and projects have won 46 Emmy Awards, 27 George Foster Peabody Awards, 15 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards, three Academy Awards® and the first-ever George Polk Documentary Film Award. Learn more at pbs.org/pov and follow @povdocs on social media.

About American Documentary, Inc.

American Documentary, Inc. (AmDoc) is a multimedia company dedicated to creating, identifying and presenting contemporary stories that express opinions and perspectives rarely featured in mainstream media outlets. AmDoc is a catalyst for public culture, developing collaborative strategic engagement activities around socially relevant content on television, online and in community settings. These activities are designed to trigger action, from dialogue and feedback to educational opportunities and community participation.

Major funding for POV is provided by PBS, the Open Society Foundations, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Wyncote Foundation, Reva & David Logan Foundation, Park Foundation, and Perspective Fund. Additional funding comes from the National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, the Chasing the Dream and Peril and Promise public media initiatives of The WNET Group, Chris and Nancy Plaut, Ann Tenenbaum and Thomas H. Lee and public television viewers. POV is presented by a consortium of public television stations, including KQED San Francisco, WGBH Boston and THIRTEEN in association with WNET.ORG.