PBS AMERICAN PORTRAIT
Today, PBS and RadicalMedia announced the launch of PBS AMERICAN PORTRAIT, a national story-telling initiative and multi-platform experience that seeks to define what it really means to be an American today.
AMERICAN PORTRAIT, a project aligned with PBS’s 50th anniversary celebration, is the organization’s most ambitious multi-platform project in its history.
Leveraging the local reach of PBS through its member stations, AMERICAN PORTRAIT presents a mosaic of our country’s diversity, allowing people from all regions to appreciate what we have in common as well as the many differences that make up the American experience. AMERICAN PORTRAIT has immersive interactivity built into its DNA, featuring user-generated content captured through video, photo and text submissions shared directly from everyday people across the United States.
This user-generated, multi-platform project will connect tens of thousands of people across the country, creating a communal voice through individual stories of joy, hardship, triumphs and sorrow. Participants will be able to tell and share their own stories, and see the stories shared by a wide panorama of Americans, united by a series of prompts that will serve as conversation starters, including: “I was raised to believe…,” “The tradition I carry on is…,” “What keeps me up at night is…,” “When I step outside my door…” and “Most days I feel…,” among others.
AMERICAN PORTRAIT begins as a platform for user-generated content participation, and is envisioned to encompass publishing, short form content, classroom engagement, a web miniseries, public art installations, live events and, in January 2021, a nationally televised documentary series on PBS stations.
