News from NYC
Teddy: In His Own Words–WINNER of a 2010 Primetime Emmy Award!!!
After being nominated for Outstanding Nonfiction Special and Outstanding Sound Editing for Nonfiction Programming Emmys, the HBO Original Documentary, Teddy: in His Own Words (with original music by Michael Bacon) won the 2010 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Nonfiction Special!
Congratulations to all involved, especially Kunhardt McGee and HBO!
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Homeless: The Motel Kids of Orange County explores the world of children who reside in discounted motels within walking distance of Disneyland, living in limbo as their families struggle to survive in one of the wealthiest regions of America. The parents of motel kids are often hard workers who don’t earn enough to own or rent homes. As a result, they continue to live week-to-week in motels, hoping against hope for an opportunity that might allow them to move up in the O.C.
Directed, filmed, and produced by Alexandra Pelosi. Original score by Michael Bacon.
Airs on HBO:
Monday July 26 at 9 pm
Thursday July 29 at 12:30 am
Saturday July 31 at 1:30pm
Wednesday August 4 at 9 am
Sunday August 8 at 4pm.
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The Buddha premiering Wednesday, April 7 @ 8pm EST only on PBS
Once a man went in search of the meaning of life. What he found in a single moment of a single day would change his life and the world forever.
The Buddha. His life. His journey. His awakening.
Original music by Michael Bacon.
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Faces of America with Henry Louis Gates Jr. on PBS
The series premieres nationally Wednesdays, February 10 – March 3, 2010 from 8-9 p.m. ET!
What made America? What makes us? These two questions are at the heart of the new PBS series Faces of America with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Building on the success of his series African American Lives (called by the New York Times “the most exciting and stirring documentary on any subject to appear on television in a long time,”) and African American Lives 2, Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr. again turns to the latest tools of genealogy and genetics to explore the family histories of 12 renowned Americans.
Original Music by Michael Bacon
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This Emotional Life on PBS in January 2010!
Premiers January 4-6 at 9pm EST
This 3-part series represents what television does best. It opens a window into real lives, exploring ways to improve our social relationships, cope with emotional issues, and become more positive, resilient individuals. Three nights of compelling personal stories and the latest scientific research. Revealing comments from celebrities such as America Ferrera, Larry David, Alanis Morissette, John Leguizamo, Katie Couric and Richard Gere.
Original Music by Michael Bacon.
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Make No Little Plans: Daniel Burnham and the American City Free Public Premier in Chicago’s Millennium Park on September 2, 2009 at 7:30 pm CST
He was a master of detail who saw the big picture. He had the mind of a manger and the heart of an artist. His firm would build more than 500 buildings, a fascinating cross-section of American commerce and culture, including some of the earliest sky scrapers in the world. His work would help redefine the modern city in itself. Yet his greatest legacy may not be what he built, but what he imagined. Classically inspired and often monumental in scale, Daniel Burnham’s work sought to reconcile things often thought opposite: the practical and the ideal, business and art, and capitalism and democracy. At the center of it all was the idea of a vibrant urban community.
Make No Little Plans: Daniel Burnham and the American City, a new documentary film about visionary architect and city planner, Daniel Hudson Burnham (1846-1912). The film’s premiere will be at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Chicago’s Millennium Park on Wednesday, September 2, 2009 at 7:30 PM CST.
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Elbert Hubbard: An American Original on PBS November 23, 2009

His life was an epic tale of love, controversy, and rebellion set against the backdrop of the American Arts and Crafts Movement. Experience the compelling story of Elbert Hubbard: An American Original. Premiers on PBS November 23, 2009 at 10:00 pm EST.
Original music by Michael Bacon.
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Teddy: In His Own Words on HBO July 13, 2009
Teddy: In His Own Words is a documentary about Senator Edward Kennedy being presented exclusively on HBO. The documentary will premiere on Monday July 13 at 9:00 pm and will also broadcast on subsequent dates. Teddy: In His Own Words kicks off the HBO summer series of documentary films.
Original music by Michael Bacon
HBO playdates of Teddy: In His Own WordsThe Kennedy’s on PBS May 18, 2009
This four hour American Experience program that originally aired in 1991 and earned Michael Bacon an Emmy for his original score has been re-cut to three hours and is premiering on PBS on Monday, May 18, 2009 at 9 pm EST as well as Monday May 25 at 12:30 am EST.
The Kennedy’s tells a tale of ambition, wealth, family loyalty and personal tragedy. From Joseph Kennedy’s rise on Wall Street, through John, Robert and Edward’s successes and scandals, the family has left a storied political legacy.
Michael is currently working on an American Experience program about Teddy Kennedy called Teddy: In His Own Words set to premier on HBO sometime in the fall, 2009.
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Boy Interrupted
by Perry Films was accepted into the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and will be showing at film festivals all over the world this spring/summer. Evan Perry, age 15, committed suicide in 2005. This moving, emotional film was directed by his parents, Dana and Hart Perry, award winning filmmakers from NYC. I scored it with a large chamber orchestra, and it is one of the most challenging projects I’ve ever worked on. Boy Interrupted will air on HBO in July 2009. It is also showing at the following film festivals:
Big Sky Documentary Festival – 2/13/09 – 2/22/09
Wed, Feb 18 – 6:45 PM
Philadelphia Film Festival – 3/26/09 – 4/5/09
Sarasota Film Festival - 3/27/09 – 4/5/09
Singapore International Film Festival – 4/14/09 – 4/25/09
Filmfest Muenchen – 6/26/09 – 7/4/09
Bergen International Film Festival (BIFF) – 10/21/09 – 10/28/09
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The Trials of Robert Oppenheimer
was shown on PBS in January. Robert Oppenheimer headed the Manhattan Project that developed the atomic bomb at the end of WW II. Oppenheimer is played by Academy Award Nominee, David Strathairn. It was written and directed by my long time client, David Grubin.
