THE FILM
Virginia Lee Burton: A
Sense of Place is a 1-hour
documentary film that explores the life and
art of Virginia Lee Burton. Considered to be a “Renaissance woman,” Burton was
an innovative children’s book author/illustrator, a visionary textile designer
who also painted, and sculpted in granite, marble and wood. Her art and
literature remain an enduring part of America’s cultural heritage.
The film project provides
viewers access to a treasure-trove of archival materials, never-before seen
photographs, personal documents, sketchbooks and original manuscripts, which
were used in telling the story of the life and art of Virginia Lee Burton. This
finely wrought film includes intimate interviews with family and friends and
takes the viewer to places on Cape Ann that inspired Jinnee, including her home
and studio, Folly Cove, Gloucester Harbor and the shores of the Atlantic Ocean.
To purchase a copy of Virginia Lee Burton: A Sense of Place, please see the order information at the bottom of this page.
“Virginia Lee Burton was the most important woman to
create picture books for children in the 20th Century. Now we have a
meticulously-crafted documentary of this remarkable woman, showing how her
personal and artistic lives intersect. Anyone who loves Mike Mulligan and
His Steam Shovel and
The Little House
will be fascinated by the creative genius behind these books.”
Anita Silvey, author 100 Best Books for Children
“Virginia Lee Burton is revealed in all her glorious
aspects in this wonderful documentary: master storyteller, brilliant artist,
innovative designer and lovingmother. What emerges most clearly about Burton, in
addition to her uncompromising artistic integrity, is her unquenchable joie
de vivre. This
program should be required viewing for every classroom.”
Betsy
Groban, Vice President and Publisher, Houghton Mifflin & Company
“This engaging documentary
provides an exquisite and sophisticated tapestry of the life and career of
Virginia Lee Burton. The rich visual narrative is poignantly complemented by
the wonderful array of personal reminiscences. From the purposeful insights of
2nd graders to the interpretations of noted scholars, there is a
multi-valence and gravitas that does full justice to children’s books and
illustration through the lens of one of the genre’s Promethean pioneers in
America.”
H. Nichols B. Clark,
Founding Director, The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, Amherst, MA
"Virginia Lee Burton: A Sense of Place is a treasure the filmmakers have made available for all to see."
Robert Gardner, Ethnographic filmmaker/author, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
THE PRODUCTION TEAM
CHRISTINE LUNDBERG, Executive Producer/Producer
Ms. Lundberg has been
active in cultural arts media for over twenty years. Prior to founding RED DORY PRODUCTIONS, LLC in 2002, she was
Corporate Vice-President of Public Media Incorporated [PMI], a worldwide
multimedia distribution company based in Chicago, Illinois. In this capacity,
she was involved with acquisitions and development for PBS and cable
programming where PMI was a co-producer/distributor. Among the major series she
worked on are: The Face of Russia, with
Librarian of Congress, James Billington [WETA, Washington DC PBS]; Heritage:
Civilization and the Jews [WNET,
New York PBS]; The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money and Power based on Daniel Yergin’s Pulitzer Prize-winning
book [WGBH, Boston PBS]; and Vietnam: A Television History, based on the award-winning book by Stanley
Karnow [WGBH].
Prior to serving as
Vice-President of PMI, Ms. Lundberg was Executive Director of Home Vision Entertainment, PMI’s arm for fine arts and special interest
programming. She oversaw sales, marketing and acquisitions. Working closely
with major cultural institutions and special interest groups, she helped to
pioneer new channels of distribution for cultural arts programming. In 1990,
she was invited to join the Rockefeller Foundation Task Force on Independent
Film and Video Production and Distribution. The recommendations of the task
force created National Video Resources which is now know as Renew Media.
Christine Lundberg is a
graduate of Northwestern University. She received her Ph.D. from the School of
Communications in 1982.
RAWN FULTON, Filmmaker
Rawn Fulton is President
of SEARCHLIGHT FILMS,
Bernardston, MA. He is an award-winning filmmaker and editor with more that
thirty years of experience in all aspects of film and video production.
Utilizing the technical, aesthetic and humanistic potential of these mediums,
he has worked on environmental, corporate, educational, artistic and visionary
productions.
He has created
documentaries on a wide range of subjects e.g. world population and the
environment [Sustainable Loves, Attainable Dreams], traditions of American agriculture [Root Hog
or Die], tribal village life in
India [Sun River],
educational institutions [Eaglebrook School, Wooster School, The Masters
School, Hoosac School], drug
addiction [Choosing Success, Straight Talk], ancient cultures [Ancient Egypt, Twice Upon
a Caravan, The Shadow of Another Man], philosophical and poetic texts [Voltaire-Jefferson, Louise
Nevelson: Geometry + Magic, Illuminated Manuscripts] and international good will and cultural exchange
[Beijing Diary, Cuba Chronicle, Crossroads Italy—for the Boys Club of New York] and author
profiles [Eric Carle: Picture Writer—winner of the Carnegie Gold Medal for Excellence, and Patricia
Polacco: Dream-Keeper]. Mr. Fulton’s complete filmography is available upon request.
Rawn Fulton is a graduate
of Columbia University (B.A., French,1968), after which he spent two years in India with the Peace Corps.
STEVEN SCHOENBERG, Music
Steven Schoenberg is an accomplished and dynamic composer/pianist whose talents cross into musical theater, classical compositions, film scoring, and solo improvisational piano performances. His acclaimed recordings, Pianoworks and Three Days in May, are now available on CD. Schoenberg regularly performs improvisational piano concerts and has appeared at Weill Recital Hall and at concert halls throughout the United States.
His recent TV scores include the documentaries A Class Apart, for the 2008 PBS series American Experience, and Farmingville, which opened the 2005 PBS series POV. Farmingville took home the Special Jury Award from the Sundance Film Festival. Schoenberg has scored numerous Emmy award-winning films for other PBS series including NOVA and Smithsonian World. For children’s television, he has composed songs for Sesame Street and scored films for ZOOM and the Children's Television Workshop. Other children’s projects include composing music for the award-winning book and CD My Bodyworks, written by his wife, Jane Schoenberg. For more information please visit: www.learnwithabeat.com/
LINDSAY CROUSE, Narrator
Lindsay gives life to
Virginia Lee Burton’s words. Since childhood, she has spent summers on Cape Ann
and, as a teenager, she knew some of the Folly Cove Designers who taught her
how to do block printing. In return, she fringed placemats, tablecloths and
napkins.
In 1984, Lindsay was nominated
for an Academy Award for her performance in Places in the Heart . She is
known to audiences for her work in such films as All the President’s Men,
Slap Shot, House of Games and The
Insider, among others.
Virginia Lee Burton: A
Sense of Place is produced by Red Dory Productions, Gloucester, MA in partnership with Searchlight Films, Bernardston, MA. © 2007, Red
Dory Productions & Searchlight Films. All
rights reserved.
To purchase Virginia Lee
Burton: A Sense of Place on DVD:
For the 1 hour Public Broadcasting version, click on:
http://www.amazon.com/Virgina-Burton-Sense-Of-Place/
For the 1/2 hour Educational
Public Performance (Classroom) version, click on:
Weston Woods Studios. |
