Up Close with Providence Pictures
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Gary Glassman on location in Egypt with the Sphinx
“These are props, essentially,” says Gary Glassman, the founder and director of Providence Pictures, who reveals that the intimidating and sturdy Greco-Roman shields are painted snow saucers and sleds. These ‘artifacts’ are used as part of the reenactments for the nonfictions films that Providence Pictures produces for Discovery, the History Channel, PBS, BBC and others. The props contextualize; for their documentary about the Sphinx, Glassman knew they could not build a whole recreation of the ancient creature, but they decided to build the missing nose, in proportion, using ancient tools. This recreation allowed them to show the process as well as the product. Immersion and narrative are perhaps the key tenets of Providence Pictures’ films.
Awarded for ancient programming
The Sphinx was the oldest of the structures and the most recent film Providence Pictures has created in a series that includes The Parthenon and The Cathedrals. The Parthenon won the Writer's Guild Award 2008 for Outstanding Script and was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Science, Technology, and Nature Programming.
Up for two Emmy's on September 26: Cathedral
In their 15 years, Providence Pictures has garnered four Emmy awards, a Writers Guild Award, a Peabody prize among other awards for other acclaimed shows including The Trail of Jesus, Women Pharaohs, and Lost King of Maya.
A small beginning
Glassman founded the small production company in 1996 after working as a video artist in Los Angeles. He and his wife moved briefly to Paris and then when his wife’s job moved them to Providence, the couple moved to Rhode Island. Glassman was in the midst of three shows for Discovery and the Eddy Street offices had a fresh coat of paint of plenty of storage space, which was good enough. Nonetheless, Glassman was unused to a small city. “It took me a while to unpack my bags,” he admitted, “but now I know I am very lucky to get into this new scene.”
Providence Pictures refers to themselves as the David against the Goliath of other production companies. Even though there are other small production companies, they are usually owned by bigger firms. “The drawback is that business is a struggle. We have got to sell to get funding for the next project,” says Glassman, adding with a resigned smile, “I'm amazed were still making films.”
The benefits that come with being small allow for quick decisions. “We are a boutique, it allows us to be nimble, to change direction quickly, and create films with more personality to films as opposed to films created by a committee,” says Glassman, who cites a moment when he learned about an ancient Mayan tomb that would open in Honduras for a short period of time; he met with a network to get funding on Monday, left Providence by 4 AM on Tuesday and arrived in Honduras by 4 PM that day.
Documentaries: neglected no longer
Recounting the story of arriving in enclosed Mayan Tombs fills Glassman with animation, an enthusiasm and excitedly curious tone that he brings to his films. While these nonfiction films are certainly a passion, Glassman says that not everyone finds thrill in this medium: “At the moment, documentary film is often looked at like the ugly stepsister, or rather the poor stepdaughter in entertainment,” he says.
However Providence Picture’s films clearly have a command over their audiences. Glassman says that the typical Providence Pictures production gets six million viewers in its premiere week. “All the stories we tell of the past are a way to look at the present and future,” says Glassman. “Some people have a concept that because we live today, we know more than the Romans and Greeks. But we are dealing with same issues, economic crises, and war. And with the same emotional and intelligence, and the greed, love and lust, we are no different,” he continues, drawing a parallel between the tomb-robbers to stockbrokers robbing the “futures of modern citizens. It may be set in the past, but it's about today.”
Learn more about Providence Pictures at their Web site. Check out the prologue for “Building the Great Cathedrals” here.
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