TV Documentary roundtable: ‘Judy Blume Forever,’ ‘Pamela, a love story,’ ‘Secrets of the Elephants,’ ‘The 1619 Project,’ ‘Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi’ [Exclusive Video Interview]
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The people behind the scenes of the documentaries and nonfiction series at this year’s Emmy Awards sat down with Gold Derby and explain several topics including the first documentary that got their attention and, in the event that they win, what would be their ideal music to play as they make their way to the stage. This was all part of Gold Derby’s Meet the Experts panel on TV Documentaries that included Leah Wolchok (“Judy Blume Forever”), Ryan White (“Pamela, a love story”), Lucinda Axelsson (“Secrets of the Elephants”), Nikole Hannah-Jones (“The 1619 Project”) and Padma Lakshmi (“Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi”).
You can watch the TV documentary group panel above with the people who made these five programs. Click on each person’s name above to be taken to each exclusive interview.
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Wolchok’s love of documentaries came from seeing two films in a documentary film class in college. Those films were D.A. Pennebaker’s 1960 film, “Primary,” and Robert Drew’s 1963 feature, “Crisis.” “Those two films getting inside a primary campaign and inside Washington in a way that just felt so intimate, so personal and so revolutionary. Those two films really opened my eyes and made me want to make documentaries.” Axelsson named the 1994 British short “Three Salons at the Seaside” by Philippa Lowthorpe as the one that stood out for her.
Hannah-Jones remembers the first doc to have an effect on her was the multi-part “Eyes on the Prize” from the late 1980s that centered on the Civil Rights Movement of the 20th century. “I had never seen a documentary about the Black American experience that told that story so thoroughly.” Lakshmi has always loved seeing biographical documentaries and White had his mind blown the first time he saw Agnès Varda’s 2000 film, “The Gleaners and I.”
When it comes to their ideal walk up music, Axelsson says John Barry’s theme to “Born Free” would be perfect. “It’s just so evocative of Africa and the whole sort of concept of animals living their best life in the wild, as they should, without fear of humans and destruction.” Hannah-Jones went a bit more contemporary by choosing “Alright” by Kendrick Lamar. Wolchok selected “Violin Tsunami” by Kishi Bashi since it’s what her son has on repeat all day inside her house. White, appropriately, says that his would be “I’m Always Here” by Jimi Jamison, which served as the theme for “Baywatch.”
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