Contact: POV Communications: 212-989-7425. Cathy Fisher, [email protected], Amanda Nguyen, [email protected] POV online pressroom: www.pbs.org/pov/pressroom
POV’s ‘Koch’ Is a Fascinating Portrait of the Larger-Than-Life New York City Mayor, Airing Monday, Sept. 22, 2014 on PBS
An Inside Portrait of the Man and the City at a Time of Crisis and Re-invention.
“Thrilling. . . . A mayor and a metropolis linked by tumultuous events in the worst and best of times.” —Joe Morgenstern, The Wall Street Journal
MEDIA ALERT – FACT SHEET
National Dates: Neil Barsky’s Koch has its national broadcast premiere on Monday, Sept. 22, 2014 at 10 p.m. on PBS (check local listings) as part of the 27th season of POV (Point of View), American television’s longest-running independent documentary series. The film will stream on POV’s website, www.pbs.org/pov/koch/ from Sept. 23, 2014 – Oct. 22, 2014.
The Film: New York City mayors have a world stage on which to strut, and they have made legendary use of it. Yet few have matched the bravado, combativeness and egocentricity that Ed Koch brought to the office during his three terms from 1978 to 1989. As Neil Barsky's Koch recounts, Koch was more than the blunt, funny man New Yorkers either loved or hated. Elected in the 1970s during the city's fiscal crisis, he was a new Democrat for the dawning Reagan era—fiscally conservative and socially liberal. Koch finds the former mayor politically active to the end (he died in 2013)—still winning the affection of many New Yorkers while driving others to distraction.
Koch is a Zeitgeist Films Release.
Embed a trailer, download press materials and learn more at www.pbs.org/pressroom.
Online: POV's website for Koch – http://www.pbs.org/pov/koch/ – offers a broad range of exclusive online content to enhance the PBS broadcast. Watch the full film online for free for a limited time following the broadcast (Sept. 23, 2014 – Oct. 22, 2014), learn from the filmmakers in an extended video interview, view photos from the film, download a discussion guide and other viewing resources, and find out what's happened since the cameras stopped rolling.
Filmmaker Statement: “Making a documentary about Ed Koch was an easy call,” says Neil Barsky. “To this day, I cannot think of a New Yorker as popular or as polarizing. Ed Koch’s story is in many ways the story of the city.
“I was born in the Bronx in 1958 and my family moved to the suburbs when I was 4. When I returned to the city to attend the Walden School on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, I was like a freed bird. New York in those days was dangerous, dirty and utterly dysfunctional; it was also magical. For most of Koch’s mayoralty, I was either a student or a young reporter,
1 of 3 and I would have given a kidney to cover City Hall for one of the city’s major newspapers. It was not to be, and on some level this film is my way of making up for the lost opportunity.
“Koch proved a perfectly complex character. He was funny and he could be a bully; he was charming and also narcissistic. He had a much-speculated-about private life, and he didn’t mind if you asked about it, so long as you didn’t mind being told to mind your own business. He was a man surrounded by friends and admirers, and he was a man alone.
“From World War II and until only recently, it was almost an article of faith that the United States’ big northern cities only deteriorated; they could never get better. Somehow, New York City defied that trend, and it did so, I think, because it kept itself open—to immigrants, to business, to artists and poets. In my view, the very imperfect Ed Koch intuitively understood what made New York special, and I believe he is as responsible for the New York City of today as anyone alive.”
Filmmaker Bio: Neil Barsky (Director) Koch is Neil Barsky’s first documentary. He is currently the chairman and founder of The Marshall Project, a nonprofit journalism enterprise dedicated to covering the U.S. criminal justice system. Barsky began his career as a newspaper reporter, covering real estate and economic development for the New York Daily News and The Wall Street Journal. He subsequently became a Wall Street analyst and hedge fund manager. Barsky is a graduate of Oberlin College and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He sits on the board of trustees of Oberlin College and the board of directors of the writing program Youth Communication and is chair of the Columbia Journalism Review board of overseers.
Related Stories: “Build Big, Bill,” by Edward Glaeser,” New York Daily News, Aug. 24, 2014. http://nydn.us/1vKVUdy
“Cities deploy fakery techniques to cover up urban blight,” by Elise Young, Bloomberg News, July 4, 2014. http://bit.ly/W3ASL9
“The Golden Age of Graffiti,” by Norman Borden, Chelsea Now, July 3, 2014. http://bit.ly/1qYbGBg
“Occupy the LIRR strike,” by Post Editorial Board, New York Post, July 3, 2014. http://bit.ly/1sTBlKK
“Spike Lee takes swipe at Ed Koch during ‘Do the Right Thing’ screening in Brooklyn,” by Caitlan Nolan, New York Daily News, June 29, 2014. http://nydn.us/1mBAGgf
“New York rent hearings grow rancorous with freeze under consideration,” by Tina Susman, The Los Angeles Times, June 22, 2014. http://lat.ms/U4bnYB
“Affordable housing coalition asks mayor for more NYCHA apartments for homeless families,” by Erin Durkin, New York Daily News, June 19, 2014. http://nydn.us/1tIgnm9
“Chill Out, 1 Percenters,” by Neil Barsky, The New York Times, Nov. 15, 2013. http://nyti.ms/Xdbgva
“Koch willed secretary $100,000 from $10 million estate,” by Sam Roberts, The New York Times, March 11, 2013. http://nyti.ms/1sj5xg9
2 of 3 “Edward I. Koch, a Mayor as Brash, Shrewd and Colorful as the City He Led, Dies at 88,” by Robert D. McFadden, The New York Times, Feb. 1, 2013. http://nyti.ms/U9vTaC
Outreach: POV works with educators, public television stations and national and community groups to present more than 650 free screenings nationwide. In addition, POV and nationally recognized media educator Dr. Faith Rogow develop discussion guides and standards- aligned lesson plans for each of our films. The Koch discussion guide includes background information on Ed Koch and New York City during the 1970s-1908s, as well as prompts for dialogue and a list of further educational resources. Join POV’s Community Network to borrow Koch for free from the POV Lending Library to host your own screening. Visit the Koch Partner Toolkit for all the resources you need to get involved with the film, from spreading the word to hosting a screening and discussion. For a list of upcoming screening events, visit www.pbs.org/pov/outreach.
Credits: Director: Neil Barsky Executive Producers: Neil Barsky, Joan S. Davidson Producer: Jenny Carchman Director of Photography: Tom Hurwitz Editor: Juliet Weber Original Music: Mark degli Antoni
Running time: 86:46
POV Series Credits: Executive Producer: Simon Kilmurry Co-Executive Producer: Cynthia López Vice President, Programming and Production: Chris White Associate Producer: Nicole Tsien Production Coordinator: Nikki Heyman
Visit http://www.kochthemovie.com/ for a complete list of screenings and events.
Pressroom: Visit POV’s pressroom, www.pbs.org/pov/pressroom, for press releases, downloadable art, filmmaker biographies, transcripts and special features.
POV: Produced by American Documentary, Inc. and now in its 27th season on PBS, POV is the longest-running showcase on American television to feature the work of today’s best independent documentary filmmakers. POV has brought more than 365 acclaimed documentaries to millions nationwide. Its films have won 32 Emmys, 17 George Foster Peabody Awards, 12 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards, three Academy Awards® and the Prix Italia. Since 1988, POV has pioneered the art of presentation and outreach using independent nonfiction media to build new communities in conversation about today’s most pressing social issues. Visit www.pbs.org/pov.
Major funding for POV is provided by PBS, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Bertha Foundation, Wyncote Foundation, The Educational Foundation of America, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, Ann Tenenbaum and Thomas H. Lee, and public television viewers. POV is presented by a consortium of public television stations, including KQED San Francisco, WGBH Boston and THIRTEEN in association with WNET.ORG.
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