Working with Documentary Masters: Advising the Producers of PBS’s The American Revolution

When the request came, I was surprised, excited and flattered in equal parts. Would I be an advisor for the upcoming PBS series The American Revolution, produced by Ken Burns? Of course I said yes, despite not knowing what the project would actually entail. I had heard it was in the works, but did not expect to be a part of it.

What did it mean to be an advisor? For me, it meant spending several days in 2023 at a workshop with seven other advisors, producers Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt, writer Geoff Ward, and the entire production crew, critiquing an early draft of the twelve-hour series—one two-hour episode at a time, watching and taking notes, then providing feedback on how the story was being told, narratively and visually. These early versions were far from complete; Ken Burns introduced each one with a reminder that of how crude they were, with narration and voiceovers done by members of the production team, many placeholder images and so forth. Even with the many imperfections, two years before completion the series was as good as many things aired on TV – but not nearly good enough to satisfy the world-class producers of this series.

Being an advisor meant reviewing the script, line-by-line, for inaccuracies and opportunities for greater clarity. Twelve hours sounds like a lot of time, but with such a wide range of events and perspectives to cover, concision is essential. The phrasing of each line can make the difference between accurate and misstated, between precise and vague. Journal of the American Revolution was a valuable resource for verifying details, and I was pleased to learn that the writer and producer had already relied on it frequently.

Being an advisor meant responding to almost-daily emails from the producers, the cinematographers, and the author of the accompanying book. Is this image acceptable for this scene? Can you provide an example of a particular incident? Do you know the source of this picture? How can we phrase this so as not to give the wrong impression? Can you suggest a location that has the right look for this setting?

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And it meant commenting on subsequent drafts, all the way through the final mixes when sound layering, transitions, and other cinematic details were almost final. Even though the history aspects were done by this time, there were still tweaks to be made in images and word choices.

I’ve heard technical advisors on other projects complain that their feedback wasn’t really wanted, that artistic whim always took precedent over accuracy. That was not the case here. Every member of the crew was eager for every bit of feedback, determined to tell the story of the American Revolution, from the earliest discord to the signing of the Constitution, as accurately and compellingly as possible. For that story to resonate, the film must be as free as possible from errors of detail. Being experts at the documentary film game, these producers know how easily viewers can be distracted by small inaccuracies, missing the point of the story as a whole to dwell on minor things. If a scene showed a rifle where a smooth-bore musket should be, they changed it. If the narration mentioned a number that could not be verified, they revised the phrasing. No feedback was dismissed. There were some lively discussions about how to best make some changes, but all advisory input was taken seriously.

The end result is an epic twelve-hour telling of the major events leading up to the Revolutionary War, a detailed chronicle of the war itself, and a dramatic summation of the aftermath. Subject matter experts may question the use of some nineteenth- and early-twentieth century images; this is not due to lack of consideration, but because there simply are not enough good pictures rendered during the time period to fill several hours of film. Enthusiasts may wonder why a favorite battle, person or story is not included; twelve hours sounds like a long time, but there is a lot to fit into that space, and many points of view to present. Choices had to be made, but they were thoughtful choices.

Good cinema tells stories on an emotional as well as informational level. Viewers with expertise in the era will find this to be an exemplary documentary that masterfully encapsulates the complex political and social events leading up to the war, and tumultuous eight years of the war itself. Its wide reach will provide viewers with an excellent foundation upon which to base conversations and pursue further understanding of the origin of the United States as an independent nation. Working with the production crew was a genuine pleasure. Every single person was deeply and sincerely invested in learning about the time period, fully appreciating their mission of presenting this complex and vitally important topic to the world.