Hedrick Smith Productions is an independent television production company specializing in creating TV documentaries for PBS. It was founded in 1990 by
Hedrick Smith, Pulitzer Prize-winning former foreign correspondent, editor, and Washington Bureau Chief for the New York Times. Over the past decade, Hedrick Smith and his production teams have created eight prime-time, multi-hour PBS documentary series and broadcasts, as well other free-standing programs, winning several of television's most prestigious awards.

HSP produces long-form documentaries on such varied current topics as campaign finance reform, the power of the media and lobbies, and the Washington power game; grass roots civic action on teen violence and hate crime; Russia's rocky road to freedom and a market economy; how the U.S. middle class copes with global economic competition; models of effective education to prepare American mid-kids for the 21st century economy; the quality of health care for average Americans; and who are the ordinary heroes making American democracy work at the local level. HSP has also created interactive web sites, symposiums for webcast, and both written and video outreach materials which are widely used by American universities, colleges, high schools, businesses, civic groups and other organizations.

Since 1990, Hedrick Smith Productions has established its trademark for high quality documentaries that not only provide insightful analysis of current issues and problems but solid case studies that show people solving these problems. Hedrick Smith Productions is known for television that strikes a contrast with typical news and public affairs programs, both by a commitment to showing solutions and success stories as well as examining broad social issues and their roots, and also by giving voice to ordinary people and engaging them in dialogues about critical issues confronting American society.

With a staff of 12 producers, field producers, researchers and support personnel, Hedrick Smith Productions has filmed in Germany, Holland, China, Japan, Canada, Mexico and all over the U.S., including inner city Washington, D.C. Our staff represents more than 80 years of combined experience in news and public affairs journalism, including more than 35 years for the major commercial TV networks. Over the past several years, our production expenditures have averaged more than two million dollars a year.

Hedrick Smith Productions has developed expertise not only in long-form documentary production but also in arranging, staging and filming town halls and community dialogues. During a production, our company hires free-lance camera crews, editors, and mobile film units. Hedrick Smith Productions has the technical capability of editing broadcast quality documentaries. But we sub-contract for complex graphics and post-production.

Among the award-winning PBS documentaries and mini-series created by Hedrick Smith Productions are Challenge to America, Across the River, The People and The Power Game, Surviving the Bottom Line, Seeking Solutions with Hedrick Smith and Critical Condition with Hedrick Smith, Hedrick Smith Productions’ probing analysis of health care in America, broadcast in October, 2000, has recently been nominated for an Emmy.

Prior to forming his own company, Hedrick Smith was also the creator, correspondent and host for two other major PBS series, The Power Game: How Washington Works in 1989 and Inside Gorbachev's USSR, which won both the 1991 George Polk Award for television and the DuPont-Columbia Gold Baton for the most outstanding public affairs production on U.S. television in any medium. Mr. Smith, former Moscow Bureau Chief for the New York Times and author of two books about Russia, including the world-wide bestseller, The Russians, also hosted several other documentaries in 1991-92 including Soviets: Guns, Tanks And Gorbachev; Baltic Requiem; and After Gorbachev's USSR.

Hedrick Smith Production’s first major production, Challenge to America, was a five-part documentary and discussion series that explored the economic challenge posed to America by such countries as Germany and Japan. It examined the economic cultures of America and its two main global rivals, and showed successful strategies of U.S. businesses and high schools. After multiple broadcasts by PBS in 1994, Challenge To America is now being used by hundreds of businesses and educational institutions for education and training programs, along with Hedrick Smith Production’s related materials - View From The Top, a set of ten interviews with internationally renowned CEOs; and Pathways To Success, a special film showing successful high school programs. This series won the international RIAS television competition in Berlin.

Across The River, a two-hour program combining a documentary and a community dialogue, portrayed positive community development and educational programs in several troubled neighborhoods of Washington, D.C. The documentary, premiered by PBS in October 1995 and winner of the national Sidney Hillman Award for the most outstanding TV production of the year, exploded stereotypes about inner-city neighborhoods to show concrete examples of successful efforts to combat crime, school dropouts, health problems, middle class flight and urban decay. The community dialogue brought together downtown civic and business leaders with neighborhood activists.

The People And The Power Game, broadcast by PBS in September 1996, examined the four critical power centers in American politics - the Presidency, Congress, the Media, and Lobbies - after the Republican takeover of Congress in 1994 and during Bill Clinton's scramble to save his presidency. This series built upon Hedrick Smith's best-selling book, The Power Game: How Washington Works (1989), and the companion PBS mini-series. As a special feature, The People and The Power Game drew voters into two forum discussions on how to overcome gridlock and how to respond to well-financed lobbies and tabloid-driven media.

Surviving The Bottom Line, first broadcast by PBS in January 1998 with reruns continuing through September, presents a compelling account of the forces, institutions and values driving the new American economy, their impact on people's lives, as well as programs for preparing young people for the 21st century economy and various corporate and social strategies for easing the burdens of downsizing, part-time work, and the bottom-line. Already more than 2,000 sets of the video series have been obtained or purchased by leading corporations, universities, colleges, and school systems for educational and training programs.

Seeking Solutions with Hedrick Smith, a 2-hour special broadcast by PBS in 1999, focused on successful grassroots efforts to combat teen violence and hate crime. This program, which followed in the wake of the killings at Colombine High School in Littleton, Colorado, won a National Public Service Award for U.S. Television from Sigma Delta Chi, the journalism honor society.

In 2000, Hedrick Smith Productions created its first historical documentary, Duke Ellington's Washington, followed by two programs on health care, Dr. Solomon's Dilemma, a one-hour program for Frontline on the problems doctors face in trying to control health costs, and Critical Condition with Hedrick Smith, a three-hour PBS pre-election special, that examined the problems of fatal medical errors, care for the chronically ill, and the problems of Americans who lack health insurance.

Through a multi-media outreach effort, Hedrick Smith Productions' programs are designed for long shelf life, supported by educational materials and web pages, as well as PBS audiences in the millions.

Visit Hedrick Smith Productions: http://www.hedricksmith.com