“The New KKK”
Supervising Editor
This is the pilot episode that sold the CNN series “United Shades of America.” Comedian W. Kamau Bell ventures far outside his safe space and meets with members of the Ku Klux Klan in the rural south.
The editorial challenge of this pilot was introducing the audience to Kamau’s comedic voice, while at the same time giving historical context and perspective to the issues at hand. Also fundamentally important was to allow actual people and unexpected voices to tell their stories along the way. And we can’t forget about the dramatic nature of the personal journey. It was a fine cloth to weave.
The clock is the enemy. This isn’t a two hour documentary feature, this is a forty-two minute television program. Forever, there are things that are painful to excise; you often have a cleaver in one hand and a scalpel in the other. Sometimes a tiny moment with one small character who will never be seen again is the thing that brings realness to what Kamau is documenting. And yet, this must all seamlessly interplay with Kamau’s strong voice and the larger story we are trying to tell.
This pilot premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2016. It also became the first episode of season one.
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program
Television Critics Association Award for Outstanding Achievement in News and Information
International Documentary Association Award for Best Episodic Series
“Native Americans”
Supervising Editor
America has forgotten its original sin. Unfortunately, that is not an accident of history. The government’s relationship with the natives has been a brutal one, and that legacy lives on today. Kamau heads to the Dakotas and visits native reservations to illuminate the poverty and hope of America’s First People.
As always, Kamau is up to the task, getting people to open up to him effortlessly. People who would never in a million years seek out a television camera, made calm by a six-foot-four black man with a camera crew. It’s awesome.
The indigenous people of America are survivors, and they are still fighting. The enormity of their historical oppression and near genocide is not something that can be summed up in one episode of television. Luckily, humor and honesty are great weapons. Laughing is listening.