Seattle… What Happened?
From rainy backwater to tech-driven powerhouse, Seattle has zoomed from obscurity to global leader in just over 100 years. How did it start? What caused the revolution? Where will it go? These questions will be answered in a new 2-part documentary Series, produced by Docuemtaries Seattle and Fidget Films in conjunction with local KCTS 9. Over 50,000 people move to the Region every year, yet few of them understand why a vast rainforest transformed itself into one of the world’s leaders in technology, aerospace and retail. Better education makes better citizens to lead us into the future. This 3-hour Series will air on KCTS for 10 years and will be used as a visual history in all 4th and 7th grade Washington State History classes. Join us as we tell this amazing story.
Mission
The mission of KCTS 9 is to inspire a smarter world. The publicly-supported television station is committed to increasing social and civic engagement by airing programs that focus on arts and culture, education and family initiatives. Through the use of diverse media platforms, the station seeks to reach all viewers across multiple generations in Washington. “We improve the quality of life in the communities we serve by providing meaningful programming that informs, involves and inspires.”
Fidget Films is a Seattle-based production company headed by John Forsen, producer of the Emmy-winning documentaries Violin Masters, Two Gentlemen of Cremona and Pilchuck, A Dance with Fire; and the Emmy-nominated Alaska-Yukon-Pacific, Seattle’s Forgotten World’s Fair. With 14 Emmy Awards to his credit, John will break new ground with this ambitious historical project. “Seattle is one of our nation’s fastest growing major cities. Who we are and what we’ve become is a significant story to tell for those who live here now, and the future generations who will come to care for this incredible place.”
Who We Serve
KCTS Television operates KCTS 9 and KYVE 47 in Western and Central Washington. The stations offer programming 24 hours a day to serve all state residents, totaling 7 million people across 71,000 square miles. Station programming is also seen in southwestern British Columbia on Bell TV and Shaw Direct satellite providers, reaching up to an additional 2.5 million viewers. This service area reaches a wide range of cultural, linguistic and socio-economic communities that include recently immigrated residents and refugees from Asia, Africa, Mexico and the Middle East. In King County alone, 21% of residents are foreign-born.(1)
KCTS has continuously served the Pacific Northwest since 1954. The station annually broadcasts more than 26,000 hours of programs that inspire viewers to expand their points of view, stay in touch with current affairs, and be involved in their communities.
Project Request
Documentaries Seattle and Fidget Films are asking individuals, foundations and corporations to fund production of the two-part documentary series, Seattle… What Happened? KCTS has committed to air the series annually for ten years, beginning with the first segment in 2024. The project will deliver 240 hours of screen time with potential to reach millions of public television viewers in the state over ten years. An advisory committee of regional historians representing diverse communities has been formed to recommend and review content for inclusion. This will be the only comprehensive documentary series on regional history ever produced for public television.
Additionally, KCTS and Fidget Films will work with the State Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction to provide school districts with DVD copies and streamed versions of the documentary for instructional purposes. A companion website will be created with excerpts from the series including interviews with historians and writers. The site will provide resources for teachers and students including interactive forums to inspire inquiry about regional history. Public school students in grades one through six are required to take 90 hours of instruction in Washington state history over a six-plus year period.
“WAC 392-410-120 reads, in part, as follows:
Grades 1-6. A one-semester course—i.e., 90 (50 minute) hours of instruction—or its equivalent in Washington state history and government shall be required in the common schools in grades one through six combined, but not at each grade level.” (2)
Objectives
This documentary series will meet the following objectives:
1. To inform a broad and culturally-diverse public about the history of the Pacific Northwest;
2. To engage Puget Sound residents to care about maintaining and sustaining the region’s quality of life;
3. To increase the public’s knowledge about the bountiful, yet limited resources that fuel the region’s vitality;
4. To create an educational tool for teachers and students to support the required study of Washington State history; and to inspire students to become involved in community affairs and leadership;
5. To document and contribute to the global body of knowledge that exists about the region’s history.
Impact Measurements
The success of this effort will be measured in the following ways:
· We will improve the public’s knowledge of Northwest history by providing 240 of hours of educational programming through KCTS 9 over a period of ten years. (2020-2030).
· We will potentially reach up to 8,000,000 viewers in Washington (based on 2018 state population data) over the ten-year period with educational programming about regional history.(3)
· We will reach another potential 1,000,000 new residents projected in Washington over the next ten years who will learn about regional history through viewing the series.(4)
· We will produce the only comprehensive documentary series on regional history for public television and provide it to 295 school districts in the state as a learning tool for instruction.(5)
· We will create a resource with the potential to reach an average annual elementary enrollment of 500,000 in Washington State. All students enrolled in Washington’s public schools in grades one through six will take 90 hours of instruction in Washington state history over a six-plus year period.(6)
· We will record over 70 hours of film footage, including interviews, historical photos and news clips that will be archived for future research and preservation.
