GM Cuts Donation to a PBS Filmmaker
March 10, 2009 | Read Time: 1 minute
Facing a severe cash crunch, General Motors has ended a 22-year underwriting relationship with the documentary maker Ken Burns, a partnership that helped produce sprawling, acclaimed PBS films on the Civil War, baseball, and jazz, The Detroit News reports.
The automaker has spent millions on Mr. Burns’s films. Under a 10-year deal signed in 1999, the company covered 35 percent of each production’s budget and supported educational programs tied to the broadcasts. The last film made under the deal, The National Parks: America’s Best Idea, will air in six parts this fall.
Kelly Cusinato, a spokeswoman for General Motors, called Mr. Burns the “gold standard” of documentary filmmaking, but said the company’s financial crisis has forced it “to rein in such spending.” The company has lost $82-billion in recent years and is seeking up to $30-billion in federal aid.
