Exective Summary
WHO WE ARE
With the release of the third season of the SIMPLE LIVING with Wanda Urbanska to public television stations nationwide in January 2007, 26 half-hour programs on leading a better, more sustainable life will be available to viewers. SIMPLE LIVING is dedicated to educating the public about enhanced quality of life through environmental stewardship, thoughtful consumption, community involvement, and financial responsibility. The program is produced by Frank Levering and Wanda Urbanska of Mount Airy, NC, who are coauthors of Simple Living (1992), Moving to a Small Town (1996) and Nothing’s Too Small to Make a Difference (2004). USA Today described the twosome as being “in the forefront of a national trend.” The Charlotte Observer has called the telegenic Urbanska “the anti-Martha Stewart: an outspoken proponent of reducing clutter, stress and waste.” The New York Times called her “a spokeswoman for the simplicity movement.” Urbanska hosted the PBS primetime hit special, Escape from Affluenza (1998), and has appeared on Oprah, Today, and National Public Radio’s All Things Considered. Acclaimed playwright and filmmaker Levering is writer and director.
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH UNC-TV
UNC-TV, the statewide public television system of North Carolina, is the presenting station for the third season of the series. American Public Television (APT) is its national distributor.
CONTENT
SIMPLE LIVING is a magazine-style program that Utne Magazine called “a kind of This Old House for the American dream.” The Winston-Salem Journal described the program as “funny, sometimes wacky and always interesting and effective.” “Anyone who feels weighed down by the trappings of success or the clutter of the past should lend an ear to Wanda Urbanska, the congenial host of Simple Living,” observed American Profile magazine. Segments have been shot in thirteen states and many major cities as well as in Denmark, Sweden, Poland and Estonia. The series includes a special on former President and Mrs. Jimmy Carter, filmed in Atlanta and Plains, Georgia.
TIMELINE
The third season of SIMPLE LIVING, with a catalogue of 26 half-hour programs, will be offered free-of-charge to public television stations from January 2007 through January 2009. The series is already well on its way to achieving its goal of becoming an on-going “signature” series for public television nationwide. “Getting back to basics and re-examining values are concepts that resonate with our audience,” says programmer Patti Kistler, KETC in St. Louis. “They can’t find this kind of programming elsewhere.”
Additional funding provided by:
The Cemala Foundation
The Everett Foundation
James Gordon Hanes Memorial Fund
Winston-Salem Foundation, Advised Fund of Mrs. Helen Hanes
The Belk Foundation
The Prickett Fund
Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation
Educational Foundation of America
The Hillsdale Fund
Winston-Salem State University Foundation
John Wesley & Anna Hodgin Hanes Foundation
North Carolina Foam Foundation
Moses Cone-Wesley Long Community Health Foundation (CHIF grant)
Gilmer-Smith Foundation
The Prentice Foundation
The Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro
The Rosenstiel Foundation
Joseph M. Bryan Foundation of Greater Greensboro
Julian Price Family Foundation
Mary Norris Preyer Fund
DONATIONS
A tax-exempt educational fund with 501© 3 status, Catawba College in conjunction with Catawba’s Center for the Environment serves as SIMPLE LIVING’s financial fiduciary. Foundations, underwriters and individual donors to SIMPLE LIVING will receive a tax deduction by making gifts payable to “Catawba College” earmarked for “Simple Living – Production.” Checks should be mailed to PO Box 1632; Mount Airy, NC 27030.