ALT Films is a new not-for-profit television production company created for the express purpose of making television films based on important American literature. 

Founded in 1997 by much-honored network motion picture producers Marian Rees and Anne Hopkins and the highly regarded public television programming executive Stephen Kulczycki, ALT has committed to create five motion pictures for PBS' signpost dramatic series ExxonMobil MASTERPIECE THEATRE.  The five ALT films, together with four that will be commissioned by Boston PBS station WGBH, will air as ExxonMobil MASTERPIECE THEATRE'S AMERICAN COLLECTION.  The new programming strand, which premiered on Wednesday, October 25, 2000 with the ALT production of Langston Hughes' CORA UNASHAMED , marks the first time American films have aired on the series.

ALT Films was selected from a wide field of production entities by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to be allotted the single largest program grant in its history.  In making the selection, CPB and PBS alluded to the long string of artistically successful television motion pictures created by Marian Rees Associates, the company run by Ms. Rees and Ms. Hopkins.  MRA films have won every major award in television, including eleven Emmy Awards, two of which were for Best Program of the Year.

At this writing, ALT has completed filming on four adaptations: the premiere presentation, Langston Hughes' powerful short story CORA UNASHAMED, which stars Regina Taylor, Cherry Jones, and CCH Pounder; a film of Willa Cather's partly autobiographical novel THE SONG OF THE LARK, starring Alison Elliott, Maximilian Schell, Tony Goldwyn and Arliss Howard; and Eudora Welty's comic novel THE PONDER HEART, starring Peter MacNicol and JoBeth Williams.  James Agee's classic novel A DEATH IN THE FAMILY, starring Annabeth Gish, James Cromwell and John Slattery, has been filmed and is in post-production.  The final production will be an adaptation of Esmeralda Santiago's coming-of-age memoir ALMOST A WOMAN.

In accepting the assignment, ALT pledged to make all five films in the United States, with American talent in front of and behind the cameras.  In its mission statement, the company stated its intent to go beyond the standard "classics" and to film works that "illuminate and confirm American core values and recognize not only our diversity but also the common threads and experiences that bind us together."

ALT has provided complete access to its production process for the benefit of American educators, who are using the films and the books on which they are based in English classes across the country.  CPB has funded an extensive Web site, created in partnership with the National Council of Teachers of English, to which more than 2200 teachers have contributed.  The site, which is found at ncteamericancollection.org, is a comprehensive destination for teachers of American literature, and is currently accessed by thousands of teachers each day.

PRINCIPALS

Marian Rees is one of television's most honored producers.  She began her career as a secretary at NBC before becoming a network associate producer; she then served seventeen years at Tandem Productions, working on everything from All in the Family and Sanford and Son to theatrical films to television movies, and eventually heading Tandem's new development division.  As a principal of Marian Rees Associates, which she founded in 1981, Ms. Rees has produced or executive-produced twenty-six films for network and cable television, including many for the prestigious Hallmark Hall of Fame.  They have included Miss Rose White and Love is Never Silent, both of which won the coveted Emmy Award for Best Television Motion Picture.  Other films include Pursuit of Honor, Foxfire, Home Fires Burning, Ruby Bridges, and many others.  In all, MRA-produced films have won eleven Emmy awards, thirty-six Emmy nominations, two Gabriel Awards, two Monte Carlo Television Awards, a Peabody award, and many other honors.

Anne Hopkins worked in the worlds of opera and the Broadway stage before coming to television. She was production assistant to the soprano Rise Stevens and worked at the New York's Metropolitan Opera for two years. Later she was part of the production team responsible for the Broadway hits How to be a Jewish Mother and Lovers and Other Strangers .  She first worked with Marian Rees at Tandem on All in the Family and the feature film Cold Turkey, and she joined Marian Rees Associates as a partner when the firm was founded.  Ms. Hopkins has contributed to the development of all the MRA films.  Known especially for her skill in working with writers and adapting literary works to the screen, she served as producer on such motion pictures as Decoration Day, The Shell Seekers, Resting Place, and Is There Life Out There?, among others.

Stephen Kulczycki's 26-year career in television includes stints as an independent producer, station programmer, and production executive.  He spent thirteen years, from 1983 though 1996, at Los Angeles' public television station, KCET, where he served as Vice President of Programming, Senior Vice President of Programming, and Station Manager.  During his tenure the station's viewership and membership both doubled.  At KCET, Mr. Kulczycki was responsible for the development and/or production of several award-winning PBS series, including American Cinema, The Great War, and Searching for God in America.  As head of programming at KCET Los Angeles, he co-executive produced or was executive-in-charge of two Emmy Award-winning family series, The Puzzle Place and Storytime.