Dr. Steven A. Channing

Steven Channing brings a wide range of experiences to his work, as an historian, author and Emmy Award winning filmmaker. He was born and educated in New York and began his professional life as an academic historian, with a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. He taught at the Universities of Kentucky, Stanford, and at Duke, was a research fellow at Johns Hopkins and, as a Fulbright Exchange Scholar, taught at the University of Genoa, Italy. His published books include the Allen Nevins Prize winning study Crisis of Fear - Secession in South Carolina (1970), and Kentucky: A History (1976), and The Confederate Ordeal (1983) for Time-Life's Civil War series.

Dr. Channing founded Video Dialog Inc. (VDI) in 1987 to further his interest in producing documentary films for broadcast, to produce informational videos for diverse clients, and to create a series of educational videos for schools. A listing of his works for television (to the best of his recollection!) follow.

He is also, proudly, Co-Founder with Cynthia Hill, of the Southern Documentary Fund (www.southerndocumentaryfund.org) , a non-profit fiscal sponsor of independent media projects. Channing also served as an early member of the Board of the Museum of Durham History.


Broadcast Television

This Other Eden (1979) Five hour historical drama for Kentucky Educational Television, hosted by Patricia Neal.

Upon This Rock: The Black Religious Experience (1982) Kentucky Public TV and SECA.

We Remember: The Story of the Lost Colony (1984-8) Series for N.C. Public Television (UNCTV) hosted by Andy Griffith.

The Roanoke Voyages. One hour documentary for UNCTV. 1989

And Still I Rise: Maya Angelou (1985) National PBS Broadcast.

Alamance (1989) Historical drama for North Carolina Public Television on the background of the American Revolution. Emmy Award winner. Telly Award Finalist.

A Victory of Spirit:  The Special Olympics (1992) Script for one hour PBS broadcast, hosted by Maria Shriver.

A Place on the Hill: The Bicentennial of UNC. Script for PBS Documentary. 1990

Loyalty on Trial (c. 1995) Historical drama on Judge Samuel Ashe, First Chief Justice of North Carolina. For the UNC School of Law. UNCTV. Emmy Award Nominee. American Bar Association Silver Gavel Award.

Arkansas Heritage (c.1988) Series on the state’s 150th anniversary, for Arkansas Public Television. Corporation for Public Broadcasting Award.

February One: The Story of the Greensboro Four (2004) PBS Independent Lens.
https://www.amazon.com/February-One-Story-Greensboro-Four/dp/B014Y1MMOC

Change Comes Knocking: The North Carolina Fund (2006) UNCTV. https://www.amazon.com/Change-Comes-Knocking-Story-Carolina/dp/B014Y1MF4E

Durham: A Self-Portrait (2008) Fox50

Durham: A Self-Portrait 150. UNCTV 2020 https://iplayerhd.com/player/DASP150 

Down Home: Jewish Life in North Carolina UNCTV 2010 https://jewishnc.org/programs/down-home-documentary-film/ 

Generation of Change:  Bill Friday, Terry Sanford and North Carolina, 1920’s-1970’s UNCTV 2012  https://www.pbs.org/video/unc-tv-presents-generation-change/

Remarkable Journey: Founding the Asian American Community in North Carolina UNCTV  2016 https://video.unctv.org/video/remarkable-journey-founding-the-asian-indian-community-nc-wbwqtg/


Communicating A Vision

Keys to the World: The Eisenhower Exchange Fellowships (1986)

The Fulbright Experience: Celebrating Forty Years (1986) For the U.S.I.A.

AIDS First Responders Teleconference. NC Community Colleges. 1998 

Massage for Every Body. 1988 

Whose Choice? Communication Resources Foundation. 1988

Liberty Hall Visitor’s Center video for the home of the Kenan Family. 1995

The Peaceful Rebel: John Dickinson and His World. Delaware Cultural Resources. 1980s 

The Ripple Effect of Reform. Nash County Schools. 1990s

Acting on Our Vision: Schools, Leadership, Change (1995) Documentary for the Eli Lilly Endowment.

Touching Children’s Lives: The Alliance for Achievement (1996) For the DeWitt Wallace Fund and MDC, Inc

The Rural Community College Initiative (1990s) Twelve part series for the Ford Foundation and MDC, Inc.

Registered Apprenticeship Video and interactive multimedia CD-ROM for the U.S. Department of Labor. 1990s

The Marine Biological Laboratory (1999)

  • Discovery: The Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole, Mass.  Campaign and Visitor’s Center videos for the nation’s leading biology research lab. 

  • Semester in Environmental Science at the MBL. Aimed at college students looking for an intensive fall semester program in environmental sciences.

Namibia Series for the Ford Foundation.  1999

The North Carolina State Capitol. 1990s

Creating Hope: The Durham Scholars Program. 1990s

Gear Up (1994) Education reform project of the Ford Foundation

The North Carolina Court System. 1990s

The Urban Partnership (1996) For the National Center for Urban Partnerships

The Difference that Difference Makes (1998) For the Duke University Office of Institutional Equity

Local Government: It’s All Around Us. NC City/County Government Association (1990)

A Shining Light: Innovations in American Government. Ford Foundation and Harvard University 1995

Voting: The Root of Democracy. Citizen Education Foundation. 1990s

The Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation Celebrating 25 years of philanthropic activity by the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation. 1999

The Kenan Ethics Program For the Kenan Ethics Program at Duke University. 1990s

Changing Lives - Campaign Video for Kentucky Wesleyan College  2000

Raleigh: Tar Heel Capitol. NC Dept. of Cultural Resources. 2003

The Education of a Southern White Man: Joel Williamson. 2006

Builders of Hope. 2010

Crossing the Centuries: Blue Cross & Blue Shield of North Carolina, 75th Anniversary. Book & Video. 2010

The Thinking Nurse. Duke University. 2010

Cash Crop. Stephen Hayes Exhibit. NC Central Univeristy Art Museum. 2010

Change Journey: Facing Terminal Illness. Satir Institute. 2010

Boys, Girls, Adults Community Development Center. Marvell, Arkansas. 2010 

Fulbright Connects (2011) U.S. State Department


Educating the Next Generation

The Pilgrims of Plymouth & Thanksgiving Shared. Rainbow Educational Media 1990s

Causes of the American Revolution. Rainbow Ed. Media. 1990s

When It Rains We All Get Wet. A series for elementary students, distributed by Meridian Educational Media. 

Against The Tide. ABA Silver Gavel Award. 2000

No Baby Now. Polymorph Films. 1990s

The ABCs of STDs. Polymorph Films. 1990s.

Home Safe Home. Safety Series. 1990s

Hail to the Chief. 1990s

Atoms to Compounds. The Young Scientist Series. Rainbow Ed. Media. 1990s

Ms. Infinity’s Math Mansion. Math series for Rainbow Educational Media.

Exploring Science. Elementary science series, for the Media Guild. 1989

Character Matters. A series on values and education for United Learning.

Rights & Wrongs. Educational Media Group. 1990s

Threads of Industry: The New Industrial Revolution. Educational Media Group. 1990s

American History Series. For New Dimension Media.

We The People. On the Bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution. New Dimension Media.

Voting: The Root of Democracy For the League of Women Voters, distributed by New Dimension Media.

From East to West: The Asian American Experience. Rainbow Educational Media. 1993

One World, Many Worlds: Hispanic Diversity.  Rainbow Educational Media. 1993

The Right to Die Issue. 1990

The Abortion Debate. 1990

Self-Defeating Behaviors. New Dimension Media 1990s

What Is Your Coping Style?  New Dimension Media 1990s

Personal Pronouns. Rainbow Educational Media. 1993

Basics of  Geography Series. United Learning. 1990s

Teen Awareness: Sexual Harassment.Standard English: Subject-Verb Agreement. Rainbow Ed. Media. 1990s

Research It!  Madame Know it All. Rainbow Ed. Media. 1990s

Friends Raping Friends. 1990s

“The Butterfly Project”: Holocaust Education Videos, produced for the Levine Jewish Community Center of Charlotte. 2018-20


Team Leaders

Lue Simopoulos

Lue has degrees from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill in English and Film Production. She has worked in publishing, and in many aspects of video and filmmaking, from managing a 35 mm. commercial film studio to producing dramatic films and educational videos. As Video Dialog Inc.’s very first and longest-serving employee, she produced VDI’s award-winning educational films The Pilgrims of PlymouthIndians of the SoutheastThe Bill of Rights Today, and Loyalty on Trial, recipient of the American Bar Association’s Silver Gavel Award. Lue produced the Emmy Award winning historical drama Alamance, and more recently the feature length documentaries Down Home: Jewish Life in North Carolina, and  Remarkable Journey: Founding the Asian Indian Community in North Carolina.     

You can contact Lue at lue.simopoulos@gmail.com

Martin Brown

Martin Brown received his BA in Radio Television and Motion Pictures from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His projects include: Landscapes of the Heart - The Elizabeth Spencer StoryThe Operation - a documentary series for the Learning Channel, and Breakthrough - a PBS science series.  Martin directed and shot the Emmy-nominated documentary Athletes: Back in the Game for Discovery Health and served as DP on the Emmy winning The Long Road Back. He served as Director of Photography for the narrative films My Dumb Face (2016), Insipidly So (1996) and Delicate Art of the Rifle (1994). Over the course of a 35+ year association with VDI, he has produced a series on the Rural Community College Initiative, a series on the work of the Ford Foundation in Namibia, videos on the Fulbright International Exchange Program, the documentary Change Comes Knocking (with Rebecca Cerese) and a virtual workshop on teaching tolerance and the history of the Holocaust for the Levin Jewish Community Center in Charlotte, NC. 

You can contact Martin at treehouseproductionstv@gmail.com

Rebecca Cerese

Rebecca Cerese is an award-winning filmmaker and passionate social justice advocate who worked with Video Dialog Inc. for over 20 years. Her films have been nationally and locally broadcast on PBS and at film festivals that center around social and economic justice. Working on projects such as the award-winning February One – The Story of the Greensboro Four, has deepened her understanding of the devastating impact of racial, gender and socioeconomic disparities on our society. Being an activist at heart, she understands how these compelling and personal stories can motivate people to advocate for social change. Her other projects include, Change Comes Knocking - The Story of the North Carolina Fund, Down Home - Jewish Life in NC, Durham - A Self Portrait, Generation of Change and Gear Up - There Oughta Be a Law. As an independent filmmaker she produced Landscapes of the Heart, a biographical portrait of acclaimed writer Elizabeth Spencer. In 2018, Rebecca joined the NC Justice Center, becoming the first Health Engagement Coordinator for their Health Advocacy Project. Now as part of a volunteer group called Healthcare For All, Y’all, Rebecca is promoting Medicare For All.

You can contact Rebecca at rcerese@gmail.com

Warren Gentry, Director/Editor

Warren Gentry is a graduate of the University of North Carolina-Wilmington and attended the New York University Summer Film Program, where his World of Silence PSA received a Bronze Award from the New York International Film Festival. He began work as a key grip in feature film productions before launching a successful career as a director, producer, and Director of Photography. Over the past four decades of work with VDI, Warren has directed the Emmy-Award winning historical drama AlamanceFebruary One: The Story of the Greensboro FourDurham: A Self-Portrait150, and Down Home: Jewish Life in North Carolina. Warren has also had the pleasure of serving as Director of Photography on three other feature-length documentaries that received Emmy-Awards.

You can contact Warren at warren@warrengentry.com


Awards

Alamance

Emmy Award, Telly Award

Roanoke: The Lost Colony 

Golden Apple Award

Africa Meets the Americas

Silver Reel of Excellence

We the People: The Growth of the Constitution

Golden Apple Award

The First Thanksgiving

Certificate of Merit - Chicago International Film Festival, National Educational Film & Video Festival

Loyalty on Trial

Emmy Nominee, CASE Grand Gold Medal, Silver Gavel Award

Indians of the Southeast

National Educational Film & Video Festival

Hail to the Chief

Birmingham International Educational Film Festival

Of Men and Machines

ITVA Award

Safety's No Accident

Columbus Film Festival, New York International Film & Video Festival

Arkansas 150th Anniversary Minutes

Ohio State University Film Festival, Corporation for Public Broadcasting

Appalachian Calling

CASE Award

Quality In, Quality Out

International Business Telecommunications Award

Cheating, Lying & Stealing

Ohio State University Film Festival

Exploring Science

CINE Film Festival, New York International Film & Video Festival

The Bill of Rights Today

National Educational Film & Video Festival

The Abortion Debate

Parent's Choice

Tuning to Sexual Harassment

Golden Apple

Safe on My Own

Silver Reel of Merit


DVD copies available

Please inquire at schanning@nc.rr.com