I'm on a mission. A mission to restore sane television in America and a mission to revive America's public television system, PBS. And I need your help to begin doing it.
I'm launching the nations (world's?) first people-powered, people-funded, member-driven television production studio. This collaborative non-profit organization will be made up of thousands (millions?) of regular everyday people like me and you who want to have a say about television programming - a real, actual, collaborative say.
Together, we're going to find, discuss, suggest, review and vote on the new programming we most want to see on America’s public television network. Collectively, these thousands (millions?) of ordinary people will fully fund the production of these programs of social, cultural, artistic and educational value, one small dollar at a time.
But I don't need your money right now. I just need your vote.
See, this dream of mine is launching right around the time of Netroots Nation. In June. I'd actually LOVE the official pre-launch to happen at NN. I've never been and I've been promising myself for three years (at least) that I would go.
And now, it seems I've got myself into the contest for the free booth.
I'd love to be there meeting those of you with whom I've laughed and cried and argued and fussed over the years. And I'd love to tell you more about this dream, my dream of opening this studio and reviving PBS for the 21st century by finding, funding and producing exceptional, high-quality and entertaining programs that could compete with the best of cable and broadcast television.
This is my dream. This is my passion. It'll be a long hard slog. I know I will face skepticism and opposition (and possibly even hostility) within the public broadcasting landscape. Change isn't easy. But I'm ready. I'm passionate. I've thought it through. I've made critical connections. I've planned as smartly as I could. I know this can work and be a win-win-win for everyone: for the American public, for PBS (and its local stations), and for creatives and other content/programming producers.
I'm ready. And I'm asking for your help.
Simply vote for me at http://netrootsnation.org/...
And if you're so inclined, come check out the (still developing) PPPTV.org website and give us a like if you're up on facebook. Or check out some of the shows we're already considering for production (hint: the book review show is just about greenlit. We're hoping to go into production on that this summer/early fall). And leave me a note about what you'd like to see produced. I'd LOVE that.
Thanks in advance.
I hope to see you at Netroots Nation. And I hope I wind up having a booth there. I'd love to tell you the whole story of how I wound up at this place. And more, I really really want to hear your ideas and feedback about what you'd like to see more of o television.