NBC 10 investigative reporter Jim Taricani heads panel of experts at Story in the Public Square Conference on April 11
NEWPORT, R.I. — Pioneering TV investigative journalist Jim Taricani heads an award-winning lineup of screen storytellers who will show and discuss their work during the second annual Story in the Public Square conference April 11 at Salve Regina University’s Pell Center.
Founder of NBC Channel 10’s celebrated I-Team, Taricani has won five regional Emmy awards, along with an Edward R. Murrow award for investigative journalism and a number of other journalism awards. He covered the New England Mafia for more than 25 years and became a champion of press freedom when a federal judge in 2004 sentenced him to six months of home confinement for refusing to disclose a confidential source. Taricani then became a nationally recognized advocate for the passage of a federal shield law for journalists.
Joining Taricani, who recently announced his plans to retire April 1 from NBC Channel 10, will be: Kendall Moore, associate professor of journalism and film media at the University of Rhode Island; Agnieszka Woznicka, animation artist and associate professor at the Rhode Island School of Design; and Teja Arboleda, an award-winning documentarian, writer and educator.
“Jim, Kendall, Agnieszka and Teja are four of the premiere screen storytellers of our time,” said Story in the Public Square director G. Wayne Miller. “This is a rare opportunity to view some of the best of their work and meet and participate in discussion with them.”
The theme of this year’s Story Day is Moving Images: public storytelling in TV, animation, feature-length documentary filmmaking, and short documentary/video. Emmy-winning screenwriter, producer, and actor Danny Strong will deliver the keynote address and be honored with the second annual Pell Center Prize for Story in the Public Square.
Strong’s Game Change, the 2012 HBO production about the 2008 presidential election, won a Golden Globe, a primetime Emmy, a Writers Guild of America Award, and a Producers Guild of America Award. His 2008 HBO film Recount, about the 2000 presidential election, won a Primetime Emmy. Part I of the Mockingjay Hunger Games finale will be released this fall. Part II is currently in production. Strong recently signed to script the remake of Guys and Dolls.
Strong is also an accomplished Hollywood actor, having played roles in the TV series Mad Men, Grey’s Anatomy, How I Met Your Mother, Seinfeld, Gilmore Girls and, early in his career, the character Jonathan Levinson in the hit show Buffy the Vampire Slayer. He also acted as a producer on many of his projects, including Lee Daniels’ The Butler, Game Change and Recount.
During the conference, audience members will have the chance to make short films of their own. The day concludes with an evening screening of Strong’s Game Change.
Winners of the 2014 student storytelling contest will also be honored on April 11. Hgukigh school and college students still have until March 30 to enter the contest, which carries a Grand Prize of $1,000 and the opportunity to share the stage with Strong. To enter, please visit www.publicstory.org and follow the instructions at “Student Contest.”
The general public is invited to attend the 2014 Story Day, sponsored by the Story in the Public Square program, a partnership of The Providence Journal and the Pell Center. Register through the link at www.publicstory.org. The $25 fee includes lunch at the magnificent Ochre Court and the evening screening at Jane Pickens Theater. Members of the Salve community and all high school and college students are admitted free — but pre-registration is required.
Dana Priest, two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post writer, was the 2013 winner of the Pell Center Prize for Story in the Public Square at last year’s inaugural Story Day conference. Gary Hart was the keynote speaker.
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