BACKCOUNTRY PICTURES
D AV I D
VA S S A R
TELEVISION
CREDITS
NETWORK TELEVISION:
UNSOLVED MYSTERIES
director
NBC
Prime-time series for NBC hosted by Robert Stack. Consistent top-ten network show, on the air for ten
consecutive seasons. Responsibilities included the complete visualization of each story, including writing
shooting scripts as well as conducting the interviews. Each segment required pre-scouting all locations
and pre-interviewing all participants. Directed over 100 individual stories that provided an extraordinary
wealth of experience in every conceivable shooting situation. Challenges included underwater shooting,
train wreck, boat wreck, car stunts, explosions, and crashes, fight scenes, fires and mechanical effects,
Computer Imagery, 35mm Panavision, hand-held, verite shooting, period scenes, and large crowd scenes.
Shooting also involved extensive international travel including Belgium, Great Britain, Canada, Egypt and
more than 40 states.
LOST CIVILIZATIONS – the Maya
producer & director
NBC - Time Life Television
Emmy Award winning series of ten documentary programs. Unique combination of traditional documentary,
reenactments, interviews, animation, and special effects. Episode highlighted the ancient culture of the
Maya. Thirty-six days of location shooting in Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico; three locations renown for
their nearly impossible logistical problems. Production involved ten days of re-enactment shooting. Shot in
Super-16 for broadcast in HD-TV. Script was based upon extensive scouting in Central America and consultation with the foremost anthropologists and archaeologists studying the Maya. Interviewees included
Michael Coe, Arthur Demurest, Linda Schele, and Ricardo Agurcia.
UNSOLVED MYSTERIES – UFO SPECIAL
producer/writer/director
NBC
One-hour prime-time special featuring the eyewitness accounts of individuals who believe that they have
seen UFOs. A historical approach investigating the most significant UFO sightings in the last one hundred
years; Roswell, Gulf Breeze, Belgium, Hudson Valley and Socorro. Responsibilities included directing the
reenactments of the sightings in Panavision and pre-visualizing the special effects shots for the CGI sequences. Worked closely with special effects designer and supervised production. Other responsibilities
included supervising researchers, story development, directing hosted sequences, supervising post-production and writing narration.
THE MINI DRAGONS - HONG KONG producer/writer/director
PBS - NHK - Film Australia
One of four documentaries exploring the “economic miracles” of Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and South
Korea. A national geographic special with “teeth”. Focused on four Hong Kongers and how their lives would
dramatically change when China reasserted sovereignty in 1997. Responsibilities included living in Hong
Kong for six months. Researched and identified the four individuals who were chosen to profile including
Gordon Wu; one of Hong Kong’s most successful industrialists and a man with a reputation for avoiding the
press. Shooting involved one week with each of the four subjects: an industrialist, a harbor police officer, an
executive with the trade and development office, and a movie actress. All of these people were under great
pressure for change as the date of the Hong Kong hand-over to China approached. Produced and directed
all four stories, supervised post-production and wrote the narration.
YOU BE THE JUDGE
writer/director
PILOT NBC
Prime-Time television pilot for NBC. Premise of the show assigned an individual filmmaker to a differ-
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ent side of a controversial issue. Issues included gun control, sexual harassment, and high-speed police
chases. Each filmmaker then crafted a political position film that supported their side of the issue. During
the show, viewers were asked to call in with their opinion and the results were reported to the audience. Responsibilities included conducting interviews, writing outlines based upon interviews, directing recreations,
supervising editing, and writing narration.
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CANYON CONSORT
co-producer/director
PBS - Channel Four - U.K.
A music film produced independently for Channel Four in England and PBS. Features the musi¬cian Paul
Winter and his Winter Consort as they raft the entire 225 mile length of the Grand Canyon. The Winter
Consort stopped in remote side canyons where they composed and recorded music for their new album,
CANYON. Technically challenging shoot because of the logistics of the Grand Canyon. All gear had to be
packed in waterproof cases to endure the Class 5 white water rapids. Shoot also involved a second river
trip in November to pick up scenics of the Canyon; two boats five people. Functioned as director and coproducer. In addition to the creative responsibilities, played a significant role in a crucial sale to Andy Park
at Channel Four that provided funding for completion of the film. Remains one of PBS’ highest rated single
special programs. Grand Prize winner, Italian International Festival of Films on Art. Released on A&M Video
and Pioneer Laser Disc.
TO THE EDGE OF THE EARTH
producer/writer/director
PBS - FOX
A science documentary celebrating the modern day scientist explorer; researchers whose laboratories are
the most extreme locales on the planet. Episode 2 of WQED’s award winning science series, THE INFINITE
VOYAGE. Responsibilities included locating stories and scientists, pre-scouting all locations and meeting
with each scientist, writing a detailed script, organizing the shooting and schedules, directing and conducting interviews, supervising post-production - including editorial, music and graphics, and writing narration.
GENERATION ON THE WIND
producer/writer/director/editor
PBS & BBC
A character study focusing on a rag tag group of young artists, mechanics and environmental activists who
successfully built the largest electrical generating windmill in the world. Two years of shooting to finish the
film. Academy Award nomination - Best Documentary Feature. Blue Ribbon - American Film Festival.
CABLE TELEVISION:
WASHINGTON’S GENERALS
writer & producer
History Channel
YELLOWSTONE
producer/writer/director
History Channel
Two one-hour specials for the mini-series about George Washington. Produced and wrote two episodes:
“Lafayette – First Knight in the New World” - detailing the relationship between Washington and the powerful French aristocrat who became a favorite son; and “Lord Cornwallis – The Fox Hunter” - profiling the
British Commander who became Washington’s nemesis during the Revolutionary War.
Renowned for its ghostly landscape and cherished for its abundant wildlife, Yellowstone was set aside as
America’s first National Park in 1872. Today, Yellowstone has become a political battlefield where the forces
for preservation stand against those who would exploit the Park for short-term profit. “Save Our History:
Yellowstone” examines the Park’s most pressing issues including the re-introduction of the wolf, the health
of the grizzly bear population, the policy on wildfire and the snowmobile war. What is at stake is no less than
the health of America’s premiere National Park. Host and reporter; Roger Mudd.
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GUNS OF INFAMY II & III
producer/writer/director
History Channel
Two, sixty-minute documentaries for the series, TALES OF THE GUN. Programs explored the historic and
political change wrought by guns used for political assassination. Each act told the story of a significant
political figure whose life was cut short by a gun: Martin Luther King, Robert Kennedy, Mahatma Gandhi,
Pancho Villa, Malcolm X, George Wallace, and Anwar Sadat, among others. Interviews included Camelia el
Sadat, daughter of Anwar Sadat and Dr. Arun Gandhi, the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi. Vassar conducted
all interviews, organized and selected stock footage and still photos, directed reenactments, constructed
the paper cut based upon the interviews, wrote the narration, directed the narration session and supervised
the editing.
AFTER THE ATTACK
producer/writer/director
Animal Planet
Four stories about four people who found themselves at the wrong place at the wrong time. A hiker in
Yellowstone, a surfer in South Africa, a mountain biker in California, and a swimmer in Florida all come
face to face with one of the world’s greatest predators - grizzly bear, great white shark, mountain lion and
alligator. Each of these predators faced near extinction and all of them are rebounding in great numbers.
While the populations of great predators are increasing so is the human pressure on their prime habitats.
These two specials investigates why encounters with humans and predators are on the rise. Hosted by
Dave Salmoni.
PROOF POSITIVE
director
Sci-Fi Channel
Reality explorations of ghosts, UFO sightings, unexplained phenomenon, and psychic and paranormal
events. Directed ten segments for this ten-part series.
RIVER IN DISGUISE
producer/writer/director
KABC - Discovery Channel
A tongue in cheek environmental film about L.A.’s long standing joke; the Los Angeles River. An impressionistic film about the river and the surprising beauty one can find there. The airing of the film initiated
public interest in restoring the Los Angeles River. Shot in 16-mm negative over a period of eighteen months.
Winner of five L.A. Emmy Awards and a Gold Cindy Award for Best Documentary.
TRACE EVIDENCE
producer/writer
Court TV
The case files of Dr. Henry Lee - America’s renowned forensic investigator. Dr. Lee opens his case files to
recount the true stories of how the trace evidence led to the solution of these confounding cases.
SECRET LIVES
Lifetime - Pilot
True Crime genre series for Lifetime Television. Dramatic reenactments based upon eyewitness interviews.
Series of five, one-hour programs. Each episode includes four stories.
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FAME SCHOOL
show runner/writer/director
Fox Family - Pilot
A television pilot that spotlighted the talented and complicated lives of the gifted dancers, singers, artists
and actors attending the “real” Fame School; the LaGuardia High School for the Performing Arts in New
York City. More than a “day in the life”, Fame School explores the relationships and the dramatic conflicts
within the lives of these talented young adults. The pilot features a unique combination of verite documentary coupled with theatrical presentations of dance and drama. Show-runner and producer for the pilot.
Personally supervised all phases of pre-production, casting, location shooting, and post. Required five
weeks of shooting in Manhattan as well as directing one of the two camera crews. Supervised the editing of
the program and wrote the narration. Worked closely with composer and graphics house to score the show
and create graphic sequences. Interfaced with legal counsel as well as the network executives responsible
for the show.
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