Getting friendlier reception in L.A.

On the heels of heated meetings recently with independent producers and public broadcasters in New York and San Francisco, Corporation for Public Broadcasting executives were expecting more fireworks when they brought their roadshow to Los Angeles on Wednesday afternoon.

Instead, all but a handful of the 125 or so independent filmmakers and producers in attendance were there primarily to learn more about the corporation’s $20-million initiative, “America at a Crossroads.”

The long-awaited initiative to fund documentaries about the issues facing America after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks angered attendees in New York and San Francisco. They complained that the corporation, which administers federal funding for public broadcasting, claims it wants diversity to be reflected in its programming but has failed to present diverse voices on the panel discussions around the country.

Despite the overall businesslike tone of the two-hour session in Hollywood, a handful of Latino and African American producers said they were concerned that the corporation is only paying lip service to diversity, noting that the panelists were all white.

The meeting was led by Michael Pack, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s senior vice president for television programming, and panelists Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, a USC scholar; Steve Wasserman, editor of the Los Angeles Times Book Review; and Peter Robinson, a research fellow at the Hoover Institution.

“Why in cities like New York and Los Angeles, where minorities are the majority, are you keeping people out?” asked Alex Rivera, an independent producer who later said he was disappointed Jeffe took his comments personally.

Jeffe replied by saying the panel was selected because of its expertise and added, “I’m so tired of this.”

Pack, who was an independent producer before he joined the corporation a year ago, assured the audience that the 15-member advisory panel that will review the selection will be diverse.

For “America at a Crossroads,” the corporation seeks programs that address post-Sept. 11 issues, such as the duration and direction of the war on terrorism, civil liberty conflicts and America’s international role and image.

Filmmaker Erik Meiselman said he was concerned that his projects, which have the perspective of younger generations, would not be received well by PBS’ older viewers.

“It’s true that our viewership skews older, but we have a responsibility to try to reach that younger audience too,” Pack said. “Public broadcasting has been staying away from all things that are controversial. I think that should come back. I am encouraging people to make their programs as different as possible. We are committed to diversity of all types.”