America to Me

America to Me is a 2018 American documentary television series directed by Steve James, produced by Kartemquin Films and Participant Media.[1] The 10-episode series was filmed during the 2015-2016 school year at Oak Park and River Forest High School (OPRF) located in Oak Park, Illinois. The series chronicles daily life of twelve students spanning "all the grades and all the tracks within the school".[2]

America to Me
TV release poster
Directed bySteve James
Country of originUnited States
Original language(s)English
No. of episodes10
Production
Editor(s)Leslie Simmer, David E. Simpson, Alanna Schmelter, Rubin Daniels, Jr.
Running timeEpisodes 1 through 9: 60 minutes each; Episode 10: 90 minutes
Production company(s)Kartemquin Films and Participant Media
DistributorStarz
Release
Original releaseAugust 26, 2018 (2018-08-26)

Filming

The OPRF principal Nathaniel Rouse and then-superintendent Steven Isoye opposed the filming and declined to be interviewed for the series. Nevertheless, the school administration cooperated after the filming was approved by the school’s board with some restrictions. According to James, his team was prevented from doing certain things. He said, "I think your sense watching the series is that we're kind of everywhere we want to be, even though we weren't everywhere we wanted to be".[2]

Because of the scope of the project, James split the job of directing and filming between himself and three other "segment directors": Kevin Shaw, who is African-American; Bing Liu, who is Asian-American; and Rebecca Parrish, who is white. According to Kevin Shaw, James gave his co-directors "every opportunity" to have their filmmaking voice, "he wanted it; he needed it".[3] Recruiting a multicultural team of filmmakers helped reducing real or perceived white bias of the series, providing four different points of view.[3]

Distribution

The series' author, Steve James, wanted to balance financial conditions of his distribution contract with the accessibility and discoverability of the series to the viewers. For the first run of the show, he forwent streaming services because he was afraid the series would get lost among thousands of other titles. He also expressed disdain for advertising breaks, pervasive on non-premium cable services. Ultimately, he chose Starz, which carries no advertising. "America to Me" became Starz' first endeavor into serialized documentaries.[4]

As of March, 2019 the series has not been made available on physical media, but is available through major streaming services in the U.S. like Amazon Prime[5] (requires additional Starz subscription), Vudu,[6] YouTube[7] and Google Play.[8] Of notable exception is Netflix, which does not offer the series.

Critical response

Since the series premiere in August 2018, America to Me has received positive reviews from critics. On Metacritic it got the third highest score of any 2018 TV program (96, Universal Acclaim), making it the best reviewed new show of the year.[9] The series has been praised for "detailed look at inequality in America through the lens of a storied high school near Chicago",[10] for "bitingly honest mediation of the ways race, class, and equity play out in Chicago’s progressive suburb of Oak Park",[11] and was pronounced a "testament to how individuals can persevere within a broken system, and how much harder that system makes it for some of them".[12]

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References
  1. "America to Me premieres tonight on Starz as 2018's best reviewed original TV show". 26 August 2018.
  2. "Behind the scenes of docuseries 'America to Me,' about racial inequity at Oak Park and River Forest High School". 20 August 2018.
  3. "Behind the scenes of 'America to Me'". 12 September 2018.
  4. "Steve James on 'America to Me' and the Fight to Get Documentaries Seen in an Era of Too Much TV". 28 October 2018.
  5. "America to Me on Amazon Prime".
  6. "America to Me on Vudu".
  7. "America to Me on YouTube".
  8. "America to Me on Google Play".
  9. "America to Me: Season 1".
  10. "America to Me Tackles Race in New Ways". 4 September 2018.
  11. "What America to Me Told Me About My Own High School". 26 October 2018.
  12. "Steve James on How Oak Park Has Reacted to America to Me". 30 October 2018.
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