Our American Family

We are excited to announce our fifth documentary, Our American Family: The Clarks, begins this February! Summary: For generations, the Clark family of Frankford, Delaware has shown tremendous support of one another as members faced hard times with tender loyalty. Our American Family: The Clarks traces the lives of this African-American family with seven children as they employ humor, resourcefulness and respect for all to move through the Depression, WWII, and racial tension.

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After the amazing news that Our American Family: The Futuras went national on PBS World Channel in May, the little family history project that could received the wonderful news that Our American Family: The Barreras was picked up for national coverage on PBS World Channel on October 9-10, as part of Hispanic Heritage Month!

Thank you for your support of Our American Family and our goal to inspire viewers to capture their own family’s voices of wisdom while they still can.

Next up: Our American Family: The Clarks, profiling an African American family from Delaware, launching in February 2016.

Our American Family fans: Most of you will be able to watch Our American Family: The Futuras on your World Channel PBS station (your market’s secondary PBS channel) this Wednesday, May 20, at 4PM Pacific / 5PM Mountain / 6PM Central / 7PM Eastern. 131 airings will take place at that time nationwide – enjoy the show!

The latest Our American Family documentary, The Futuras, will be available to public television stations in time for May’s Asian American Heritage Month. By all indications, this powerful installment in the Our American Family series will be our most viewed to date. Here’s a synopsis:

Through hard work, the Furutas, a Japanese American family of Wintersburg, CA established a successful goldfish farm, only to have their business devastated and family separated in the wake of WWII. Following years in an Arizona relocation camp, their indomitable spirit prevails as they return home and band together to pursue the American dream a second time.

Our American Family – The Barreras fed to stations on October 31, and already has 26 airings on the books, from Kentucky to Michigan to California.

This compelling story takes us from the darkness of a coal mine in New Mexico to vibrant beauty under the California sun, providing a compelling narrative of unwavering commitment to family.

You can help Our American Family broadcast in your area by contacting your local public television station and asking the station to include the documentaries in their programming schedule.

Our American Family creator Steve Young enjoyed visiting with Scott Fisher on the Extreme Genes radio program to discuss Our American Family. Take a listen, interview begins at the 11:10 minute mark:

Paulette Stevens of Life Story Library Foundation sat down with Our American Family creator Steve Young to learn more about the inspiration behind the series.

Our American Family fans, we’re excited to let you know that our first documentary, The Youngs, (released to PBS affiliates Oct 2012) has now been aired 397 times in 80 markets, and The Smiths has aired 229 times in 57 markets since its release just over three months ago. Thank you very much for your support! Next up this spring – The Barreras of New Mexico, followed by the Furuta family of Los Angeles!

Our American Family founder and executive producer Steve Young will deliver a keynote address Saturday, November 9, 2013 at the annual conference of the Association of Personal Historians in Washington, D. C. APH is an underwriter of Our American Family: The Smiths. We value our partnership with APH, as their organization’s mission overlaps almost entirely with that of the Our American Family project.

Steve will share how his journey to capture his father’s family story has grown into a multi-documentary project for public television. He will discuss project methodology from initial contact with a family to the completed film, as well as the process of working within the public television system.

Hello Our American Family Viewers!

We’re pleased and excited to announce the release of our latest Our American Family documentary, featuring the Willie and Rena Smith family of Goldthwaite, Texas. The Smiths are one of many families who applied to be a part of the Our American Family project, and we know you’ll fall in love with Bob, Lou, Mae and Arthur as they tell you their everyday family’s extraordinary story.

Our American Family: The Smiths will become available for broadcast on public television stations beginning in late September 2013. Please reach out to your local station and ask them to consider airing this special program!

VIEW TRAILER for OUR AMERICAN FAMILY: THE SMITHS