Documentaries
Christopher Koch has received six national EMMY awards including the first President’s Award for superior, socially responsible programming and the George Foster Peabody Award, a Cable ACE, the Environmental Media Award, the Overseas Press Club’s Edward R. Murrow Award, a Dupont-Columbia University Award, a George Polk, and an Ohio State. He is currently a Professor at Montgomery College, teaching the history of telecommunications and, video production and visual story telling.
Who Am I?
A short video introduction to Christopher Koch
This Little Light written, produced and directed by Christopher Koch.
These stories were designed to give listeners in the north a better understanding of life in the south for African Americans. They are, by today’s standards, slow paced, accommodating long sound bites that add nuance and complexity to every situation. All twelve half hours taken together provide a powerful portrait of Freedom Summer, 1964, when 1000 largely white students came to Mississippi in the face of beatings and killings to register voters, set up freedom schools and empower the young people of Mississippi to take their lives into their own hands.
Little Light Pt 5 - The Freedom Schools
John Polcheck, a graduate student at Harvard University, explains why he came to Mississippi and how he was beaten while seeking medical help. Staunghton Lynd explains his plans for the Freedom Schools and why an understanding of black history is so important for Mississippi citizens. Students talk about their experience in the Freedom Schools and Sarah Liebler a teacher from Los Angeles talks about teaching in them.
Arabian Winds
On July 2nd, 2006, three Saudi princes and glider expert John Ballard made an unprecedented five-thousand-kilometer glider expedition across the deserts and mountains of Saudi Arabia. A beautiful view of Saudi Arabia from the air and a thrilling adventure over an unforgiving landscape, where a mistake can be fatal.
Blacklist: Hollywood on Trial
Written and Directed by Christopher Koch. Hosted by Alec Baldwin and featuring readings by Morgan Freeman, Rob Reiner, and Martin Sheen. Broadcast on American Movie Classics on February 27, 1996. Winner of a 1996 Rockie Award for Best Arts Documentary at the Banff Television Festival. Winner of the 1996 prime time Emmy Presidential Award and nominated for 2 other national Emmys.
Citizen Carter
A one-hour special on former President Jimmy Carter that focuses on his life after the presidency. A loving portrait of our most active ex-president. Broadcast in 1994 on the Discovery Channel.
Leonardo’s Legacy
Invention was a half-hour award-winning magazine program for The Discovery Channel produced in association with the Smithsonian Institution. Five seasons (59 programs) and a one-hour special on Leonard da Vinci, Leonardo's Legacy were videotaped on location. The special demonstrates the relevance of Leonardo to today’s experimental engineers and tinkerers. The Field Producer was Idanna Pucci. The series was the Discovery Channel’s highest rated original series.
Nicaragua: A House Divided
A one hour special on Nicaragua’s premier newspaper family, the Chomorros. One son ran a pro-Sandinista newspaper, another the major opposition newspaper and a third that in between. The tension of revolutionary change is dramatically captured in this documentary produced with unprecedented access to both sides. Broadcast October 13, 1983. Winner of the 1983 National Emmy for Outstanding Background Analysis of a Single Current Story.
Normandy: The Great Crusade
An hour and forty minute special commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Allied invasion of Europe. The program premiered on the Discovery Channel on May 30, 1994. It has been broadcast internationally, distributed on home video and in a CD-ROM version, and is a winner of the 1994 George Foster Peabody Award. The film tells the story of the war from letters and post combat interviews with American, German, and British soldiers and French civilians. Meticulously researched and including never before seen war footage. Narrated by Charles Durning.
People Count: The Facts of Life
A one-hour special on global population and consumption broadcast on Turner Broadcasting in connection with the World Population Conference held in Cairo in September 1994. Later rebroadcast on PBS. Remarkably still relevant today, this program warned of a planet about to be overwhelmed as it visits key cities around the world. Narrated by Alfre Woodard.
Arctic Adventure
Native American actor Graham Greene visits an international Arctic Park that was intended to span the Bering Sea and include parts of Russia and Alaska. A detailed look at what the arctic was like at the end of the Twentieth Century. Produced for Audubon and Turner Original Productions. Broadcast on TBS on April 1997.
Reel Models
Features the fascinating and unknown stories of early women filmmakers through rare film clips, archival footage, and interviews. Hosted by Barbra Streisand together with Shirley MacLaine, Susan Sarandon, Hilary Swank, and Minnie Driver. Premiered on American Movie Classics May 2000. Winner of a 2001 EMMY Award.
The Fine Art of Goofing Off Part 1
Three half hours of adult animation produced for PBSA with audio genius Paul Jacobs and animator Bob McClay. A review in Life Magazine said it: “… looks at work and leisure, the "pursuit" of happiness ("sit still and let happiness pursue you for a "while") and the idea of time. There is a carburetor that talks like a sociologist, a lump of clay that plays with itself, commercials in behalf of drudgery, a rock group called Funky Hair and the Painted Guitar … audience participation games (the tallest person in your living room is Supposed to get up and follow a dot around on the TV screen), doodling and other soul satisfying nonsense.”
The Fine Art of Goofing Off Part 2
The Fine Art of Goofing Off Part 3
City at Peace
From first audition to opening night, this film chronicles the making of an original musical based on the lives of sixty Washington, DC teenagers. During the course of the year, this cross section of American youth overcome difference of race and class to discover a common humanity. Premiered at the1998 Los Angeles Independent Film Festival. Broadcast premier on HBO on May 1st, 1998. Christopher Koch, producer. Susan Koch, Director. Executive Producers: Barbra Streisand and Cis Corman.
Sky Archaeology
Directed this one-hour science adventure. We trekked 45 miles through the Guatemalan rain forest to discover an ancient, lost Mayan city first observed from 22 miles in space. The Learning Channel, August 1998.
Killer Whales of Tysfjord
Directed this National Geographic Explorer special. Five hundred miles north of the Arctic Circle in Norway, underwater cameramen capture never-before-seen images of Killer Whales as they mate, mourn their dead, and herd thousands of herring in a feeding frenzy. Spring 19977.
D.C. Follies
Directed and wrote an hour special for American Movie Classics about how Hollywood has viewed American politics from the silent films of the 1920s to today. First broadcast October 1996.
Killer Whales of Tysfjord
Directed this National Geographic Explorer special. Five hundred miles north of the Arctic Circle in Norway, underwater cameramen capture never-before-seen images of Killer Whales as they mate, mourn their dead, and herd thousands of herring in a feeding frenzy. Spring 19977.
CyberSpace
Produced, directed, and wrote a one-hour special in association with Time Warner's The News Exchange for broadcast on the Discovery Channel, April 5, 1995.
Inside The USSR
American journalists in Moscow. Broadcast April 14, 1983 on PBS. Winner of the Edward R. Murrow Award and a 1983 National Emmy for Outstanding Coverage of A Continuing News Story.
The Eighties
The Nineteen Eighties shaped the future as significantly as the Nineteen Sixties and it gave us the world we are living in today. It was a time when demonizing government was common, but it was not a groundswell from below. Ordinary people hate taxes and the insolence of petty bureaucrats, but most like the benefits they enjoy through their government, such as the postal system, the interstate highway system, clean air and water, national parks and defense.
Inside The USSR
American journalists in Moscow. Broadcast April 14, 1983 on PBS. Winner of the Edward R. Murrow Award and a 1983 National Emmy for Outstanding Coverage of A Continuing News Story.