Q+A with Susan Thao UNDERSTORY DIGITAL SERIES PRODUCER
America Outdoors: Understory is the digital companion series to PBS’ America Outdoors with Baratunde Thurston . Both were produced right here at Twin Cities Public Television. We sat down with Susan Thao, the digital series producer, to learn more about her love of filmmaking and her experience making the series.
development. From pitching, to editing, filming, and I was a host.
I also put a lot of my [Hmong] culture in the project too, so it was fun to see that come alive on the screen. UNDERSTORY IS ONE OF THE FIRST NATIONAL PBS PRODUCTIONS THAT YOU’VE WORKED ON. HOW WAS THE PROCESS FOR YOU? The process of making the series has been a really fun learning experience for me to work with PBS Digital Studios and learn how they function, which is so different from making a show for broadcast. WHAT’S BEEN THE MOST FUN THING ABOUT WORKING ON UNDERSTORY ? Baratunde is great. I would probably say he is the highlight of this project. I think what’s really nice about him is that he brings out that passion in his guests and makes each episode relatable to audiences who might not know as much about the outdoors. Also, the team is awesome. It’s a really collaborative project with a lot of creative and wonderful people. I’m excited for our audiences to watch it!
WHAT INITIALLY MADE YOU INTERESTED IN FILMMAKING?
What first piqued my interested in film- making was actually photography. I was really into this DSLR camera that my dad had gotten me. I started taking footage with the camera and learning how to put it all together and it just made sense to me. DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE PIECE THAT YOU’VE WORKED ON AT TPT? Worn Within is my favorite piece. Mainly because I was a part of every step of its
Watch Understory on youtube.com/PBS .
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