The History of White People in America

Premiered October 07, 2024
Directed by Ed Bell, Pierce Freelon, Jonathan Halperin, Aaron Keane, and Drew Takahashi

Musical animated series dedicated to telling diverse stories that chronicle the shaping of race relations in America.

Episodes

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About the Documentary

A series of musical animations, chronicling diverse experiences of how race has helped shape American culture. These shorts provide insight into the unique lived experiences of historical figures who played a role in the evolving definitions of identity.

The Filmmakers

Ed Bell

Ed Bell is a filmmaker, creative director, and animation artist trained by mavericks Ralph Bakshi and Brad Bird. As a commercial director at Wild Brain, he developed various TV and film projects. He also contributed as a director on HBO’s Good Night Moon & Other Sleepytime Tales, which won an Emmy Award.

Pierce Freelon

Pierce Freelon is a two-time Grammy®-nominated artist, author, podcaster, and ice cream maker. He co-created the PBS Kids podcast Jamming on the Job and Beat Making Lab, an Emmy Award-winning web series. An Afrofuturist entrepreneur, Pierce founded Blackspace, a digital makerspace for teens and Coco Fro, a vegan, freeze-dried ice cream company.

Jonathan Halperin

Jon Halpherin is a three-time Emmy Award-winning filmmaker. He has produced, directed, written, and overseen documentaries for Netflix, Amazon, PBS, National Geographic, Time, ITVS, TED, and Discovery. He co-runs Room 608, a New York production company.

Aaron Keane

Aaron Keane started his 25-year career in audio engineering as a musician and recording engineer, working with diverse musical artists. Now he composes music for TV, film, and digital media. Credits include music composition for the Emmy Award-winning PBS series Twice Born and short films for TED Science and Wonder.

Drew Takahashi

Drew Takahashi is the emperor of Funjacket Enterprises, and was previously co-founder and chief creative officer of Colossal Pictures. He has worked on broadcast identities, commercials, music videos, and interfaces. Drew continues to design and direct corporate communications, transformative games, and animated portions of documentaries.

Documentaries Available to Watch Now

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Documentaries Coming Soon

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