James and his daughter Willene
James and his daughter, Willene











Cook County Jail
Cook County Jail















Richard at the SRO
Richard in front of his SRO


Rebecca Perl and her son, Griffin
Rebecca Perl and her son, Griffin


The Walls Unit, Huntsville, TX
The Walls Unit, Huntsville, Texas


Condemed murderer Jerry Lee Hogue
Condemned murderer Jerry Lee Hogue




Peg Collison in San Mateo, California
Peg Collison in San Mateo, California













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Learning to Live: James' Story (2001)
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"Learning to Live: James' Story" is the story of an ex-felon's transition from prison to the free world. James, who narrates, is 38 and has been in and out of prison all his adult life. After completing a seven-year prison term for burglary, James comes to live at St. Leonard's halfway house for ex-offenders on Chicago's west side. Over three months, James goes through a rigorous education process that includes job training, drug counseling and twelve-step support meetings. His recovery is tested when his eighteen-year-old son, whom he hadn't seen in fourteen years, is arrested on a drug charge. After landing his "dream job" in customer service for a cable company, James leaves the halfway house having begun to "learn how to live." See a bonus photo of James speaking to a group at St. Leonard's, and of James at the documentary's premiere. Winner: the Edward R. Murrow Award; the Third Coast International Audio Festival Public Service Award; and the 2002 Society of Professional Journalists Sigma Delta Chi Award. Judges in the latter competition called it "a tightly straightforward report that skillfully wove actuality and narration, James telling his story as only he could. It was clear, concise and remarkably comprehensive."


A Danger to Self or Others (1999)
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"A Danger to Self or Others" portrays everyday life inside Cook County Jail's Mental Health Division - the largest provider of mental health services in the United States. On any given day, there are 10,000 men and women held inside the Chicago jail, the largest of its kind in the United States. An estimated 10%, or 1,000, are suffering from some form of mental illness. In many cases, it's the first time their disease has been diagnosed. With fewer state mental hospitals and limited resources at the community level, jails have increasingly become a critical provider of mental health services throughout the country. The documentary leads listeners through various stages of treatment -- from "Receiving" where the staff must perform a kind of triage and make an immediate psychiatric assessment; to the "Acute Care Unit" where the mental heath team has just a few days to stabilize detainees; to the "Residential Treatment Unit" which offers longer term individual and group therapy; and finally to the release process which tries to link released detainees with mental health resources on the outside. "A Danger to Self or Others" sheds light on an institution that has become a critical link in America's vast and complicated matrix of mental health services. Winner: Society of Professional Journalists' Sigma Delta Chi award; Edward R. Murrow Award; National Mental Health Media Association's Media Award; National Federation of Community Broadcasters' Golden Reel Award.


Life on the Outside (2000)
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The story of two chronically mentally ill, homeless repeat offenders as they attempt to break the cycle that, for years, has spun them from jail to psychiatric hospitals to the streets and back to jail again. The documentary is a follow-up to "A Danger to Self or Others," which profiles the mental health division at Chicago's Cook County Jail. "Life on the Outside" tells the story of Colbert, beginning with his release from Chicago's Cook County Jail, and Richard, who's been arrested 137 times but who's managed to stay out of jail for more than one year. See a bonus page of photos of Colbert and Richard. Winner: Public Radio News Directors' Award; National Federation of Community Broadcasters' Golden Reel Award


Scenes from a Transplant (1998)
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"Scenes" follows National Public Radio health science correspondent Rebecca Perl's battle with cancer. In November 1995, Perl was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. She learned had a tumor in her chest, six months after giving birth to a baby boy. Months of chemotherapy and radiation proved unsuccessful, leaving only one treatment possibility: a lethal dose of chemotherapy followed by a life-saving bone marrow transplant. This award-winning documentary follows her story through the transplant. We also produced a film of this story, which was broadcast on HBO. See a bonus photo of Rebecca and Dan. Winner: duPont-Columbia Silver Baton Award; Edward R. Murrow Award; National Federation of Community Broadcasters Award; Silver Hugo Award; New York Festival World Medal for Health and Medical Information Award.


Huntsville Prison Blues (2001)
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Texas has the largest prison system in America, with more than 150,000 prisoners behind bars. The headquarters of the state's Department of Criminal Justice is in Huntsville, a small, conservative town that's home to nine state prisons. In the center of Huntsville is the Walls Unit. The oldest prison in Texas, it has gained notoriety in recent years as the location of Texas' famously-frequent executions. But another, less-known function of the Walls Unit is mustering out the Texas system's prisoners: every day, more than 150 men are processed, paroled and released. See a beautiful photo essay crafted by photographer Andrew Lichtenstein; we worked in tandem with Andrew to document a typical release day in Huntsville.


Execution Day: Huntsville, Texas (1998)
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On March 11, 1998, 47-year-old Jerry Lee Hogue was put to death for the 1979 arson-murder of an Arlington, Texas, woman. Unlike the lethal injection earlier that year of Karla Faye Tucker (the first woman put to death in Texas in 130 years), which drew hundreds of national and international reporters and demonstrators, Hogue's execution -- like most in Huntsville -- went largely unnoticed. We spend the day of Hogue's execution interviewing Huntsville residents all over town: the mayor, city manager, and district attorney, none of whom is aware that an execution was scheduled that day. Neither do the regulars at the Cafe Texan, nor the women getting manicures at "Perfect Nails" on Main Street just a few blocks from the death house. "I don't feel anything," says the prison spokesperson. "I'm pretty much on automatic pilot," says the newscaster. At year's end, Collison appeared on 60 Minutes in a segment exploring the possibility Hogue may have been innocent. Winner: National Federation of Community Broadcasters Award


Mom's Good Move (2000)
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Whether they are forced to, or whether they plan to, each year more and more seniors move into retirement homes. In the year 2000, Peg Collison was one of them. Peg left the town of San Mateo, California - where she'd been living for almost 35 years - and moved two hours away into a newly built retirement community in Davis, California. These transitions are often difficult not just for the person who's actually moving but for family members and for friends left behind. Peg's son, Dan, gave his mom a tape recorder and asked her document her transition. Together, Peg and Dan produced a three part series on Peg's move and what it meant to her and her family. See bonus photos of Peg's family in 1970, and Peg's family now. Winner: Clarion Award; National Federation of Community Broadcasters' Golden Reel Award.


When All Else Fails (2002)
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"When All Else Fails" is a first-person account of a man undergoing electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), formerly known as electroshock. Rob MacGruder tells of his lifelong battle with bipolar disorder and how ECT has repeatedly saved his life. The story follows MacGruder for almost a year as he falls into a severe depression, undergoes a series of ECT treatments and gradually recovers. During that time, MacGruder loses his job, and loses his children to the state.


Fear on the Inside (1994)
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A week in the life of a woman trying to leave her physically-abusive husband. The documentary begins three days after Anna's estranged husband has threatened to kill her and their baby at gunpoint. Anna keeps an audio journal of her attempt to have her husband, who she says beat her repeatedly before they separated, arrested. She tells of her frustration with the police and legal system and of her attempt to live a "'normal life." Winner: Robert F. Kennedy Award Honorable Mention; Clarion Award; Exceptional Merit Media Award.

Long Haul Productions

Colbert at the crisis center
Colbert at the crisis center

Waiting It Out

"Ordinary experience has in it all the elements of great drama, if you happen to be lucky enough to be around when it's happening and recognize it for what it is." -- documentary filmmaker Frederick Wiseman


These long-term profiles of Americans in transition explore how people cope with changes in their lives -- how they handle adversity, how they measure their successes and failures. These voices, from people on the margins of society, are often overlooked or misunderstood -- but their stories are poignant and poetic.