WETA National Productions

For more than five decades, WETA has been a major producing station for PBS, creating exceptional television programs for audiences nationwide.

WETA is especially noted for its more than 35-year partnership with Ken Burns that has resulted in landmark television series such The Civil War, Jazz, Baseball, THE WAR, The National Parks: America’s Best Idea, The Dust Bowl, The Roosevelts: An Intimate History, The Vietnam War and Country Music. 

More recently, WETA has enjoyed a production partnership with the acclaimed Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr. that has brought to the American public the history documentaries Black America Since MLK: And Still I Rise, Africa’s Great Civilizations, Reconstruction: America After the Civil War, The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song and the beloved genealogy series Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. 

Additionally, our acclaimed news and public affairs series such as PBS NewsHour and Washington Week are staples of the national public television schedule.

More information about WETA's rich history of national productions and co-productions can be found on the Past Productions page. 

Below are just a few examples of national television productions currently in the WETA production pipeline. Look for them to be broadcast on public media stations nationwide in the months and years ahead!

Hiding in Plain Sight: Youth Mental Illness (2022)
Part of Well Beings, a national campaign on health created by WETA with a particular focus on youth mental health. This film will explore how young people are addressing their mental health needs and the impact of mental health stigma and stress on today’s youth. The four-hour film, executive produced by Ken Burns and produced and directed by Erik Ewers and Christopher Loren Ewers of Ewers Brother Productions, will look at the experiences of young people who live with mental health conditions and focus on the importance of awareness and compassion. This film will shine a clear light on what life is like for these young people as well as for the parents, teachers, friends and healthcare providers in their lives.

Benjamin Franklin (2022)
A biographical film about the colorful and extremely consequential life of one of the nation’s most complex and compelling Founding Fathers. Directed and executive produced by Ken Burns, written by Dayton Duncan, and produced by David Schmidt and Ken Burns, Benjamin Franklin is slated for broadcast on PBS in 2022.

Making Black America (w.t.) (2022)
A new documentary film from Henry Louis Gates, Jr., chronicling the story of “progress” from the perspective of African Americans who, trapped by Jim Crow rule, created a world of their own to survive and thrive.