Richard Kilberg
President, Fred Friendly Seminars, Inc.

An award-winning documentary filmmaker and television executive, Richard Kilberg has been president of Fred Friendly Seminars, Inc. since 1997. Since that time, Fred Friendly Seminars has produced dozens of hours of programming for PBS as well as more than 50 custom seminars for trade associations, international organizations, government agencies, and corporations in a wide range of industries.

Under his leadership, the Seminars have been at the forefront in examining ethical, legal, economic and political challenges that have emerged in the 21st century. From advances in technology to the threat of epidemics, the impact on journalism of new media paradigms and the changing nature of war, these and other urgent contemporary issues carry with them profound consequences for personal liberty, social justice, and democratic process.

"The tendency of television is to simplify, simplify, simplify, which results in poor understanding, bad decision-making, demonization of those who disagree with you and a general retreat from involvement in the big, public issues of the day," says Kilberg, who finds genius in the ability of a Fred Friendly Seminar to open people's hearts and minds rather than making them more rigid or obdurate in the face of contentious issues. Sometimes even the program panelists are shocked to discover their capacity for empathy and consensus. "When Congressman Barney Frank participated in a Seminar on the ethics of end-of-life medical care decisions, a panelist from an evangelical Christian organization exclaimed "Why, I just can't believe how much I agree with Barney Frank!'" Kilberg recalls. "Later in the series, it was Congressman Frank's turn to remark, 'I can't believe how much I agree with Justice Scalia!' That was a delicious moment, and why I find these programs so satisfying to produce," Kilberg says.

Prior to joining the Seminars, Kilberg has produced, directed and/or executive produced a variety of distinguished television programs, including public affairs series, entertainment specials, and historical documentaries. The documentaries, which include The Negro Ensemble Company, Adam Clayton Powell, Huey Long, and The Brooklyn Bridge, have among them two Academy Award nominations, a Dupont Columbia Journalism award, an Ohio State Journalism award, a Christopher Medal, "Best of Festivals" awards, and many other honors. During his career, Kilberg has also been a programming and production executive at PBS, HBO and in the independent television production world.

Barbara Margolis
Executive Director, Fred Friendly Seminars, Inc.

From San Francisco to South America, Barbara Margolis explored social issues and public policies as a documentary filmmaker for 20 years before she began her association with Fred Friendly Seminars. She served as supervising producer on several major series in the 1990's and then joined the Fred Friendly Seminars organization full time as executive director in 1997. Her responsibilities include fund raising, project management, and oversight of the civic engagement initiatives that have become such a key component of the projects.

For Margolis, it has never been just about the broadcast. "In Chile back in the 70's, we would hang up a sheet between two trees, hook into the electricity in the street to run the projector, and show films outdoors at night," said Margolis. "There was nothing more powerful then film to help people understand social issues and start a dialogue about how they might make their lives better."

She continues to value the power of video as an educational tool, and under her direction the Seminars have developed extraordinary viewer guides, project web sites, and relationships with dozens of national and regional trade associations, government agencies, professional organizations and citizen groups. They have discovered a Fred Friendly Seminar program is the ideal point of departure for a conversation within their community.

Ms. Margolis, who was previously development director of the Independent Feature Project, is the author of In Focus: A Guide to Using Films, a primer on using video in the community. She has also produced and directed many distinguished films, among them the feature documentary Are We Winning, Mommy? America and the Cold War, the Oscar-nominated Adam Clayton Powell, and the three-part series for PBS, Declarations: Essays on American Ideals.

Ruth Friendly
Vice President and Senior Editorial Director, Fred Friendly Seminars, Inc.

"'It's just a larger classroom,' Fred would say to me," Ruth Friendly remembers. She joined her husband to work on his Media and Society Seminars in 1981, leaving behind a long career as a teacher. Serving as researcher, editor, producer, and executive producer over the years, she was an integral part of the team that received countless awards for many landmark PBS series, beginning with THE CONSTITUTION: That Delicate Balance. She also produced dozens of non-televised programs that Fred Friendly moderated for civic, legal, business, and educational organizations.

Following Fred's retirement, Ruth Friendly continued working on the productions, which were ultimately renamed the Fred Friendly Seminars in his honor. She plays an active role in "casting" the programs, shaping the hypotheticals, editing the video of the live productions, and working with dozens of organizations to maximize the use of the programs for civic engagement.

Friendly brings meticulous journalistic standards to the task and a great educator's love of the teachable moment, when just the right question can probe a challenging issue and open minds to the complexity of the issues that we face. She says, "In this 21st century, knowledge in genetics, neurobiology, the internet, economic theory, and so many other areas is exploding so rapidly that the ethical issues arising out of them barely have a chance to be considered. Too often they are left behind in the dust. With the Seminars, we try to halt the stampede and provide a structure and catalyst to help people move beyond the sound bytes and think more deeply."

Before trading in her blackboard for the television screen, Ruth Friendly taught for 17 years in the Scarsdale public school system and worked extensively on curriculum development for grades K through 6.