‘American Masters’ and Firelight Media to Premiere Season 3 of ‘In the Making’ Beginning May 6, 2025
Documentary short film series follows emerging cultural icons on their journeys to becoming masters of their artistic disciplines, including the five-time Tony-nominated director and choreographer Camille A. Brown.
May 1, 2025 — American Masters and Firelight Media today announced the digital premiere of the third season of the documentary short series In the Making. The new season focuses on eight artists across a variety of disciplines whose work explores and influences American culture today. The series will premiere on Tuesday, May 6, on the PBS YouTube channel, pbs.org/americanmasters, and the PBS app, with subsequent films in the series streaming biweekly on Tuesdays.
The first film in the new season, Camille A. Brown: Giant Steps, follows the 5-time Tony-nominated director and choreographer of Broadway’s Gypsy and Hell’s Kitchen as she elevates the possible with bold explorations of everyday movement, and African Diasporic dance. The film, co-directed by Shellée Haynesworth and Michelle Parkerson, foregrounds Brown’s visionary talent — affirming urban youth, Black female identity, and community power — from her Queens, New York neighborhood to the Broadway stage, television and movie screens, and schools around the world.
Additional episodes in the new season of In the Making and their filmmakers include:
- Sarah Thankam Mathews: After All This, dir. Andrew Nadkarni
After All This profiles the author as pressure mounts to follow up her highly acclaimed debut novel. The film follows Thankam Mathews as she excavates her past in India and Oman, contends with her present as a rising literary star, and imagines new futures of immigration, justice, and community. - Gioncarlo Valentine: Exposures, dir. Zeshawn Ali
In Exposures, Valentine’s lush and tender photography is on full display.
The film explores how documented intimacy is a radical act of self-exploration for Gioncarlo as he leaves behind a formative chapter of his life, turning the lens inward as he searches for home. - Danielle Scott: Ancestral Call, dirs. Sonia Kennebeck and Tetiana Anderson
Ancestral Call follows the multi-racial, mixed-media artist as she risks her own well-being by exposing herself to the intergenerational trauma of the Atlantic Slave Trade. She traces her ancestors’ lives for a greater purpose: creating art that exposes the wretched pain and intense beauty of the era while guiding her audience through an experiential journey. - Norman Teague: Love Reigns Supreme, dir. Adewole A. Abioye
Love Reigns Supreme follows the furniture maker and conceptual artist as he prepares for a solo exhibition while confronting the existential crisis facing Black youth through his work and mentorship. - House of Aama: Threads of Legacy, dir. Jamal Ademola
Threads of Legacy explores the unique creative process and familial narrative behind the acclaimed fashion label House of Aama, led by Akua Shabaka and her mother, Rebecca Henry. The film delves into their creative process and spiritual approach to fashion, anchored in personal archives, Black folklore, and storytelling. - Edel Rodriguez: Freedom is a Verb, dirs. Mecky Creus and Adrienne Hall
Freedom is a Verb is a portrait of the Cuban-American graphic artist and graphic novelist, offering a vivid exploration of his journey from his early life in Cuba to acclaim in the United States. This visual and immersive documentary intimately connects the viewer with Rodriguez’s iconic artwork and the relentless pursuit of freedom that defines his life and work. - Maryam Taghavi: Estranged Letters, dir. Assia Boundaoui
Estranged Letters follows the Iranian-American in the lead-up to her first major solo exhibition. Her abstracted work on perspective and the Islamic occult has coalesced into a series of sculptures and paintings that strive to signify the unseen and grapple with the immutable distance of migration.
The full slate of In the Making Season 3 films premiered in a special program at the 2024 DOC NYC Festival. Films from previous seasons have garnered Webby, Telly, and Regional Emmy® Awards, as well as multiple nominations from the NAACP Image Awards.
In the Making is a production of Firelight Media in association with The WNET Group’s American Masters. Executive producers are Stanley Nelson, Michael Kantor, Marcia Smith, Monika Navarro, and Joe Skinner. Robinder Uppal is supervising producer.
For American Masters, Michael Kantor is executive producer, Julie Sacks is series producer, and Joe Skinner is digital lead.
Now in its 39th season on PBS, American Masters illuminates the lives and creative journeys of our nation’s most enduring artistic giants — those who have left an indelible impression on our cultural landscape — through compelling, unvarnished stories. Setting the standard for documentary film profiles, the series has earned widespread critical acclaim: 28 Emmy Awards — including 10 for Outstanding Nonfiction Series and five for Outstanding Nonfiction Special — two News & Documentary Emmys, 14 Peabodys, three Grammys, two Producers Guild Awards, an Oscar, and many other honors. To further explore the lives and works of more than 290 masters past and present, the American Masters website offers full episodes, film outtakes, filmmaker interviews, the podcast “American Masters: Creative Spark,” educational resources, digital original series and more. The series is a production of The WNET Group.
American Masters is available for streaming concurrent with broadcast on all station-branded PBS platforms, including PBS.org and the PBS app, available on iOS, Android, Roku streaming devices, Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, Samsung Smart TV, Chromecast and VIZIO. PBS station members can view many series, documentaries and specials via PBS Passport. For more information about PBS Passport, visit the PBS Passport FAQ website.
American Masters’ commitment to accessible programming is a continuation of PBS’s mission to provide more resources and availability of audio-described content streaming on PBS.org. PBS and American Masters programming with audio descriptions (AD) can be found here.
Major funding for In the Making is provided by The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, with additional support from the Rosalind P. Walter Foundation, Anderson Family Charitable Fund, The Marc Haas Foundation, The Charina Endowment Fund, Ambrose Monell Foundation, Kate W. Cassidy Foundation, Sue and Edgar Wachenheim III, and Philip & Janice Levin Foundation.
About The WNET Group
The WNET Group creates inspiring media content and meaningful experiences for diverse audiences nationwide. It is the community-supported home of New York’s THIRTEEN — America’s flagship PBS station — WLIW21, THIRTEEN PBS KIDS, WLIW World and Create; NJ PBS, New Jersey’s statewide public television network; Long Island’s only NPR station WLIW-FM; ALL ARTS, the arts and culture media provider; newsroom NJ Spotlight News; and FAST channel PBS Nature. Through these channels and streaming platforms, The WNET Group brings arts, culture, education, news, documentary, entertainment, and DIY programming to more than five million viewers each month. The WNET Group’s award-winning productions include signature PBS series Nature, Great Performances, American Masters, and Amanpour and Company and trusted local news programs like NJ Spotlight News with Briana Vannozzi. Inspiring curiosity and nurturing dreams, The WNET Group’s award-winning Kids’ Media and Education team produces the PBS KIDS series Cyberchase, interactive Mission US history games, and resources for families, teachers and caregivers. A leading nonprofit public media producer for more than 60 years, The WNET Group presents and distributes content that fosters lifelong learning, including initiatives addressing poverty, jobs, economic opportunity, social justice, understanding, and the environment. Through Passport, station members can stream new and archival programming anytime, anywhere. The WNET Group represents the best in public media. Join us.
About Firelight Media
Firelight Media, which celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2025, is a nonprofit organization that supports, resources, and advocates on behalf of documentary filmmakers of color. Firelight Media’s artist programs include the Documentary Lab, an 18-month fellowship for underrepresented filmmakers; Groundwork Regional Lab, which supports underrepresented filmmakers in the American South, midwest, and U.S. Territories; and the William Greaves Funds for mid-career filmmakers. Firelight Media also produces digital short film series, including HOMEGROWN: A Part Of/Apart From, for PBS Digital Studios, and In the Making, with PBS’ American Masters.
