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About Starbright Media Corporation
Starbright
Media Corporation (SMC) is the administrative and marketing arm of a group
of companies founded in the early 1980s by George A. Colburn.
The group, with offices in Washington, D.C. area, East Lansing and Walloon
Lake, MI, and Santa Fe, NM, specializes in documentary television productions
and related educational programming for both formal and informal learners
at all age levels.
Companies within the SMC Group are:
NATIONAL VIDEO COMMUNICATIONS, a production company currently in post-production on "IKE: From Warrior to President," a Special for public television during the 50th anniversary of Dwight D. Eisenhower’s presidency, 1953-1961.
CONTEMPORARY LEARNING SYSTEMS, a company that produces the visual,
print and Internet educational materials for NVC productions, and for productions
of other companies. CLS is currently in pre-production on the educational
version of They Made America.
INTERNATIONAL VIDEO CONNECTION, a company that provides media education consulting services to a variety of clients from the worlds of business, television and education.
George
A. Colburn,
Ph.D., is President and Director of Operations for Starbright Media Corporation.
Colburn holds a doctorate in history from Michigan State University and is
an adjunct professor at Gettysburg College, where he frequently teaches courses
on film and history. He has also been a Senior Research Fellow for
The Eisenhower Foundation and in this capacity began preparation of a
book on Douglas Dillon (pictured at right with Colburn), Undersecretary of
State in the Eisenhower administration and JFK's Secretary of Treasury.
Colburn’s best known national television credit is as SMC’s writer and producer of a major documentary series on Dwight D. Eisenhower’s military and political careers, 1941 - 1961. Produced in association with Gancie Television, and entitled "The Eisenhower Legacy," the five-hour series was hosted by Gen. Colin L. Powell (U.S. Army, retired) and aired on The Disney Channel.
Colburn interviewed 120 witnesses for the Eisenhower series, including Presidents Nixon, Bush, Reagan and Ford, who all knew Ike, General John S. D. Eisenhower, his son, and other close observers of the major events of the era, including Pamela Churchill Harriman, former CIA Agent (later Director) William Colby, Ike’s Attorney General, Herbert Brownell, and numerous British, French, German and Russian officials, including the son and son-in-law of Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev.
With major funding from the Pew Charitable Trusts and produced in cooperation with the Eisenhower Institute, the series was expanded into 20 video programs for school use. In addition to this video component of more than seven hours of programming, "The Eisenhower Era" educational package includes an illustrated time-line/poster, teacher guides, student self-study computer programs and a 200-page Resource Book of original essays and key historical documents. Production is currently underway that will make "The Eisenhower Era" a multi-media distance education college telecourse in 2005. The telecourse will include 20 half-hour programs, and an interactive television component that will allow students immediate access to internet websites that are directly linked to the content of the programs.
Colburn is currently directing production of "Tomorrow’s America," a public television special on the history of immigration and the current "Great Wave" of immigration that is transforming the nation. His other production activities include the development of "America's Native Heroes: The Lives and Times of the Navajo Code Talkers," a television special that covers the return of several Code Talkers® and their family members to the Pacific islands of World War II where their unbroken code helps turn the tide of battle against the Japanese defenders. The documentary covers their exploits on the front lines, their history as "outcasts" in 20th Century America both before and after the war, and, finally, their recognition in 2001 by Congress and the President as legitimate American war heroes.
In addition to his television production work, Colburn has been recognized nationally as a leading producer of distance education programming linked to major television series. His credits at the University of California and as an independent producer include more than two dozen national, media-based educational programs, including THE ASCENT OF MAN (Jacob Bronowski), CONNECTIONS (James Burke), COSMOS (Carl Sagan), and THE HEART OF THE DRAGON (International Emmy winner). He is also the co-founder and associate director of the Santa Fe High Definition Workshops and the Santa Fe Television and Film Workshops. Currently, he is Senior Consultant for Innovations in Distance Education at San Diego State University's College of Extended Studies.
Dr. George Colburn
Post Office Box 309, Walloon Lake, MI 49796
517/332-6265 or 202/258-4887
StarbrightMC@cs.com
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