Posted on 08/26/2011 12:53:05 PM PDT by STARWISE
George W. Bush: The 9/11 Interview Director/Producer Peter Schnall recently sat down with Polioptics hosts Adam Belmar and Josh King to discuss the extraordinary opportunity of working on this film.
Known for living a very private life since leaving office, President Bush has only commented publicly on rare occasions.
For Schnall to be able to sit down with the president for over four hours speaking candidly, a true conversation with no notes or previously-delivered questions, was quite an honor and privilege as a filmmaker.
Schnall shares his experience documenting history, how he was able to land the opportunity and gain access to never-before-seen footage and imagery, the unique challenges he faced, and much more.
Short video excerpt - Pres. George W. Bush
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Audio - Interview with Peter Schnall about Pres. Bush's interview: 9/11 remembrances
*snip*
When I worked at the White House, one of my favorite projects was working with a team from the National Geographic Channel on a documentary called Inside the White House, which was narrated by Morgan Freeman.
More information about the show is here and, if you’ve got some time on your hands, you can watch it here on Hulu. Pay close attention for my brief cameo as a much younger man.
A White House takes some risks when it allows documentarians with cameras behind-the-scenes to see how the sausage of presidential events gets made. But in the right hands, these efforts offer a window on history and the Institution of the Presidency that no daily news coverage can match.
It takes trust, and filmmaker Peter Schnall is a man who can be trusted. He worked on the White House project and is the cameraman behind so many titles that educate millions of parents and their kids about the wonders around them.
Included in his filmography, which includes work that earned him seven EMMY awards, are many of Robert Ballard’s expeditions to the Titanic and the mysteries of the deep that keep my son and daughter transfixed on long drives through New England.
Former President George W. Bush, one of the principal characters in a later Schnall project, On Board Air Force One, trusted Peter so much that he invited him down to his office in Dallas in early May to offer his own account of what happened in the historic days between September 11 and September 15, 2001, almost ten years ago.
They talked for four hours, resulting in a stunning 48 minute documentary that premieres on the National Geographic Channel on August 28, 2011, inaugurating what will surely be a roadblock of broadcast remembrances of the horrific anniversary.
No one needs to narrate this special broadcast, except the former President himself. Here is a preview of that must-see TV:
The video cannot be shown at the moment. Please try again later. (((Note: see above and HERE)))
I wrote about my own perspective on the optics of 9/11 in the Story of Polioptics, Part 6, found on an earlier post on this site, but President Bush’s personal recollections are so much more illuminating.
Peter Schnall didn’t even know if he would be able to get them on tape. He arrived in Dallas on the evening of May 1, 2011, with expectation that he would have two sessions with President Bush.
But as he collected his gear at baggage claim at DFW, his eyes, along with everyone else in the terminal, were transfixed on the television monitors above the carousel. President Barack Obama was about to announce to the world that Osama bin Laden had been killed by U.S. Special Forces.
Would President Bush still consent to the interview? Would he be called away to stand with President Obama at the White House?
History will note that President Bush largely kept silent, as he has since he left office. But he didn’t keep silent with Peter Schnall. They talked. And talked. And talked.
This wasn’t your usual staged interview in an ex-president’s office, with the standard family photos and memorabilia arranged on the credenza as an ever-so-blurry backdrop.
As Peter explains to Adam Belmar and me, the former President walked in with no notes and just talked. For his part, Peter was more interested in creating a neutral “black box” in which to interview the former President, with the sights and sounds of 9/11, and the days that followed, providing all the color that was needed for the documentary.
In the show itself, Peter expertly intercuts footage from his Air Force One documentaries, along with previously unseen White House still photos and video.
On the soundtrack, beside the President’s voice, is somber but electrifying music mixed with air traffic control conversations with Air Force One on 9/11. Taken together, it weaves a unique narrative of a week seared in our collective memory.
The day started innocently enough for George W. Bush on a presidential trip. He received his daily intelligence brief. It seemed so…normal. He went out for a long jog at the golf course at which he was staying in Sarasota, Florida seen, as we so often see it, in the grainy long-range pool video shot by network cameramen keeping a watchful eye on the President when he ventures outside.
Then, the motorcade over to the Emma T. Booker Elementary School for another one of the largely unremarkable “No Child Left Behind” events with students across the country. As that event was unfolding, the world changed forever.
President Bush takes over the story from there… I encourage you to watch the show: August 28 on the National Geographic Channel.
(((PING))) for later.
History will prove him to be a great president. He loves this country and its people. A man of courage and conviction who had the utmost respect for his office. God bless President Bush.
I will be watching Sunday night. We miss you Mr President.
I hope he understands how much the rest of us love and admire him.
They should come to a Rangers game.
Its a bad picture because all I had was my cell phone, but on the field in the red Rangers uniform is Ron Washington, next to him facing the camera in the black shirt is Nolan Ryan and the guy in the brown shirt with the blue ball cap on that Ryan is talking to is President Bush. I was about 18 to 20 rows up.
AMEN! He certainly will go down as one of the best. In my lifetime he’s right up there in the top 2. Reagan is my #1 and W. is a close 2nd. Whoever is third is a distant third.
Amen .. !
History will record his diligence and duty.
Most assuredly (under other spin and labels)!!!
If anyone wants to know the difference between George W. Bush and Barak Hussein Obama, have them view and compare every tape of the soldier and Marine faces when each of the Presidents enters to speak to them.
Oh you know I will be watching this.
they had time to shoot dice? weird
I wonder how much of a hit piece this will be
Love, Luv, Lhuve. During one of Obama’s speeches on the military, there’s a shot of the audience. One soldier reading a book and another one is sound asleep. So wonderful.
I wish I had a wall poster of that.
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