About the Producers


Sarah Wallis

Sarah Wallis, ​director of Russia’s Open Book
Sarah Wallis, ​director of Russia’s Open Book

RUSSIA’S OPEN BOOK co-director Sarah Wallis is a Russian speaker and a published author with over 20 years of documentary film experience, including eight years with the BBC. Credits include Letters from St Petersburg, The People’s Century (which won both the DuPont Peabody and Emmy awards for her episode, “Master Race”); and Homecoming, about Alexander Solzhenitsyn (Royal Television Society Award). Wallis’s books (with Svetlana Palmer) include A War in Words (Simon & Schuster) and We Were Young and at War (Harper Collins).



Paul Mitchell

Paul Mitchell

RUSSIA’S OPEN BOOK is co-directed by Paul Mitchell, who won a 2012 Peabody Award for the BBC/NatGeo television series, Putin, Russia and the West. Since 1990 Mitchell has lived in the UK, producing award-winning films for the BBC, Channel 4, France Télévision, and PBS, among others. His films have covered subjects as diverse as the history of perestroika and rock and roll in the USSR to the fate of the orphans of Argentina’s dirty war. His multipart series The Death of Yugoslavia (1995) is ranked no. 87 on the British Film Institute’s list of the 100 greatest British television programs ever to have been screened. Mitchell’s films also have won the du Pont-Columbia Award, the Peabody Award, and the Emmy, BAFTA, Royal Television Society, New York Festival, and the Greirson awards.





WNET

WNET logo

In 2013, WNET is celebrating the 50th Anniversary of THIRTEEN, New York’s flagship public media provider. As the parent company of THIRTEEN and WLIW21 and operator of NJTV, WNET brings quality arts, education and public affairs programming to over 5 million viewers each week. WNET produces and presents such acclaimed PBS series as Nature, Great Performances, American Masters, PBS NewsHour Weekend, Charlie Rose and a range of documentaries, children’s programs, and local news and cultural offerings available on air and online. Pioneers in educational programming, WNET has created such groundbreaking series as Get the Math, Oh Noah! and Cyberchase and provides tools for educators that bring compelling content to life in the classroom and at home. WNET highlights the tri-state’s unique culture and diverse communities through NYC-ARTS, Reel 13, NJ Today and MetroFocus, the multi-platform news magazine focusing on the New York region. WNET is also a leader in connecting with viewers on emerging platforms, including the THIRTEEN Explore iPad App where users can stream PBS content for free.

Executive in charge for THIRTEEN is Stephen Segaller. Executive producer for THIRTEEN is Julie Anderson.