Christopher Buchanan papers
Collection
0127-MMC-NPBA
Christopher Buchanan is a freelance documentary producer for both public and commercial television and public radio. From 1986 to 1988, he produced stories for National Public Radio's news and information programs. For the Public Broadcasting Service, Buchanan contributed to several programs in the series FRONTLINE as either associate producer or field producer. The collection includes extensive production files, field notes, interview transcriptions, travel itineraries and receipts, budget and expense reports, production plans, contracts, schedules, samples of his work on VHS and Beta cassettes, newspaper clippings, and reporter’s notebooks.
The collection also includes Buchanan's 1974 senior thesis "The Struggle for the Soul of Public Television: A Case Study in Decision Making."
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58.75 Linear Feet
83 Sound Cassettes (audio cassettes)
145 Sound Discs (mini-disc tapes)
43 Videocassettes (VHS)
1 Items (Flash drive)
English
This collection consists of materials about Christopher Buchanan's career as a freelance documentary producer for both public and commercial television and public radio. The materials primarily include production notes, correspondence, travel itineraries and schedules, permits and releases, research, articles, legal depositions and testimony, personal notebooks, and programs on VHS and Beta cassettes.
Christopher Buchanan graduated summa cum laude from Boston University with a bachelor's degree in political science.
Before he began his career in film and radio, Buchanan worked as a print reporter on the political desk of Congressional Quarterly's Weekly Report and as a staff reporter for CQ's newsletter, Congressional Insight. He also contributed articles to Politics in America and The Almanac of America Politics.
Calling himself a freelance documentary producer, Buchanan has spent the last thirteen years working for public and commercial media. On the radio side, he worked for National Public Radio from 1986 to 1988, frequently producing stories for all of NPR's news and information programs. For much of 1992, he served as an associate producer for All Things Considered, producing many election-related stories with hosts and senior correspondents.
Meanwhile, Buchanan has contributed to several stories in the PBS series Frontline as either associate producer or field producer. These programs include the Peabody Award-winning examination of the 1988 presidential candidates, "The Choice," "Pentagon, Inc.," and "Betrayal of Democracy." He also worked on the BBC/Frontline co-production "Who was Lee Harvey Oswald?" In his capacity as field producer and associate producer, Buchanan conducted preliminary and some on-camera interviews, and took care of all field production arrangements.
Buchanan's other work in commercial media range from being assistant location manager and production coordinator for the feature film Raising Arizona, to co-producing One Song, Many Hands, an hour-long documentary about the hunger relief and development efforts in Africa that grew out of the song, "We are the World." His most recent independent production, Pictures to an Exhibition: Morris Louis Goes to Milan (1991), won the Bronze Award at the Houston Film Festival. Finally, in 1994, Buchanan produced "Turning Point at Normandy: The Soldiers Stories" for ABC News. His next project is another BBC/Frontline co-production tentatively titled "The Life and Death of Pablo Escobar."
Organized as two series:
This collection contains audiovisual materials. Items that cannot be used in the Special Collections reading room or are too fragile for researchers require that a digital copy be made prior to use. If you would like to access these materials, please contact us prior to your visit.
This collection contains born-digital materials. If you would like to access these materials, please contact us prior to your visit as items may require specialized software for access.
The Christopher Buchanan Papers were given to the National Public Broadcasting Archives, University of Maryland Libraries by Christopher Buchanan in December of 1991. Significant donations were made by Mr. Buchanan in 2007, 2013 and 2021.
In 2024, James Baxter created inventories for two new accessions and added them to the finding aid, along with updating relevant notes.
Part of the Special Collections and University Archives