Anne Adams, WGBH producer for 20 years, honored posthumously for her contributions to a wide range of programs

BOSTON (August 6, 2019) – WGBH has awarded five fellowships to innovative producers, recognizing excellence, potential and creativity. The recipients of the 2020 Fellowship Awards are Ellen London and Nina Porzucki who received the Becton Fellowship; Dorothea Gillim and the late Anne Adams, recipients of the Margret and Hans Rey/Curious George Producers; and Peter Yost, recipient of the Peter S. McGhee Fellowship.

“Each of these individuals embodies the spirit of public media through their curiosity and dedication to creating high quality educational content for diverse audiences and across platforms,” says WGBH president and CEO Jon Abbott. “These fellowships are a continuation of WGBH’s longstanding commitment to supporting our talented and creative producers.”

London and Porzucki were selected as 2020 Becton Fellows. This fellowship, supported by the Becton Fund and named in honor of WGBH’s former president and current vice chair, Henry Becton, Jr., recognizes promising WGBH producers and content creators whose work is emblematic of the organization’s public service message.

London is a digital editor at WGBH where she leads the development and creation of engaging digital and social media experiences across existing and emerging platforms. Previously, London worked in financial news as Editor-in-Chief at a start-up production company in New York City. London is a graduate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and Colby College.

Porzucki directs podcasting at WGBH. She previously worked as a producer for PRI’s The World where she also co-hosted and produced The World in Words podcast. Previously, she served in the Peace Corps in Romania and traveled around the U.S for StoryCorps. Porzucki holds an MFA in Creative Writing from The New School. Her work has aired on NPR, PRI, and the BBC.

Adams and Gillim were selected as the Margret and Hans Rey/Curious George Producers. Made possible through a bequest from author Margret Rey through the Curious George Foundation, this fellowship recognizes WGBH producers who work in areas reflecting Rey’s broad interests, including science, public affairs, arts, health and children’s programming.

Gillim oversees WGBH’s children’s series Molly of Denali and Pinkalicious & Peterrific. Previously, she served as Executive Producer for the PBS series Curious George. She began her television career as a writer and audio editor on Dr. Katz for Comedy Central. In 2006 she created WordGirl for PBS KIDS. Gillim has won Emmy Awards, a Peabody Award and a Television Critics Association Award.

In special recognition of Adams’ significant contributions to WGBH productions across genres over the course of two decades, this Margret and Hans Rey/Curious George Producer Award is granted posthumously. During her time at WGBH, Adams led the daily public affairs program Greater Boston, local productions such as Eye on Education and High School Quiz Show, Studio Six programs such as Simply Ming and Lidia Celebrates America and current events specials like Point Taken, America After Ferguson and Third Rail with Ozy. Her work earned Emmy awards, James Beard Awards and a George Foster Peabody Award. Prior to working at WGBH, Adams was an executive producer at CNN and a writer for the MacNeil/Lehrer Report. Adams passed away on April 9, 2019 at the age of 55.

Yost was selected as the Peter S. McGhee Fellow. Emmy-nominated documentary filmmaker Yost is the founder of the Brooklyn-based production company, Pangloss Films. Yost has produced, directed and written dozens of films for WGBH’s science documentary series NOVA, National Geographic specials, The New York Times, CBS News and others. Yost is currently working with WGBH’s Studio 6 to produce a four-part series about the history of psychiatry and mental health. Named for WGBH’s former head of national programming, the McGhee Fellowship is awarded each year to a mid-career filmmaker who has shown exceptional promise in non-fiction television production and who adheres to the standards set by McGhee, including excellence, intelligence, fairness, passion and scholarship.

About WGBH
WGBH Boston is America’s preeminent public broadcaster and the largest producer of PBS content for TV and the Web, including Masterpiece, Antiques Roadshow, Frontline, Nova, American Experience, Arthur and more than a dozen other primetime, lifestyle and children’s series. WGBH’s television channels include WGBH 2, WGBX 44, and the digital channels World and Create. WGBH TV productions focusing on the region’s diverse community include Greater Boston, Basic Black and High School Quiz Show. WGBH Radio serves listeners across New England with 89.7 WGBH, Boston’s Local NPR®; 99.5 WCRB Classical Radio Boston; and WCAI, the Cape and Islands NPR® Station. WGBH also is a major source of digital content and programs for public radio through PRI/PRX, including The World and Innovation Hub, a leader in educational multimedia with PBS LearningMedia™, providing the nation’s educators with free, curriculum-based digital content, and a pioneer in services that make media accessible to deaf, hard of hearing, blind and visually impaired audiences. WGBH has been recognized with hundreds of honors: Emmys, Peabodys, duPont-Columbia Awards and Oscars. Find more information at wgbh.org.
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