This award winning primetime ABC and PBS documentary was called one of the most honest and emotional depictions of the male experience ever put to film. For better and for worse, the father-son relationship is at the core of who we are, as this film fully reveals. Based on interviews with over 600 American men and boys, the film shows the diversity yet the universality of the father-son bond. Sprinkled with celebrities, Shaquille O’Neal, Edward James Olmos, Zachary Ty Bryan, the film finds its heart in the real experience of real people.
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“Television doesn’t get a whole lot more visceral, or more genuinely moving than does this supremely poignant hour… What these boys and men reveal, in waxing eloquent about the job of dad and son, is almost staggering in its candor. It seems as if producer-directors Gary Weimberg, Catherine Ryan, and Judith Leonard have slipped these storytellers some sort of sensitivity serum. Rarely do males allow themselves to be captured in so raw and sincere a state.” Ray Richmond, Daily Variety
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“Remarkable… simple, highly effective … so visceral … so affecting…
It radiates deep love and deep pain.
… more of an emotional wallop
than a month of Oprah… “
David Hiltbrand,
TV Guide
The men and boys of “Fathers and Sons”
Emil Renzullo, Fatherhood Co ordinator at Family Strides, LLC
Shaq and Gary on the set
“As a Father and Fatherhood Practitioner, I’ve utilized the Story of Fathers and Sons for approximately 7 years in my work with expectant fathers, custodial and non-custodial fathers, step-fathers and men taking on the fatherhood role. The stories of the fathers in the documentary are real and emotional; I’ve witnessed grown men break down into tears because the stories were so powerful and the fathers were able to relate. The fathers of our program were able to comprehend the importance and influence they directly have on the lives of their children.”
– Conrad Lindo, Program Director, Arizona Center for Responsible Fatherhood
“I have waited a long time for this. My wish has come true. A special program on fathers and sons. From the beginning to the end, the tears kept running from my eyes. I loved it…I am hoping there will be more and I mean more stories on television about fathers and sons. Maybe a few fathers will wake up, before it’s too late. I will never forget this program. I thank you from all of my heart.” -Laurence J. Nagle, Brooklyn, NY
The crew who made the film
“BRAVO for producing the marvelous TV programs Fathers&Sons/Mothers&Daughters. As a marriage and family therapist, who provides therapy for “fatherless” and “motherless” adults, your presentation was priceless! I have wanted something like this for years! Thank you from thousands of sons, daughters, fathers and mothers for addressing this critical issue in America…a long ignored topic.”
-Lexie Hicks, Owensboro, KY
“Thank you both. 11 years later, I finally cried for my father. I just saw The Story of Fathers and Sons on PBS. I’m stationed at Travis – up the street from the AFB and my family is now halfway across the country on their trek to join me. I cried for loving and missing my two boys and for loving my wife, for she carries our next. Again, thank you.”– Captain Richard Mench, US Air Force
“Catherine Ryan and Gary Weimberg will pull off a rare double play this summer. The film making duo has secured national airdates on both PBS and ABC for their two new documentaries. The network deal is an accomplishment in itself, given the corporate giants’ reluctance to broadcast out-of-house documentaries, while the PBS broadcast is a tribute to Ryan and Weimberg’s longstanding commitment to activist film making … “
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