Documentary Film Showing by Austin Hoyt

Japanese Surrender

Friday August 9

5pm

Free

Attention History Buffs and Filmmakers

As the anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War II nears, veteran filmmaker Austin Hoyt discusses the surprises he encountered in researching Victory in the Pacific, the documentary he produced for PBS which was nominated for three Emmy Awards. He will discuss the process of producing the film and screen the last 40 minutes on the decision-making in Washington and Tokyo which led to the surrender.

Victory in the Pacific is a two-hour film on the final year of the war against Japan which aired on American Experience in 2005.  Its Emmy nominations were for Outstanding Historical Programming – Long Form, Outstanding Achievement in Writing, and Outstanding Achievement in Research.Of all the films he produced in a 45-year career, he considers “Victory” one of the best.

Austin Hoyt was a producer and executive producer at WGBH Boston for 38 years until March 2003 when he founded his own company, Austin Hoyt Productions. He won an Emmy Award in 1999 for his four-hour biography of Douglas MacArthur and an Emmy and Writers Guild of America Award in 1983 for LBJ Goes to War, a film in the acclaimed series Vietnam: A Television History. Hoyt won a Peabody Award for his contributions to American Experience’s special series of Presidential portraits - biographies of Ronald Reagan (1998) and Dwight Eisenhower (1993).

Hoyt was born in Buffalo and spent most of his adult life in the shadows of Harvard Square. In 2008 he moved with his wife Felicity full time to S. Dartmouth where he had enjoyed off seasons since 1976.