Academy Icons With 'American Masters' Creator Susan Lacy

Guild Hall continues Academy Icons, a new series that spotlights Guild Hall Academy of the Arts members and their work. This season’s program features films by Susan Lacy, an acclaimed director and producer best known for creating “American Masters,” the PBS biography series, which began in 1986, profiling artists and visionaries who have helped shape our country’s culture. The second of four programs returns Sunday, August 25, at 7 p.m. with a screening of “Leonard Bernstein: Reaching for the Note” followed by a conversation with Lacy, Leonard Bernstein’s daughter Jamie Bernstein, and “Maestro” producer Fred Berner.

A presence on Broadway, in Hollywood, at Carnegie Hall, and the New York Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein was a major force in 20th-century music. His exuberant and dramatic style caught the heart of America, bringing classical music to thousands of people from diverse backgrounds. The film includes interviews with Bernstein’s family, friends, colleagues, peers, and critics, as well as his own written and recorded words.

As the creator of “American Masters,” Lacy earned the series 71 Emmy nominations and 28 wins, including 10 for Outstanding Nonfiction Series, in addition to 13 Peabody Awards, three Grammy Awards, an Academy Award and four nominations. Since moving to HBO in 2013, she has directed and produced “Spielberg,” “Jane Fonda in Five Acts,” “Very Ralph” and executive produced “The Janes,” all for HBO Documentary Films.

Jamie Bernstein an author, speaker, broadcaster and filmmaker, has traveled extensively, speaking about music, and in particular about her father, Leonard Bernstein. Her documentary “Crescendo: the Power of Music,” has won numerous prizes.

Upcoming Academy Icons with Susan Lacy include “Paul Simon: Born at the Right Time” on September 6, and “Lou Reed: Rock & Roll Heart” on September 15 with special guest Laurie Anderson. Tickets are $25 ($22.50 members) at guildhall.org. Guild Hall is at 158 Main Street, East Hampton.