Hampton, Henry

What we re involved in, always, is trying to tell a story. Before I became a producer in documentaries [in 1988, on Eyes on the Prize], I had edited a lot of docs, but I wasn t always thinking about how to tell a story and have it escalate dramatically and emotionally. That s something I learned from the irascible Henry Hampton [executive producer of Eyes, a series that used a three-act structure to tell historical stories). And then right after, Spike called me about cutting Mo Better Blues, and I ve worked with him since on a series of narrative fiction features. What I ve learned from both is to always make the story dramatic. Get the characters up a tree, how re we going to get em down I apply three-act structure to everything. I don t always adhere to it as closely as we did on Eyes, but it s always in the back of my mind. 

Eyes on the Prize America s Civil Rights Years (hours 1-6) Produced by Orlando Bagwell, Callie Crossley, James A. DeVinney, and Judith Vecchione edited by Daniel Eisenberg, Jeanne Jordan, and Charles Scott series writer, Steve Layer executive producer, Henry Hampton. 

I ll Make Me a World (series) Produced by Betty Ciccarelli, Denise Greene, Sam Pollard, and Tracy Heather Strain edited by Betty Ciccarelli, David Camochan, and Eric Handley series writer, Sheila Curran Bernard series producer, Terry Kay Rockefeller co-executive producer Sam Pollard executive producer, Henry Hampton. 

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