Television
Jean’s television work includes documentary programs on both sides of the Atlantic.
2012 – Frank Kearns – American Correspondent – Narrator
The story of veteran CBS News Correspondent Frank Kearns, who was a key player in the early history of television broadcast journalism. At the height of the Cold War, Kearns was the winner of numerous journalism awards for his reporting in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, yet after his retirement from CBS, the network named him as someone who also worked for the CIA while he was a stringer for CBS in Cairo in the early 1950s. Produced by Gerald Davis of Greenbriar Group Films and Chip Hitchcock for West Virginia Public Broadcasting, and PBS. Edited by John Nakashima. Premiered October 2012 on West Virginia Public Television. In 2013, it aired on PBS stations in 57 markets around the United States.
In July 2013, Jean – along with Gerald Davis, Chip Hitchcock and John Nakashima – won a regional Emmy Award for Best Historical Documentary for Frank Kearns: American Correspondent. First became available on YouTube in 2022.
2010 – In Search of Meaningful Work – Producer/Narrator
Profile of D Holmes Morton, MD and his wife Caroline Morton, co-founders of the Clinic for Special Children in Strasburg, Pennsylvania. Part of the Inspiring West Virginians series for West Virginia Public Television.
2010 – The Ice Hunters – Producer/Narrator
Profile of two of the world’s leading paleoclimatologists — Lonnie Thompson and Ellen Mosley-Thompson, pioneers in ice core paleoclimatology at The Ohio State University. Part of the Inspiring West Virginians series for West Virginia Public Television.
2006 – Healing in the Hills Series – Producer/Narrator
This 9-part radio and television series produced by West Virginia Public Broadcasting examined healthcare issues facing rural elders in West Virginia. Jean produced two of the nine segments.
Spirituality — this 20-minute segment explores how a person’s faith or spirituality can have an impact on health and health care decisions — and how health care professionals can include this information in their practice. Includes interviews with doctors, nurses, patients and researchers in the field of health outcomes and spirituality.
Health Literacy — the ability to understand information given to us by health care providers is the strongest predictor of health status. It’s more important than age, income, education or race.
1990 – The Perfect English Village – Assistant Producer
In this whimsical journey, produced by the late Nigel Farrell, Nigel decides he wants to leave the traffic and gridlock of London for a quieter life in the countryside — in search of “the perfect English village”. In the process he visits six idyllic English villages. Originally produced for the Travels series on PBS, and the BBC. Now available to stream on Amazon Prime.
Jean researched and worked as assistant producer on three further programs that Nigel produced for the BBC: one covered the National Brass Band Championships that take place each year at the Royal Albert Hall in London; another featured a “chocoholics weekend” where every course in every meal included chocolate! And the third followed an English village cricket team to the National Village Cup Final at Lord’s Cricket Ground in London.
1990 – Living with the Spill — Narrator
An examination of the aftermath of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska’s Prince William Sound. A look at both the environmental and human impact on the region. Produced by Swiss filmmaker Rudolph “Ruedi” Gerber for the Fragile Earth series on the UK’s Channel 4 Television. Aired in a further 24 countries.