SHAKING IT UP: The Life & Times Of Liz Carpenter To Premiere On Public Television In March

In celebration of Women's History Month this spring, a new, award-winning documentary on the legacy and life of one of American history's unsung heroes – pioneering journalist, high-ranking White House aide, and women's rights leader, Shaking It Up: The Life & Times of Liz Carpenter will premiere on public television stations around the country starting March 1, 2025 (check local listings).  An original one-hour film produced and directed by Peabody award-winning filmmaker Abby Ginzberg and Liz's daughter, Christy Carpenter, the program will also stream on PBS.org and the PBS App. It is distributed by American Public Television (APT).

Featured at nine prestigious film festivals this year, including SXSW, DOC NYC, and DALLAS International Film Festival, Shaking It Up: The Life & Times of Liz Carpenter is an up-close look at Liz Carpenter's trailblazing career and life as a barrier-breaking female journalist, key vice-presidential advisor to Lyndon Baines Johnson, top aide to Lady Bird Johnson, political activist, and proud Texan. Liz Carpenter (1920-2010) experienced and helped shape some of the most vivid moments and movements of the 20th century – including her extensive behind-the-scenes work as chief of staff and press secretary to First Lady Johnson, when she orchestrated and strategized Lady Bird's groundbreaking, grassroots promotion of LBJ's Great Society, including the War on Poverty and environmental programs. After her White House years, Liz co-founded the National Women's Political Caucus and actively campaigned for women candidates around the country. Additionally, as co-chair of ERAmerica, she led the battle for State ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment.

In her twenties, the Austin-turned-Washington, DC transplant earned a reputation as a savvy, dogged political reporter and her byline quickly spread to other newspapers, leading to the creation of the Carpenter News Bureau with her reporter husband, Leslie.  When she was 34, Carpenter was elected president of the Women's National Press Club, a platform she used to erode barriers to participation in the men-only National Press Club (NPC), the foremost journalistic organization in Washington, DC. There she fought on behalf of women journalists to gain access to newsmaker events at the NPC. After LBJ was elected in 1960, Carpenter became the highest-ranking woman to work for a vice president until that time. A few years later, Carpenter was the key mastermind of Lady Bird's unprecedented Whistlestop campaign tour through the South during the 1964 presidential campaign. Carpenter's talents for generating strong public interest and media attention through creative, out-of-the-box strategies earned her the nickname of “the P.T. Barnum of the White House.”

 “With Shaking It Up, our goal was to show how one pioneering ‘can-do' woman, gutsy, and blessed with boundless energy, an expansive heart, and an unflappable nature, can leave a positive and indelible mark on her times.  Leveraging her Texas-sized personality and legendary wit, she spent a lifetime fighting for equality and social progress,” said co-director Christy Carpenter.  Co-Director Abby Ginzberg added. “What a joy to bring Liz's colorful and impactful journey to life for audiences on public television next March. At festival and university screenings, people of all ages and genders respond enthusiastically to Liz's unfailing optimism and find her undaunted courage highly inspirational, reminding us 'the fight goes on, and we go on with the fight.'”

Shaking It Up: The Life & Times of Liz Carpenter recounts Carpenter's powerful story through new, candid interviews with LBJ's daughters, Luci Baines Johnson and Lynda Johnson Robb; feminist leader Gloria Steinem, legendary journalists Dan Rather and Bill Moyers, presidential historian Douglas Brinkley, and the late U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson. The film features never-seen home movies, photos, interview clips of her on Meet the Press, The TODAY Show and The David Frost Show, and rarely-shown artifacts, including Carpenter's initial handwritten draft of LBJ's first remarks given as President in the immediate aftermath of JFK's death, which she referred to as “probably the most important 58 words I ever wrote.”

The documentary, which has received special recognition at film festivals in 2024, kicked off with a world premiere at SXSW Film & TV Festival. The film was named Best Feature Documentary at THE HILL Country Film Festival and Best Biographical Film at the Toronto International Women Film Festival. It was an official selection at SXSW, DOC NYC, Virginia Film Festival, DALLAS International Film Festival, DocLands, and Woods Hole Film Festival.

Shaking It Up: The Life & Times of Liz Carpenter was directed and produced by Abby Ginzberg and Christy Carpenter. Executive producer is Anastasia P. Vournas. Associate producers are Jessica Brannon-Wranosky and Joan Douglas Murray. Major funding was provided by Humanities, Texas, the State Affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, Jonathan Logan Family Foundation, Summerlee Foundation, Alice Kleberg Reynolds Foundation, Nancy P. & Richard K. Robbins Family Foundation, MFI Foundation, among many other generous supporters. Fiscal sponsorship was provided by Kovno Communications, Inc., East Texas A & M University, and Austin PBS.

For more information on Shaking It Up: The Life & Times of Liz Carpenter, visit the Media section on https://lizcarpenterfilm.com.  For viewing information, check local listings or visit http://aptonline.org.

To post a comment, you must register and login.