Westport Library Launches New Series: 'Andrew Wilk Presents...'

Westport Library:The Westport Library is pleased to announce renowned filmmaker Michael Davie as the first guest in a new program series: Andrew Wilk Presents…On Thursday December 12 at 7 p.m., Davie, who has worked on major projects for Oprah Winfrey, National Geographic, Discovery and many more, will weave together his hair-raising adventures from Kosovo to the Congo with deeply personal reflections on travel, family and connecting with people all over the world. The evening will be presented by television, film, music and media producer, and member of the Westport Library Board of Trustees, Andrew Wilk, and will include film clips and a Q+A.

“The Library is fortunate in the diversity, dedication and talent of its Board of Trustees,” said Library Executive Director Bill Harmer. “Andrew has consistently stepped up to leverage his considerable acumen in the arts and television production to bring world-class programming to the community first with two recent Malloy Lectures in the Arts and now with this remarkable new series. We are eagerly awaiting Michael’s dynamic multimedia presentation and are certain it will be an evening to remember.”

Michael Davie is a director and cinematographer whose work has earned widespread recognition including the AFI Best Director Award for his feature documentary The Choir and Emmy Awards for the National Geographic films War Child and Gorilla Murders. Most recently Davie was co-creator and a series director on Oprah’s landmark seven-part series entitled Belief. Armed with a desire to tell tough stories that are unfolding on the world stage, Davie has spent twenty years shooting, directing and reporting news, current affairs and documentary films for National Geographic Television, Discovery Channel, ABC and SBS (Australia), The Seven Network (Australia) HDNet, NBC, Channel Four (UK), PBS, CNN and OWN.

The series draws on Wilk’s diverse background as a five-time Emmy Award winning television, film, music and media producer and will offer audiences extraordinary access to luminaries who are at the forefront of science, conservation, technology, and the arts and humanities. Wilk and Davie first met at National Geographic where Wilk was Executive Vice President and Davie was a young explorer reporter. Wilk then convinced Davie to join the ranks of National Geographic.

Next up in the Wilk series, in February, the Library will welcome the celebrated deep-sea explorer Dr. Robert Ballard. Dr. Ballard famously discovered the sunken R.M.S. Titanic and the German battleship Bismarck, among other notable finds. On March 25th, filmmaker Kevin Bachar. Bachar is a three-time Emmy Award-winning producer, writer and cinematographer who formed Pangolin Pictures. He was a senior producer at National Geographic for 10 years and has written specials for Discovery Channel’s Shark Week as well as National Geographic.

General admission seats for Michael Davie are $20 each. VIP tickets are available for $100 and include a seat in the first two rows, admission to a pre-show meet and greet with Michael Davie and Andrew Wilk and food and drink. To purchase tickets, visit this link or the Library website: www.westportlibrary.org.