Todd Jarrell
Independent Director | Producer | Writer | Videographer
Following years as a touring musician and a further 15 years in television broadcast advertising, Todd Jarrell joined a two-year round-the-world tall ship sailing voyage, serving as crew while creating a NPR radio series from such places as Easter Island, Bora Bora & Zanzibar. Published as the audiobook Slow Dance with the Planet (HighBridge), the series was awarded for its “excellence in narrative voice and style.”
With this encouragement, Jarrell signed on to subsequent voyages: Europe, trans-Atlantics, Pacific, Cape Horn, Antarctica, eventually sailing every ocean and visiting every continent—75,000 sea miles at an average 5mph. These voyages were the basis for numerous radio works: All Things Considered (NPR); Weekend America (NPR); The World (PRI); The Savvy Traveler (PRI); CBC Radio One (Canada); Radio Netherlands World Service; and BBC Radio 4’s Last of the Cape Horners and Tall Ship in Antarctica series.
These blue water sea voyages also led to a variety of print work including: National Geographic News; CNN.com; Lonely Planet – Antarctica, Hemispheres (USA), Wingspan (Japan) and Traditional Boats & Tall Ships (UK), Polar Times, Houston Chronicle, New Orleans’ Times Picayune, Canada’s national Globe and Mail and more.
Seeking the opportunity to produce for public television, Jarrell traveled to South Africa to capture Tree Safari: A Sculptural Journey, following the artistic work of sculptor Brad Sells. PBS premiered the program nationally and Jarrell never looked back, continuing to produce with documentaries: Bitter Pill (PBS), investigating the risk for youth via the opioid epidemic; Bright Lights Little City (APT), on the unlikely cultural impact of an isolated Tennessee theater playhouse; TUBA U: Basso Profundo (PBS) following a 22-piece tuba ensemble to Carnegie Hall; CRANK: Darkness on the Edge of Town (ITVS/APT), tracing meth’s trajectory through one Appalachian town, Meth in Tennessee (WKRN/ABC), a national EMMY nominee; and a second Tree Safari, The Koa Connection (PBS/APT).
Adding live-to-tape music concerts to his production repertoire, Jarrell brought PBS The Caverns Sessions (fka Bluegrass Underground), a musically diverse concert series taped deep within an underground amphitheatre—now entering Season 13; ¡Dia de los Muertos! celebrating the Latin Day of the Dead festival; Bluegrass Now! showcasing a very American genre; Songwriting With Soldiers (PBS) GRAMMY-winning songwriters collaborating with US combat veterans in healing through music; Havana Time Machine, exploring Cuba’s diverse music scene (PBS Great Performances); the 50th anniversary Nitty Gritty Dirt Band & Friends w/ Vince Gill, Alison Krauss, Jackson Browne, John Prine and more (PBS); Rock My Soul (PBS) on Gospel quartets’ influence on America’s songbook w/ Lucinda Williams, Robert Plant, Taj Mahal, Amos Lee and more. Over 18 years, Jarrell has placed 160+ programs/episodes on PBS.
Writer/Producer recognition includes a national EMMY nomination, regional EMMYs (10), the Edward R. Murrow Award, Imagen Award nomination, NETA National Education Television Assoc. Award (3), Public Radio News Directors awards (3), Lowell Thomas Travel Writer’s Award, CINE Golden Eagle/Distinction Awards (5), the Nancy Dickerson Whitehead Award, TELLYs, AURORAs, and more.
Fellowships include duPont/Columbia, Vanderbilt University, Poynter Institute, New England School of Communications, and the PBS Quality Group.
Major Public Television Projects:
Bluegrass Now! (PBS) 2020 – Executive Producer / Producer
All-Star homage at the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame and Museum
Songwriting With Soldiers (PBS Arts Festival / CPB) October 2109 – Exec. Producer/Producer
Concert collaborative of GRAMMY-winning songwriters and PTSD-affected service veterans
Bitter Pill: Youth at Risk (Tennessee PBS Network) September 2019 – Writer/Producer
Defines the dangers and damage opioids in all forms pose to infants, children and juveniles
Bluegrass Underground (Now premiering 10th season on PBS) – Exec. Producer/Producer/Editor
Taped in an underground amphitheater showcasing Americana, Bluegrass, & Roots music.
Brandi Carlile: A Bluegrass Underground Special Event (PBS Arts Festival) – Producer/Editor
A powerful evening with one of America’s most talented and socially relevant singer/songwriters
Bright Lights: Little City (APT) – Exec. Producer/Producer/Editor
A remote Appalachian “sundown” town finds 50 years of success by building a theater and embracing diversity and the arts.
Havana Time Machine (PBS Great Performances / Latino Public Broadcasting Voces / WCTE)
Exec. Producer/Producer/Writer Musical odyssey through the present-day Cuban capital
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band & Friends: 50th Anniv. (PBS Pledge) – Exec. Producer/Producer/Editor
NGDB w/ Vince Gill, Jackson Browne, Allison Krauss, Rodney Crowell, Jerry Jeff Walker
Rock My Soul (PBS Pledge) – Exec. Producer/Producer/Editor
Exploring Gospel quartet music’s cornerstone building block to the American songbook w/ Lucinda Williams, Lee Ann Womack, Buddy Miller, Amos Lee, Robert Plant, Taj Mahal and more
Tree Safari: The Koa Connection (APT) – Director/Producer/Editor/Videographer
Sculptor turns highly stylized koa wood sculptures into touchstones of ancient Hawaiian culture
Live Green Tennessee (Tennessee PBS Network) – Creator/Developing Producer/Director/Editor
Multi-season magazine-style series promoting Tennessee’s agricultural and energy ‘Green Scene’
Tuba U: Basso Profundo (PBS) – Director/Producer/Editor/Videographer.
An unlikely 22-piece tuba ensemble travels to perform in famed Carnegie Hall
CRANK: Darkness on the Edge of Town (APT) – Director/Producer/Writer
Tennessee town struggles to curb homemade methamphetamine. A PBS/WGBH Health & Medicine featured selection. Funded in part by LINCS/ITVS & Vanderbilt University
Tree Safari: A Sculptural Journey (PBS) – Director/Producer/Writer/Videographer
Sculptor finds art and science in traditional Zulu culture. A ShopPBS “Featured Title”
Meth in Tennessee–WKRN-Nashville (WKRN/ABC) – Director/Writer/Producer
The trajectory of homemade meth and one rural Tennessee town’s battle with Big Pharma
Major Public Radio/Audio Projects:
Slow Dance With The Planet Producer/Writer/VO
Award-winning audiobook based on experience as crewman on the tall ship Picton Castle’s inaugural 37,000-mile global circumnavigation
In Meth’s Grip WPLN (NPR) Producer/Writer/VO
Multiple award-winning public radio news series on the methamphetamine epidemic
Last of The Cape Horners (BBC Radio4 – Long format series) Producer/Writer/VO
The final meeting of the Amicale, the brotherhood of Cape Horn windjammer sailors in St. Malo, France
Tall Ship in Antarctica (BBC Radio4- Long format series) Producer/Writer/VO
The SV Europa’s 6-week tall ship crossing of Drake’s Passage to Antarctica, returning via Cape Horn
In the Wake of the Ancients (Netherlands’ World Radio)
Tall ship sailing voyage from San Diego, CA in the Pacific to Falkland Islands in the Southern Atlantic Ocean via Rapa Nui (Easter Island) and Cape Horn, widely referred to as “the Everest of Sailing”
…and features for All Things Considered (NPR); The Savvy Traveler (MPR), Weekend America (MPR); Great Lakes Radio Consortium; The World (PRI); and Canada’s CBC
Print/Interactive Projects (Writer/ Photographer):
National Geographic News; CNN.com; Lonely Planet guidebook (Antarctica); the trade anthology We Belong to the Sea (Nimbus); Hemispheres (US), Wingspan (Japan), Polar Times, Traditional Boats & Tall Ships (UK), Globe and Mail (Canada), Halifax Chronicle Herald (Canada), and more
Recognition/Awards
2023
IMAGEN Award Nomination – Producer: Best Prime Time Program, Special, or Movie – ¡Dia de los Muertos! (PBS)
2020
EMMY Nom. – Writer: Non-News Program, Mid-South—Bitter Pill (WCTE/PBS)
2018
EMMY Award – Writer: Non-News Program, Mid-South—Bright Lights Little City (APT)
EMMY Nom. – Documentary/Cultural, Mid-South—Bright Lights Little City (APT)
2016
EMMY Award – Special Event/Producer, Mid-South—Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and Friends: 50 Years and Circlin’ Back (PBS)
EMMY Award – Best Entertainment program/Producer, Mid-South – Bluegrass Underground (PBS)
EMMY Award – Technical Achievement/Producer, Mid-South – Bluegrass Underground (PBS)
2015
EMMY Award – Technical Achievement/Producer, Mid-South – Bluegrass Underground (PBS)
2014
EMMY Award – Best Entertainment program/Producer, Mid-South – Bluegrass Underground (PBS)
EMMY Award – Technical Achievement/Producer, Mid-South – Bluegrass Underground (PBS)
IBMA (International Bluegrass Musicians’ Assoc.) Event of the Year – Producer
2013
EMMY Award – Best Entertainment/Producer, Mid-South – Bluegrass Underground (PBS)
EMMY Nom. – Technical Achievement/Producer, Mid-South – Bluegrass Underground (PBS)
CINE Golden Eagle – Public Service Announcement – Bluegrass Underground (PBS)
TELLY Award – Live Events – Bluegrass Underground (PBS)
2012
EMMY Award – Lighting/Producer, Mid-South – Bluegrass Underground (PBS)
EMMY Nom. – Best Arts program/Producer, Mid-South – Bluegrass Underground (PBS)
EMMY Nom – Technical Achievement/Producer, Mid-South – Bluegrass Underground (PBS)
CINE Golden Eagle – Arts & Lifestyle – Bluegrass Underground (PBS)
TELLY Award – Live Events – Bluegrass Underground (PBS)
2011
CINE Golden Eagle – Public Service Announcement – Critically Thinking Critical for TTU and the NSF
NETA Award, Nat’l Education Television Assoc. – Tree Safari: The Koa Connection (APT)
2010
CINE Golden Eagle – National, PSA – Critically Thinking Critical for TTU and the NSF
TELLY Silver Award – Public Service Announcement – Critically Thinking Critical for TTU and the NSF
GOLDEN BEGGAR Award, Slovak Republic – Hon. Mention – TUBA U: Basso Profundo (PBS)
COMMUNICATORS – TV Award of Distinction – Live Green Tennessee
2009
CINE Golden Eagle Award – TV Documentary – TUBA U: Basso Profundo (PBS)
TELLY Silver Award – TV Documentary – TUBA U: Basso Profundo (PBS)
COMMUNICATORS Award – TV Award of Distinction – TUBA U: Basso Profundo (PBS)
2008
STATE OF TENNESSEE Senatorial Resolution of Honor – Body of Work Award
EMMY Award – Documentary/Topical, Mid-South – CRANK: Darkness on the Edge of Town (APT)
EMMY Award – Writer: Non-News Program, Mid-South – CRANK: Darkness on the Edge of Town (APT)
Edward R. Murrow Award , RTNDA – TV Documentary – CRANK: Darkness on the Edge of Town (APT)
NETA Award, Nat’l Education Television Assoc. – CRANK: Darkness on the Edge of Town (APT)
CINE Golden Eagle Award – News Analysis – CRANK: Darkness on the Edge of Town (APT)
COMMUNICATORS TV Award of Distinction – CRANK: Darkness on the Edge of Town (APT)
Nancy Dickerson Whitehead Award – TV Doc – CRANK: Darkness on the Edge of Town (APT)
2007
EMMY/Tennessee Film Comm. “RISING STAR” Award – Body of Work Award
Drug Strategies PASS Award – CRANK: Darkness on the Edge of Town (APT)
(shared w/ Koppel on Discovery and with PBS’ FRONTLINE)
TELLY Silver Award – TV Documentary – CRANK: Darkness on the Edge of Town (APT)
AURORA Gold Award – TV Documentary, Issue – CRANK: Darkness on the Edge of Town (APT)
TN Associated Press Award – Hard News, Radio – Meth in Tennessee (WPLN/NPR)
2006
EMMY Award – National Nomination, Community Service – Meth in Tennessee (WKRN/ABC)
AURORA – Gold, TV Documentary – Tree Safari: A Sculptural Journey (PBS)
TELLY Award Award – Silver, TV Documentary – Tree Safari: A Sculptural Journey (PBS)
TELLY Award – Bronze, TV Documentary – TV Documentary – Meth in Tennessee (WKRN/ABC)
GABRIEL Awards Nomination – TV Documentary – Meth in Tennessee (WKRN/ABC)
2005
EMMY Award – Mid-South Reg. Nom., Community Service – Meth in Tennessee (WKRN/ABC)
SILVER MICROPHONE Award – Radio Series – In Meth’s Grip (WPLN/NPR)
COMMUNICATORS’ Award of Excellence – Radio Series – In Meth’s Grip (WPLN/NPR)
2004
PRNDI (Public Radio News Directors) Best Series – In Meth’s Grip (WPLN/NPR)
PRNDI Best Soft Feature – R. Winston Morris: Tuba U
2003
PRNDI 2nd Place – Soft Feature – Fright Goats
2002
Lowell Thomas Award – Soc. of American Travel Writers – Cape Crusaders (Antarctica) – Hemispheres Magazine
AUDIO FILE Magazine EARPHONES Award – Slow Dance with the Planet – HighBridge Publishing (audiobook)
1999
TN Associated Press – Radio Feature, Best Prod. – Slow Dance with the Planet (WPLN/NPR)