by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
In February, 131.7 million people across the planet watched the Indianapolis Colts beat the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XXXVI. That figure pales in comparison to the nearly 400 million that tune in regularly to the Travel Channel. Many of those viewers have seen “Passport to Europe” — a show that was created and produced right here in Jacksonville by PineRidge Film and Television Company.
In addition to tremendous viewership, “Passport to Europe” also earned PineRidge its eighth Daytime Emmy nomination, this one for directing. June 14, the company will find out if it won its second Daytime Emmy during a ceremony in Los Angeles.
Owned by Jerry and Cindy Smith, the 12-person company has quietly been stacking up the Daytime Emmy nominations and state Emmy awards for years. Smith is the first to pass along the credit, especially to his wife and co-owner Cindy.
“Every show, with very few exceptions, at some point Cindy sat across the desk from a network executive and said, ‘I’ve got an idea. What about a show on ...’ She studies the market then studies the needs of a network. It’s a win-win,” said Smith. “She comes to me, says she’s got a new show and we make it look good.”
That’s the simple explanation about winning a Daytime Emmy. The complicated explanation involves many others, hundreds of hours abroad and in the production rooms, the creative juices of just about everyone in the company and a vivacious host. Oh yeah, a great big planet with an almost infinite number of places to explore and people to meet contributes, too.
Three years ago, PineRidge won a Daytime Emmy for directing in its series “Great Hotels.” That series was nominated for three other Emmys that year and one each in 2003 and 2005. “Passport to Europe” was also nominated last year.
Cindy Smith said the key to the company’s success has been discovering what the various networks want and delivering a quality product. For example, Cindy dealt with the Travel Channel during a time when the network went through six presidents over a relatively short time span.
“Every manager has their own vision,” she said. “They have a short time to make ratings.”
The shows are 30 minutes long and tightly scripted. However, PineRidge rarely uses actors as hosts. Instead, Jerry Smith and others discover the right people that, with coaching, become the perfect hosts.
“We have the ability to not just develop programming, but develop talent,” said Cindy Smith. “Jerry is one of the top talent coaches in the country. Most of our hosts are not professional actors. They might be heads of companies or news anchors.”
Case in point: Lisa Thornton is a pediatrician in Chicago. PineRidge was asked to create a show for Walgreens called “Health Corner” that would air on Lifetime and the desire was for a genuine physician to host the show. Jerry Smith worked with Thornton for about a year, she turned out to be a great TV host and virtually every facet of the show was done in Jacksonville.
The host of “Passport to Europe” and the in-production “Passport to Latin America” is Samantha Brown, someone with little to no television experience, but who has proven terrific at the job.
“She has a great attitude and a natural curiosity for learning,” said Cindy Smith.
Amy Barnett is a series producer for PineRidge. She said the company’s shows compete for Daytime Emmys with shows that have become household names — Dr. Phil, Martha Stewart, Rachel Ray and others. Barnett is currently working on another series called “Animal Attractions” set for broadcast on PBS. The show focuses on animals and the positive impact they are having on certain individuals or groups.
“People bring special stories here for us to film,” said Barnett, explaining that one show will focus on Faith, a two-legged dog from the Midwest that walks on its hind legs like a human being.
“She (Barnett) regularly scoops the national press,” said Jerry Smith, adding another show features a lady who owns a horse farm and hosts children with cancer as a type of therapy. “Their cancers often go into remission after this therapy. Amy found that story.”
Joan McCord is a producer for PineRidge. She’s also what Jerry Smith calls the company’s version of Indiana Jones. According to him, McCord plays an intricate role in deciding everything from concept to post-production.
“The nuts and bolts is Joan’s responsibility,” he said. “We call her Indiana Jones. She’s sat on a bus full of chickens in Nicaragua.”
Despite being surrounded by Latin American fowl, McCord was sure to keep her hands off; not for sanitary reasons, though.
“I wanted to check the box off when you are coming back into America that says you did not touch any livestock,” said McCord, explaining that if you check the “yes” box, you are sent to another line for what may prove to be a less than enjoyable experience.
McCord is also responsible for the locally-produced “Promos to Go” — which are short videos that essentially serve as public service announcements. Often they serve as warnings and Joan’s husband Jay has acted in a few. McCord said Jay has been a dope dealer, a spy and a farmer for Home and Garden TV.
Jerry Smith said his company is unique in that it can be Jacksonville-based and yet bring the world to the world.
“We love Jacksonville. We go to church here, we have grand kids here,” he said. “But our job is to go to Kopan (in Nepal) or Central America and shoot Mayan ruins or to the tip of South America in Chile where there are only 15 people left in the whole tribe.”