30 Recognized for SCREEN's Best for 1996

Towers Productions is "putting Chicago on the cable programming map."
By Erik J. Martin
December 9, 1996

Creating new niches in Chicago production has been noticeably characteristic of the year past, and none more so, or nor with more excitement than Towers Productions, Inc.

"The company has really come into its own as a niche player in the production of documentaries for the cable TV industry," says SCREEN's Best broadcast producer, Jonathan Towers of his seven-year old company.

By producing an inordinately heavy schedule of 30 to 40 hours of TV documentary programming a year, Towers is demonstrating Chicago's ability to excel in this niche.

"I'm a journalist at heart," Towers says. "Our company is known for its journalistic integrity, and it's quality team of writers and producers at its core."

His journalistic skills are evident in the myriad of "American Justice" shows for A&E of which Towers is co-executive producer with Bill Kurtis; seven episodes a year of A&E's "Biography" (a contract renewed for '97); and a four-hour program on natural disasters for The History Channel.

In January, Towers Productions' new series, "The Unexplained," will bow on A&E. Hosted by local voiceover talent Pete Stacker, the show takes an objective, sceptical look at the claims of paranormal phenomena. "We debunk famous UFO sightings in history, but still show both sides of the issue," he says.

Coming up next spring is a one-hour special Towers produced for Ch.9 on the 150 year history of the Chicago Tribune; a two-hour special called "Doomsday" for the Learning Channel on nuclear war close calls in history; and more "Biography" specials on G. Gordon Liddy, Gary Gilmore, and the Gambino crime family.

Towers worked at CBS in the early 80's, writing material for Charles Osgood and Bill Kurtis. He became a Chicago TV correspondent for CNN until 1989 when he launched Towers Productions, freelancing for ABC News and later Kurtis Productions.

"My company would not be where it is today were it not for the support and trust of Bill Kurtis," Towers says humbly. "I started the company with nothing more than sweat equity and a little help from my father, and it has grown quite nicely."

The company has a mix of 30 permanent staffers and freelancers, including his wife, producer Ariel Schaffner, a mother-to-be in February.

"Our company pays absolute attention to the highest quality," says Schaffner. "We've established oursleves as being very exacting. Nothing goes out the door that isn't perfect and hasn't been checked completely. Our producers are held to the highest journalistic standards."

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