Won't You Be My Neighbor? (2018)

Released June 29th in the US.
Filming location(s) unknown.
The story : In the early 50s , Fred Rogers was in his senior year of college.
He went home during a break and seen television for the first time.
Ready to become a minister , Fred decided to put his future of attending the seminary on hold to do a children's program for a local TV station , WQED in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania.
No one wanted to do a children's program at the time.
Fred felt that there should be one. He found that TV would be a wonderful tool for teaching.
Children's Corner was an educational program. Fred produced it. The show was filmed live , so when something caused an unexpected pause in the show one day , Fred introduced a puppet someone had given him to fill in the blank spot.
Ground breaking idea.
While being a student of theology , Fred became interested in working with children.
For counseling purposes , Fred studied under the supervision of child psychologist Margaret McFarland who worked at the college he attended.
Then became Mister Rogers Neighborhood , a safe place to discuss feelings.
On the very first week the show aired , February of 1968 , the show touched on real world issues.
Every show became an effort of getting a message across.
When Nixon became President in 1969 , he was all for canceling funding for TV shows he felt were unnecessary.
That same year , Fred addressed senate , namely Senator Pastore , on the importance of keeping the funding for public educational television.
In six minutes time , Fred convinced Senator Pastore that funding for the public broadcasting system that was making and airing Mister Rogers Neighborhood , was an important and intelligent step to take.
From that point on , Mister Rogers and his neighborhood took flight.
Stars Fred Rogers , Joanne Rogers , John Rogers , Jim Rogers , Bill Isler , Hedda Sharapan , Max King , Junlei Li , Tom Junod , Betty Seamans , Joe Negri , David Newell , Elaine Crozier , George Wirth , Margaret Whitmer , Yo Yo Ma , Nick Tallo , Howard Erlanger , Pam Erlanger
Directed by Morgan Neville
Rated PG13
DOCUMENTARY/HISTORY/BIOGRAPHY

"What I mean when I say that 'Everyone's special'. , is that you don't have to do anything sensational for people to love you."

( A 2018 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL DOCUMENTARY PREMIERE)