Richard "Rick" Sebak (born 1953) is an American film director and producer who lives and works in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the United States.Sebak is the creator of the "scrapbook documentary" genre, many of which he has created for WQED and PBS. Sebak attended Bethel Park High School and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was a Phi Beta Kappa graduate.His work is supported by the Buhl Foundation.Sebak's first foray in the nostalgia documentary is the 1984 documentary Shag for South Carolina ETV, about a dance popular in the region. Four years later at WQED, Sebak produced The Mon, The Al & The O, about the Monongahela, Allegheny, and Ohio rivers, which meet to form at Pittsburgh's Golden Triangle; and Kennywood Memories, about Kennywood, a historic local amusement park.As of March 2006, 313,227 copies of Sebak's films had been sold or given away as pledge gifts by public television stations nationwide, which WQED credits with largely helping it become financially solvent. Sebak's scrapbook documentary format has been copied by other stations, many of whom see record pledge drive numbers when their documentaries air at pledge time.For his 25th year at the station, WQED produced a program called What Makes Rick Tick. Special photos of Sebak to celebrate this 25th anniversary were added to Yinztagram. The City of Pittsburgh declared the 1st week of December "Rick Sebak Week."
He attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
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For 11 years, he worked at the South Carolina Educational Television Network. There, he made an award-winning documentary about the official state dance, entitled "Shag".
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He calls his quirky cultural travelogues "scrapbook documentaries".
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Inventor of the public television nostalgia documentary. Best known for his narration of several documentaries about Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Producer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Return to Downtown Pittsburgh
2016
TV Movie documentary producer
Breakfast Special
2010
TV Movie documentary producer
Invented, Engineered & Pioneered in Pittsburgh
2008
TV Movie documentary producer
A Ride Along the Lincoln Highway
2008
TV Movie documentary producer
A Cemetery Special
2005
TV Movie documentary producer
A Program About Unusual Buildings & Other Roadside Stuff
2004
TV Movie documentary producer
Fred Rogers: America's Favorite Neighbor
2004
TV Movie documentary producer
A Flea Market Documentary
2001
TV Movie documentary producer
Great Old Amusement Parks
1999
TV Movie documentary producer
A Hot Dog Program
1999
TV Movie documentary producer
Shore Things
1996
TV Movie producer
An Ice Cream Show
1996
TV Movie documentary producer
Downtown Pittsburgh
1992
Documentary producer
Things That Aren't There Anymore
1990
TV Movie documentary producer
Shag
1987
Documentary short producer
Writer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Return to Downtown Pittsburgh
2016
TV Movie documentary
Breakfast Special
2010
TV Movie documentary
A Ride Along the Lincoln Highway
2008
TV Movie documentary
A Program About Unusual Buildings & Other Roadside Stuff
2004
TV Movie documentary writer
Fred Rogers: America's Favorite Neighbor
2004
TV Movie documentary
Sandwiches That You Will Like
2002
TV Movie documentary
A Flea Market Documentary
2001
TV Movie documentary
Great Old Amusement Parks
1999
TV Movie documentary
A Hot Dog Program
1999
TV Movie documentary
Downtown Pittsburgh
1992
Documentary
Things That Aren't There Anymore
1990
TV Movie documentary
Shag
1987
Documentary short
Director
Title
Year
Status
Character
Return to Downtown Pittsburgh
2016
TV Movie documentary
Invented, Engineered & Pioneered in Pittsburgh
2008
TV Movie documentary
Great Old Amusement Parks
1999
TV Movie documentary
A Hot Dog Program
1999
TV Movie documentary uncredited
An Ice Cream Show
1996
TV Movie documentary
Downtown Pittsburgh
1992
Documentary
Actor
Title
Year
Status
Character
Letter Die: A Gamut Sibling Mystery
2012
Short
Ricky the Rat
Fortunex
2010
Short
Business Investor
Miscellaneous
Title
Year
Status
Character
Teenage Graffiti
1977
production assistant
Self
Title
Year
Status
Character
Breakfast Special
2010
TV Movie documentary
Narrator (voice)
A Cemetery Special
2005
TV Movie documentary
Narrator (voice)
A Program About Unusual Buildings & Other Roadside Stuff