Executive Producer

Rainie Ames has 27 years of experience in television, communications and media. She has produced more than 20 shows for PBS, including “Oil Shockwave”, currently in national distribution; The Man Energy and Environment Project, a series of 15 Prime-Time live programs for PBS; Clean Cities, a series of one hour specials on Sustainable Communities for PBS; and, the Prime-Time special “Treasures of the Library of Congress”, a partnership with the Library of Congress.

Rainie – and Ames Productions – specialize in reaching millions of viewers with compelling and critical topics. Her expertise leads to significant interest and participation from Senators; Secretaries of State, Defense, Energy, the EPA and Treasury; The Library of Congress; Stanford, MIT & Duke Universities (among others); editors, publishers, Pulitzer Prize winners, academics, CEOs and activists. All of these have participated in her live events and national PBS programs. The relationships formed at these events – between and among the participants as well as the producer – help promote ongoing dialog and action, adding an additional benefit to the participation of millions of discerning PBS viewers.

The hallmark of Ames Productions is in bringing the highest-level thinkers and doers together to explore solutions across a wide range of disciplines. From multi-state live debates on Nuclear Waste in the West to private screenings at the invitation of Senators Lugar and Biden for Oil Shockwave, Ames presents critical and complex issues in a way that is journalistically sound and engaging for participants and viewers alike.

Rainie Ames began her career as a journalist as a reporter and producer in network affiliate news, in Hawaii and the Pacific Northwest, before being named Director of Broadcasting for the U.S. Senate Republican Conference under Sen. John Chafee.

While working for the Senate, Ms. Ames established the first-ever Senate Office Building satellite link and live production studio, providing daily news feeds and press conferences for Senators from both sides of the aisle. She coordinated coverage of Joint Sessions of Congress and Bob Dole’s interview from the Korean D.M.Z., and produced and hosted some of the first television town hall meetings for broadcast for the Pennsylvania and New York Senate delegations.

As an independent producer and consultant, Ms. Ames has continued to innovate, producing multiple national PBS program series and Public Service campaigns on energy, the environment, the evolution of the Internet, urban planning for clean cities, electric vehicles, and the risks and benefits of nuclear power. Ms. Ames also provided strategic consulting to international telecommunications companies, crafting the strategy for the development and successful launch of lifestyle, non-fiction programming in Europe and Latin America.

Ames’ work also includes projects and production in early childhood and education reform, consulting to the President of the Educational Testing Service, and producing programming to facilitate early learning for Florida schools and parents. Her programming has received the extremely rare and coveted “Recommended for Viewing” status by the National Education Association and was recognized by the Clinton White House, with an award presented by the President’s Council on Sustainable Development.

Ms. Ames is currently distributing her PBS documentary “Oil ShockWave” nationally, and serving as executive producer for “On The Edge: Life with Epilepsy”, a one hour special for National Public Television currently in production. She is also launching American Purpose, a project for PBS and web in the tradition of American Experience, to address the complex issues of our times.

Rainie has been married to Chris for 24 years; they have two children and reside on the Gulf Coast of Florida.

Ms. Ames can be reached at amesproductions@mac.com .