The Little Television Series That Could
Simple Living With Wanda Urbanska
By Wanda Urbanska
Copyright © 2004. All Rights Reserved.
Reprinted here by permission.

Mount Airy, NC -- Everyone's heard the story of the little engine that could. But did you know that starting in July 2004, the little television series that could -- Simple Living with Wanda Urbanska -- will be available to PBS stations nationwide? Simple Living -- a series of 30-minute lifestyle programs teaching environmental stewardship, thoughtful consumption, community involvement and financial responsibility -- got off the ground by a number of civic, business and community leaders in this small town of 8,484 believing in the "simple-living" vision and putting their money where their mouths were.

Since the project was launched in April 2000, more than $472,000 has been raised -- including over $170,000 in primarily local money from 160 donors for the initial "research and development" phase of the project. "People in Mount Airy are excited about a PBS series originating here," said Burke Robertson, 2004 Chairman of the Board of the Greater Mount Airy Chamber of Commerce. "We're a can-do community, so we roll up our sleeves and go to work."

Going to work for the new series came in the form of financial support for the project. Donations poured in from every sector of the community. A local car dealer donated a two-year lease on a Subaru Outback station wagon; the company's landlord cut the rent in half as an in-kind donation; an accountant donated her time. The owners of the Maxwell House Bed & Breakfast on Main Street house a Simple Living staffer year-round. The list goes on and on.

Probably the most touching gift came when Wanda Urbanska, company president, was chatting with a friend at the local community center. The friend had recently opened a children's resale shop. When Wanda told her that she was trying to raise $400,000 to launch a television series, her friend said, " 'I can't give you that, but I can give you $20.' "

Now that the project is in production, the town has been just as accommodating as they were in launching the project. Merchants around town routinely donate props to the series and offer their stores as backdrops for filming.

"When I tell out-of-towners how welcoming people in Mount Airy are, they just shake their heads," says Frank Levering, writer/producer. "It's no coincidence that before Mount Airy was known as Mayberry, it was called the 'Friendly City.'"

Mount Airy is nestled in a region that is known for its generosity. In addition to the local support for the project, Simple Living has received 19 production grants -- most of them originating in the nearby cities of Winston-Salem, Greensboro, Raleigh and Charlotte, North Carolina. Additional grants have come from foundations based in New York and Connecticut.

Simple Living principals consider all our supporters passengers -- on board 'The Little Series That Could!'

Wow. There were a lot of pleasant surprises at the recent world premiere of Simple Living With Wanda Urbanska, a PBS series that may be showing on a TV screen near you starting in July.

Actually, as if to prove that nothing is ever really simple, there were two gala world premieres of the series last month. One was in Mount Airy, which is as close to a hometown as country-dwellers Urbanska and her husband, Frank Levering, have. The other was at the N.C. School of the Arts here. And four days after the Winston-Salem premiere, two of the series' segments were aired at an environmental film festival in Washington.

The fact that the series has come to fruition could be the greatest surprise of all, except for those who know Urbanska and Levering. Since they abandoned their busy lives in Los Angeles nearly 20 years ago to take over the Levering family orchard north of Mount Airy in the Virginia mountains, the two have created a successful business out of spreading the word about simplicity. They brought their skills with them from L.A., where she was a newspaper writer and he was a screenwriter. Their insights into the simple life they gained during their early days of struggling to make ends meet as fruit farmers.

Their book Simple Living: One Couple's Search for a Better Life propelled them into the forefront of a growing national movement. There have been other books, articles and work for TV, including Urbanska's role as the host for a 1998 PBS special, Escape From Affluenza. The success of that program inspired their idea of a public-television series designed, Urbanska said recently, to further "the cause of waking up Americans to the need to change our lifestyle."

Four years ago, creating a PBS series was little more than a dream, another of their creative schemes. Three years ago, they had assembled a national advisory board and some enthusiastic local backers and begun the hard work of raising production money. Urbanska conceded last week that, despite some cautionary words from more experienced people, she and Levering did not realize what they were getting into. "We'd never done it before, so we didn't know what was down the road," she said. But once they started in earnest, there was no turning back. "We had committed ourselves to it. Once you start and people are donating money to you, you have to go forward."

Producing a series for PBS is a complicated business. Urbanska and Levering created what they hope will eventually be a for-profit company. But because the series will be made available to PBS stations at no charge, they are able to accept nonprofit, tax-deductible donations through their partnership with the N.C. School of the Arts Foundation.

They started trying to raise money just about the time the economy turned down, yet they have managed to raise almost half a million dollars without a major foundation grant or major corporate sponsor. Their support has largely come through production grants, individual contributions and in-kind donations. Mount Airy has gotten behind the project in a big way, with residents and merchants donating such things as a two-year lease on a car and a room in a bed and breakfast for a Simple Living staffer.

One of Urbanska and Levering's long-range hopes is to reap some profits through sales of videos and DVDs of the series and of a tie-in book they have just finished writing. For now, the goal is just to get the series finished and persuade lots of PBS stations to run it. Raising the money for production has been a necessity; creating the shows is the real labor of love. Levering is the writer/producer, and Urbanska is the host/producer.

The content and tone of the programs was one of the real surprises at the premiere. When the two describe what they're trying to get across, the message can sound worthwhile but hardly entertaining. The segments attempt to educate people about lifestyle issues, with the main themes being environmental stewardship, thoughtful consumption, community involvement and financial responsibility.

The shows, however, are light, funny, sometimes wacky and always interesting and effective.

Another surprise, although maybe it shouldn't have been, was watching Urbanska perform, with enthusiasm, lively abandon and a lot of ability. Far more than just the host, she's the star of the shows.

Another "star" of the series should come as a bonus surprise for local viewers. Although the series travels to 10 states, the home base in every segment is Mount Airy or some other part of the Piedmont Triad region. Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines is prominently featured in one segment, touting the city as a "simple living" community. Winston-Salem State University gave a $15,000 grant to underwrite a segment on building social capital filmed on and near the campus. Greensboro appears in one program. Mount Airy is featured frequently. There's even a scene in which Urbanska gets a professional organizer to help clear the clutter in her mother's Mount Airy condo.

Once the furious work of creating, paying for and pitching the series is done, Urbanska and Levering hope to have more time to reap the benefits of their own advice. Though they adhere to many of the basic principles of simple living they espouse, their lives lately have been busy and complicated. "In a sense, we've sort of sacrificed the simple life to promote it," she said.

About The Author

Wanda Urbanska is a nationally known author and expert on simplicity. Co-author with Frank Levering of Simple Living: One Couple's Search for a Better Life, originally published by Viking in 1992 and now in its ninth edition in paperback from John F. Blair, Publisher. Urbanska and Levering have co-authored a new book, Nothing's Too Small to Make a Difference, due out in August from John F. Blair, Publisher. Urbanska has helped to identify and define one of the top trends of our time -- the quest for simplicity in our overbooked, environmentally challenged, high-tech era. Wanda Urbanska is a graduate of Harvard University and author or co-author of six books. She has extensive media experience and hosted the PBS primetime special Escape from Affluenza: Living Better on Less. Wanda is also the host for the upcoming series Simple Living with Wanda Urbanska.

Web Site: Simple Living with Wanda Urbanska