THE PRODUCTION TEAM
The National Memorial Day Concert is brought to the screen by hundreds of dedicated professionals working to ensure a meaningful and memorable experience for honorees, performers, audience members and viewers at home.
MICHAEL COLBERT
Executive Producer
Michael Colbert is the Executive Producer of two of television’s longest-running and multi-award-winning programs that commemorate America’s freedom and independence, live from the U.S. Capitol.
A Capitol Fourth, America’s national Independence Day celebration, will commemorate its 44th anniversary in 2024. The National Memorial Day Concert, which marks its 35th anniversary this year, has become the nation’s premier tribute to our men and women in uniform, their families at home, and all those who have given their lives for our country.
As head of Capital Concerts, Inc., Colbert manages the business year-round, and serves as the primary liaison with over twenty government and non-governmental Washington agencies and organizations involved with the live televised events. Colbert supervises all aspects of both concert productions, including creative content, publicity and promotion, and oversees the hundreds of television professionals who participate annually.
In addition to his annual work on these patriotic events, Colbert’s credits include major national television specials on CBS, Fox, PBS and Comedy Central in locations ranging from Washington, DC, New York and Los Angeles to Nashville, and a wide range of major corporate events.
PAUL MILLER
Director
Three-time Emmy Award winning producer-director, Paul Miller returns for his 24th year as director of the National Memorial Day Concert and A Capitol Fourth television specials on PBS. Miller’s additional credits include The Carol Burnett 50th Anniversary Special on CBS, The Country Music Awards, The Tony Awards, Saturday Night Live, Star Spangled Spectacular: A Celebration of the 200th Anniversary of our National Anthem, In Living Color, A CMA Country Christmas, which he directed for the eleventh year in 2021, plus many specials and series for all the major broadcast and cable television networks. He is currently executive producing and directing a two hour special for NBC, Carol Burnett 90 Years of Laughter and Love, airing April 26, 2023.
He won a 2016 Emmy Award as Executive Producer of It’s Your 50th Christmas, Charlie Brown and won for directing the Tony Awards and the ABC News coverage of the Inauguration of President Barrack Obama. He has also been nominated twice for the Directors Guild of America Award in the Musical/Variety category and won for directing the Tony Awards.
He is a partner in RickMill Productions, a Hollywood based entertainment company that has produced numerous series for Comedy Central as well as specials for HBO and Showtime.
BARR WEISSMAN
Documentary Sequence Producer
Barr Weissman has produced and edited the documentary segments for the National Memorial Day Concert since 1998. Mr. Weissman edited and helped produce several independent documentaries; including the Academy Award winning film, The Stonecarvers and Mr. Justice Brennan.
He has directed and edited biographical films for the Kennedy Center Honors (including films on The Who, Mel Brooks, Bruce Springsteen and Tom Hanks). In addition, he has produced and edited documentaries for the Discovery Channel, National Geographic, NBC, PBS, and others.
His work has been recognized by the Emmy’s, received awards at film festivals worldwide, and screened at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Weissman’s most recent feature film, The Secret To A Happy Ending has screened at film festivals and theaters world-wide and received 4 stars from Rolling Stone. In 2016, Mr. Weissman produced and edited 10 films for the Musical Crossroads gallery at the new Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.
A native Washingtonian, Mr. Weissman produced and independently distributed two critically acclaimed documentaries about the city – Home: The Langston Terrace Dwellings and A View From The Street: The Art Of Lily Spandorf. In 2020 he premiered Go Grassfed for Future Harvest about the virtues of sustainable agricultural practices, and A Meaningful Life celebrating 25 years of the Interfaith Family Project. His newest film OUTSIDER: William H. Whyte’s Street Life Project & The Future of Human Places is in development.
KIRK ELLIS
Writer
Kirk Ellis won two Emmys, a WGA Award, a Peabody and the Humanitas Prize for his work as writer and co-executive producer on the HBO miniseries “John Adams.” The miniseries won 13 Emmys in total, as well as four Golden Globe awards. Previously, Ellis received an Emmy nomination and won the WGA Award and Humanitas Prize for the ABC miniseries “Anne Frank,” which he wrote and co-produced. Series on which he has served as writer and producer have garnered more than 50 Emmy nominations.
Most recently, Ellis wrote and executive produced the Apple TV+ limited series event, “Franklin,” starring Michael Douglas, which chronicles Benjamin Franklin’s efforts to negotiate a treaty with France at the height of the American Revolution. Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book “A Great Improvisation” by Stacy Schiff, the series also features Noah Jupe, Ludivine Sagnier, Daniel Mays, Thibault de Montalembert, Jeanne Balibar, Assaad Bouab and Eddie Marsan.
Since 2019, Ellis has written or co-written annual National Memorial Day Concert for PBS. He received a Writers Guild nomination for his work on the 2022 show. The special broadcast regularly garners some of PBS’ top ratings. Ellis is also co-author of “The Order: 1886,” a history-based videogame for Sony, which debuted to record sales in February 2015. His first nonfiction book, Ride Lonesome, was published in Spring 2023 by the University of New Mexico Press.
A former co-governor of the writers’ branch of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Ellis served four years as chairman of the Santa Fe, New Mexico Arts Commission and is currently a trustee for the Museum of New Mexico Foundation. The former president of Western Writers of America, he received both the WWA Spur Award and the Wrangler Award from the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum for his episode of the TNT/Dreamworks miniseries, “Into the West.”
Ellis lives in Santa Fe and Palm Springs with his wife, Sheila, and their two rescue cats. He is currently at work on his second book, due out in Spring 2025.
JERRY COLBERT
Founder and Executive Producer
2017 marked the passing of Jerry Colbert, Founder and Executive Producer of The National Memorial Day Concert. Jerry believed deeply in supporting America’s troops, and felt that his lifelong calling was to use the medium of television to make a difference and encourage personal and national healing. When Jerry established the National Memorial Day Concert, he set out to do just that, and create a memorial service for the nation. His energy, creativity and determination led to moving concerts of gratitude year after year featuring uplifiting musical performances, documentary footage and dramatic readings.
Jerry’s compelling way of sharing stories of war and its aftermath has helped Americans understand the hardships faced by our service men and women, and their families. Jerry Colbert’s enduring legacy of patriotism and faith will continue to inspire this patriotic event at the U.S. Capitol for many years to come.
“Tell those you love, that you love them everyday.”
-Jerry Colbert