Conservative Conversations with ISI: On “Clarence Thomas in His Own Words”
Clarence Thomas is the longest-serving justice on the current U.S. Supreme Court.
He remains the most controversial—loved by some, reviled by others.
Thomas is also the quiet justice: he almost never asks questions from the bench and rarely speaks publicly.
You probably don't know more than a few headlines and the recollections of his contentious confirmation battle with Anita Hill nearly thirty years ago.
But documentary filmmaker Michael Pack has secured unprecedented access to Clarence Thomas . . .
. . . and now you can hear the inside story.
Join us for the live debut episode of Conservative Conversations with ISI to hear from Pack, producer and director of the acclaimed new film Created Equal: Justice Clarence Thomas in His Own Words.
Pack interviewed Justice Thomas and Thomas’s wife, Virginia, for more than 30 hours—the longest interview any Supreme Court justice has ever given.
Now, in this live discussion, Michael Pack will fill you in on what he learned about Justice Thomas and his remarkable life, including how Thomas . . .
- grew up in dire poverty in a Gullah-speaking region of segregated Georgia
- trained to be a Catholic priest
- became a ’60s radical who supported the Black Power Movement
- developed his controversial brand of originalism
- endured a “high-tech lynching for uppity blacks” during his Supreme Court confirmation hearings (a comment Thomas made to Joe Biden)
Find out why Pack’s new film, Created Equal, has been hailed as “a marvel of filmmaking” (Washington Post), as offering “rare insight into the mind of a justice known for his reticence on the public stage” (Time), and as a “stunning documentary” (Townhall).
Join this exclusive live online discussion to hear from Michael Pack and get your questions answered in real time.
Spots are limited, so reserve yours now!
See you Wednesday, April 29, at 4 p.m. ET.
production company, which he founded in 1977. Through Manifold Productions, Mr. Pack has
written, directed, and produced numerous award-winning nationally broadcast documentaries as well as corporate and educational films.
His most recent film, Created Equal: Clarence Thomas in His Own Words, a two-hour documentary, opened in movie theaters on January 31st, 2020 and will be broadcast nationally via PBS on May 18th, 2020 at 9 PM. The Washington Post called it “a marvel of filmmaking,” and the Washington Examiner said it is “magnificent and necessary.” Also, upcoming, The Last 600 Meters, tells the story of the 2004 battles of Najaf and Fallujah, the two biggest battles of the Iraq War. Mr. Pack’s other major television credits include: RICKOVER: The Birth of Nuclear Power, starring Tim Blake Nelson and narrated by Joan Allen (2014); Rediscovering Alexander Hamilton, hosted by Richard Brookhiser (2011); God and the Inner City, narrated by Phylicia Rashad (2003); Rediscovering George Washington, hosted by Richard Brookhiser (2002); The Fall of Newt Gingrich, narrated by Blair Brown (2000); The Rodney King Incident: Race and Justice in America, narrated by Robert Prosky (1998); Inside the Republican Revolution: The First Hundred Days, hosted by Don Lambro (1995);
Hollywood vs. Religion, hosted by Michael Medved (1995); Campus Culture Wars: Five Stories about Political Correctness, narrated by Lindsay Crouse (1993); America’s Political Parties, hosted by Ben Wattenberg and David Gergen (1988 & 1992); Fire from the Sun: The Search for Fusion Energy, hosted by E. G. Marshall (1990); Hollywood’s Favorite Heavy: Businessmen on Prime Time TV, hosted by Eli Wallach (1987); among others. All have been nationally broadcast on PBS, except The Rodney King Incident, which premiered on TLC. From 2015 to 2017, Mr. Pack served as President and CEO of the Claremont Institute in Upland, CA, and Publisher of its Claremont Review of Books. During his tenure, Mr. Pack revamped its management and organizational structure, created a new communications department which vastly increased its national prominence, and opened offices in DC to launch new programs and
increase its profile in the policy world.
From 2003-2006, Mr. Pack served as Senior Vice President for Television Programming at the
Corporation for Public Broadcasting. He restructured the programming department and launched several new initiatives. These included: America at a Crossroads (a series of 20 documentary films addressing issues facing America in the wake of the attacks of 9/11) and the American History and Civics Initiative (innovative, new media designed to address the crisis of historical amnesia in middle and high school students).
In 2002, President Bush nominated and the Senate confirmed Mr. Pack to serve on the National Council on the Humanities, which oversees the National Endowment for the Humanities. He served from July 2002 to February 2005. In 1993, Mr. Pack served as Co-Chair of the International TV Council at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. In this capacity, he oversaw the Council’s efforts to determine the feasibility of launching a cooperative program between American public television producers and stations and their counterparts in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.
Previously, Mr. Pack received a political appointment as Director of WORLDNET, the U.S.
Information Agency’s global satellite network. WORLDNET produced, acquired, and distributed programs to over 127 countries and over 200 cities on all continents twenty-four hours a day. Mr. Pack oversaw WORLDNET’s 291 employees and annual budget of $23 million. WORLDNET, now called VOA-TV, has merged with the Voice of America.
Mr. Pack attended Yale College, the University of California at Berkeley, and studied film at New York University. Before launching Manifold Productions, Mr. Pack worked extensively in
production and post-production. He worked as a staff editor for RAI, the Italian TV network, and for Pathé News in New York. Mr. Pack and his wife, Gina, who also works at Manifold
Productions, have three sons and reside in Chevy Chase, Maryland.
