My Story
Michael Farrell is the co-founder of the Platte Basin Timelapse project. He is also a 51-year veteran of public media, 49 of which have been spent in the production and management of documentaries about the culture, history and environment of Nebraska and the Great Plains for Nebraska Public Television (now NPM). His areas of content specialization include history and humanities documentaries as well as programs about diverse topics such as rural and environmental issues, the fine arts, opera, ballet, jazz and blues. His most well-known award-winning production was In Search of the Oregon Trail, which aired three times on prime-time national public television and was one of the top ten most-watched PBS programs in its premiere year of 1996. His 90-minute special The Platte River Road won the coveted National Cowboy Hall of Fame award in 1992. From 1998 to 2009, Farrell led the Nebraska Public Television Network’s television production team managing local, regional and national projects. Beginning in 2006 he also established an internship program at NET for students from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Now through PBT the program offers paid professional experience to over a half a dozen undergraduate students per year. Farrell also teaches classes in documentary and visual story-telling. Farrell, an accomplished still photographer, has had his work appear in numerous one-person museum and gallery exhibitions as well as in Nebraska History magazine and NEBRASKAland Magazine. He has authored four photo books with accompanying essays. His degrees include an M.S. - Illinois Institute of Technology in Visual Communications and A.B. in Fine Arts (Graphic Design and Photography, Art History minor) - Indiana University. He lives in Lincoln with his partner Lynne Ireland and has three grown children and two granddaughters.