Barbara Pyle

Barbara Y. E. Pyle (born August 22, 1947) is an American executive producer, filmmaker and environmental activist.

She co-created and served as the executive producer on the animated series Captain Planet and the Planeteers and is the founder of the Captain Planet Foundation.

She is currently a supporter and driving force for the Planeteer Movement, a worldwide effort of fans of the series to raise environmental awareness, based on the values of its main character, Captain Planet.

Barbara Pyle first met Ted Turner in 1980 when she was photographing the America's Cup for Time magazine and the media mogul was helming the Courageous for the last time.

Turner, impressed with Pyle's media savvy and commitment to environmental issues, hired her as Vice President of Environmental Policy at TBS.

Pyle served over two decades in this role and was responsible for creation of the Turner Environment Division and setting the company's environmental broadcast agenda.

Pyle branded TBS as the Environmental Network.

Simultaneously, she was CNN's environmental editor where she introduced and oversaw environmental news reporting and programming on both CNN and TBS.

As one of the first environmental corporate executives, she championed Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policies and initiatives company-wide and set the standards for energy efficiency, recycling and carpooling with her department's award-winning Clean Air Commute program.

In 1980, after she read The Global 2000 Report to the President commissioned by Jimmy Carter's presidential administration, Pyle committed herself to bring global concerns to the forefront of public attention.

Pyle has worked with and built collaborative relationships between major environmental groups such as the United Nations Environment Programme, National Wildlife Federation, National Audubon Society, and Natural Resources Defense Council.

Pyle's activism was grounded in media production.

Her 35-part documentary series People Count, hosted by Jane Fonda, profiled everyday people from around the world working to address issues of sustainable development, population, and the rights of women and native peoples.

Pyle traveled around the world to film this series, acting both as executive producer and reporter.

People Count aired domestically on CNN and TBS, and internationally on CNN International.

To extend the audience further, People Count segments were distributed free through an international distribution program that reached broadcasters in over 180 countries with a potential viewing audience of two billion.

Broadcast to more than 80 countries and viewed by more than one billion people, Pyle's film The Day of Five Billion, co-produced with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), featured original music videos by renowned artists from around the world combined with mini-documentaries and messages from international leaders and futurist authors.

The Day of Five Billion featured a video representing the birth of the five billionth person on earth.

Participating in the film were world leaders such as President of Costa Rica Óscar Arias, Prime Minister of Norway Gro Harlem Brundtland, President of Indonesia Suharto, Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang, as well as music legends Peter Gabriel, Crowded House, Jimmy Cliff, Stevie Wonder, The Neville Brothers, Allen Toussaint, Clarence Clemons, Dr. John, Nona Hendryx, Youssou N'Dour and renowned authors Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, and Kurt Vonnegut amongst many others.

This celebration expanded into the annually celebrated World Population Day.

The film received numerous accolades, including a Population Institute Global Media Award, a CINDY Award from the International Association of Audio Visual Communicators (IAAVC), a Silver Hugo Award as well as nominations for CableACE and Emmy awards.

Pyle's Without Borders expanded her distribution network to 127 countries and included a satellite grant from Intelsat.

Her film One Child - One Voice was the centerpiece of the United Nations' Save the Earth media campaign.

This film initiated a letter-writing campaign in support of the United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.

The film was distributed to over 100 countries and more than one million 'leaf postcards' were received from around the world for the Tree of Life in Rio.

For her professional work, humanitarian efforts and activism, Barbara has received dozens of personal commendations.

Then Secretary-General of the United Nations Kofi Annan, when presenting the United Nations Sasakawa Award to Pyle, remarked: "For more than two decades, Barbara Pyle has encouraged the media to assume a major responsibility for informing and educating the public, including decision makers. Pyle has brought environmental issues closer to the hearts and minds of people the world over. As a writer, director and producer of numerous television programs, she has inspired countless individuals to care about the environment and to take responsibility for its protection."

While at CNN/TBS, Pyle introduced and oversaw environmental coverage, including Earth Matters, a daily environmental news show which premiered on CNN in 1981 and launched "CNN's World Report", which featured international journalists presenting breaking news from their countries vis-à-vis their local perspective.

With Jane Fonda serving as host, Pyle executive produced the award-winning show People Count which put a face on global issues addressed by a series of United Nations summits.

In 1989, Pyle and Ted Turner together conceived the series Captain Planet and the Planeteers.

Pyle and her team, which consisted of Nick Boxer and Thom Beers, intended to produce an animated series that could yield a generation of environmentally-literate youth.

The characters on the show became the world's first eco-superheroes.

Pyle based the five Planeteers on real-life people who inspired her during the show's pre-production, in 1989.

The series launched in September 1990 and ran for six seasons with a total of 113 episodes.

Featuring celebrity voices such as Whoopi Goldberg, LeVar Burton, Meg Ryan, Jeff Goldblum, Tim Curry, Ed Asner, John Ratzenberger, Martin Sheen, and Dean Stockwell, the series was met with critical acclaim and became massively popular amongst youth.

The series was No. 1 in Nielsen ratings for five consecutive years, was syndicated in 220 U.S. markets and aired in over 100 countries.

Pyle required that the series' merchandising was made sustainably.

The series first season was released on DVD on April 19, 2011, and a feature film has been announced by Cartoon Network, which, as of November 2019 and despite further attempts in 2013 and 2016, has not yet come to any results.

Despite this, the series came back on TV in 2017, via a crossover episode of OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes entitled "The Power Is Yours", after one of Captain Planet's catchphrases.

Many of the voice actors reprised their roles from the show.