If you watch Voices of 9/11, you are going to see some shots of New York windows: super-modern glass and aluminum windows; vintage Art Deco brick-framed windows; decrepit apartment windows with sagging blinds and stained air conditioners; upscale windows set off by loosely focused, breeze-swept branches; and numerous others. To my mind anyway, these windows are curiously evocative and surprisingly intimate. Behind each and every one is a person with a story, and, in the conceit of our show, the people making or receiving some of the phone calls you will hear are right over there...just behind the glass.

You will also see shots of various antennae--both those that send broadcast signals and those that relay cell phone calls. On September 11, these easily-ignored urban fixtures played vital supporting roles as messengers; they delivered some of the power-packed voices we feature on the show.

But other than windows and antennae, we gave our editor--Bob Shontell--precious little to work with. It is a testimony to Bob's skill and vision that he was able to create a visual setting for the Voices of 9/11. By inventing images from stills, and stock footage as well as building post-production special effects, he provided a context for the voices without eclipsing them. Given the overpowering visual imagery from 9/11, this is no small achievement.

The central elements of this show are the on-camera interviews with those individuals whose voices have become part of the 9/11 legacy. Like most of us, they have submerged the memories of that day enough to continue on with their lives. But unlike most of us, they had vivid, up-close, first-hand experiences; while we watched on TV, they were there, in the eye of the hurricane.

When directing the interviewees that you will see in the show, I was keenly aware that I was asking them to strip away the buffers they had put up between themselves and their memories of that day. I knew that the less each interviewee guarded their thoughts, the more our viewers would understand that day. At the same time, I suspected that for days or weeks after our interviews, the participants would be adrift in potent memories we had stirred up while filming.

As you will see if you watch the show, this group of interviewees generously invited us into their experiences, and unflinchingly bared their emotions. Moment by moment, as the camera rolled, they determined just how deep into their memories they were willing to go, and that deliberation plays out on screen. It is part of the drama in this retelling of the 9/11 story. Whatever merits this show may have can be credited in large measure to the interviewees.