‘American Masters’ filmmaker Susan Lacy leaving PBS, joins HBO

Susan Lacy, the creator of PBS’ American Masters series and one of the most honored filmmakers in TV history, has decided to leave PBS for HBO.

“It was not an easy decision to make,” she told The New York Times today. “But this was a wonderful opportunity for me to continue to make films.”

While she is leaving American Masters behind, she is still sticking with documentaries. HBO is adding to its roster of non-fiction programming with a new biography series that Lacy will direct and produce for HBO’s documentary films division leader Sheila Nevins.

The Associated Press reports that Nevins commented that she is excited to work with having “someone as talented as Susan Lacy bring fresh ideas to HBO.”

She told the Times that funding for American Masters, which she began in 1986, was inadequate at times. She said she found herself “having to find money to supplement the funding for each film.”

Still, Lacy noted that she is proud of her previous work at PBS, which has won 18 Emmy Awards. The series has covered over 190 subjects from musicians like Paul Simon and Joni Mitchell to writer Rod SErling and composer Leonard Bernstein. American Masters’ latest Emmy win came for Inventing David Geffen, which Lacy directed and produced.