Your Source for Documentary News
Your Source for Documentary News
Industry
“Faces Places,” “Abacus: Small Enough to Jail,” “Risk” get Oscar boost from DOC NYC’s Short List
Source: The Wrap Agnes Varda, Errol Morris, Steve James, and Laura Poitras are among the documentary filmmakers whose films have been placed on DOC NYC’s 2017 Short List of the year. The annual list typically serves as an accurate predictor of documentaries that will...
Starz preps its fall documentary lineup
Source: Realscreen Pay-TV network Starz is entering the world of documentaries with a series of new acquisitions. The docs will premiere this fall on Monday nights, beginning with "The Age of Consequences" on Sept. 18. The PF Pictures doc investigates the impacts of...
“13th” is a big winner on first night of Creative Arts Emmys
Source: The Hollywood Reporter Ava DuVerney asserted that there are different ways to address the criminal justice system, and urged those with those views to "stand up and be heard." She made these remarks last night at the Creative Arts Emmys, where her Neflix...
PBS and Independent Lens launch documentary-driven YouTube channel
Source: The Wrap PBS isn’t just for your grandparents anymore. The public broadcasting mainstay is continuing to solidify its presence as a digital media player, launching a YouTube channel in collaboration with Independent Lens, the Emmy award-winning indie...
“Humans of New York” documentary series coming to Facebook
Source: The Hollywood Reporter Facebook is putting a human touch on its new video efforts. The social network has ordered a 12-episode docuseries from Brandon Stanton, the man behind the popular photo blog, Humans of New York. The half-hour series will also be...
Six Filmmaking Tips From Ken Burns
Source: Film School Rejects 1. Storytelling is Storytelling 2. 1 + 1 = 3 3. Do Something Lasting 4. Plans Will Change 5. There Is No Single Career Path 6. Never Stop Learning Read the story at Film School Rejects. Receive all of today’s stories in one email...
Wang Bing’s “Mrs. Fang” wins top prize at Locarno Festival
Source: Variety A jury that included high profile directors Olivier Assayas and Miguel Gomes has awarded Wang Bing’s unblinkered documentary, “Mrs. Fang,” the Golden Leopard at the 70th anniversary edition of the Locarno Festival, which ends today. In keeping with...
Our doc “On a Knife Edge” took seven years to make. Here’s what we learned on the way.
Source: Moviemaker Magazine For several years, our documentary "On a Knife Edge" had a great beginning and a wonderful middle, but no end in sight. On the face of it, our story (about a teenage Lakota boy growing up on South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Reservation) had one...
How One Young Filmmaker Sold His Documentary to Netflix
Source: Fstoppers In November of last year, Jonny Von Wallström sold his feature-length documentary film, "The Pearl of Africa," to Netflix. He had been attempting to chase down the video streaming service for several years. This included hunting down contact...
News & Documentary Emmy nominations announced. PBS & CBS lap field.
Source: Deadline PBS and CBS more than doubled all other networks as the 38th annual News & Documentary Emmy nominations were announced today. PBS hoarded a leading 48 noms, led by Frontline (12), POV (11) and Independent Lens (10), followed by the Eye network...
What Traditional TV Documentarians Need to Know About VR
Source: Neiman Reports Robert Socha thought VR and 360 video were mostly about different cameras. He quickly learned he was wrong. VR is a totally different way of thinking, producing, and storytelling. Read the story at Neiman Reports.
Amazon cozies up to video publishers with marketing, tech support, and cash
Source: Digiday Amazon wants video publishers and creators to distribute their work on its streaming platform. And it’s providing free marketing and technical support — and in some cases, financial incentives — to make that happen. Read the story at...
In the Era of Fake News, Honest Documentary Makers Have Never Mattered More
The Conversation: Facts are under threat. I write this after Donald Trump tweeted an old clip of himself wrestling a CNN avatar to the ground, declaring them “FNN: Fraud News Network”. Over at InfoWars, meanwhile, a guest on the Alex Jones show declared the existence...
Kickstarter’s Liz Cook charts a sustainable path for documentary crowdfunding
Read the story at the International Documentary Association.
The age of Trump is forcing producers and programmers to approach documentaries in new ways
Source: Variety. The Trump era has been a boom time for television. Ratings throughout the 2016 election cycle were strong at the three major cable-news outlets. And CNN and MSNBC continue to garner high viewership when executives had expected to see a post-election...
“Weiner,” “Life, Animated” disqualified from 2017 Emmys race
Read the story at Variety.
NBC News Starts New Documentary Unit to Attract a Younger Audience
Source: WWD. NBC News has developed a new documentary unit to target a younger, more social media plugged-in consumer. Called “Left Field,” the group is comprised of about 12 staffers who come from various news and film backgrounds, and their mandate is to create...
Understanding the Film Hawk Behind Kevin Smith.
Read the story here.
Lessons from “The Reluctant Radical”: How the First Amendment protects filmmakers.
Read the story here.
A BAFTA for Nick Fraser, Grandmaster of the Documentary
Source: The Guardian. Documentary editor and producer Nick Fraser received the BAFTA special award last night. Fraser was commissioning editor of the BBC’s Storyville from 1997 to 2016. Over that time the series won five BAFTAs and four Oscars, among other awards. He...