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Educational Seminars

Our year-round series of seminars, panels and workshops focusing on the art, craft and business of documentary filmmaking. Become an IDA member to access previous seminars online.


Join Emmy®-winning filmmaker Lindsey Dryden and filmmaker & writer Kyla Harris in a workshop on Disability Justice, disabled-led creativity, and accessibility in the film and TV industry.

In this panel, we will address standards for using AI in nonfiction filmmaking, how to disclose it to partners and audiences, and what documentary filmmakers need to consider before choosing to use AI in their productions.

The panel discussion will delve into the differences between television/broadcast content and international festival documentaries and how funding works in these different spaces around the world. What does it mean to have broadcast partners versus festival partners? Does one offer more creative freedom than the other? How can we negotiate the drawbacks and best use the opportunities these different forms offer? The conversation will examine broadcasters' priorities and ways they evaluate content that might drive them to co-produce, buy, or broadcast certain films instead of others.

Immersive media vibrates embodiment. It allows the viewer to dissolve into dimensional narratives, making experiences and bodies pliable. The introduction of VR, AR, and interactive exhibitions into practice has given nonfiction media makers new tools to tell expanded narratives. In turn, these same tools, with their capacity to innovate, strengthen the need for accessible storytelling. The disabled community, in particular, calls for a radical restructuring of pre-existing frameworks, from inclusive asset libraries to cripped (accessible) workflows and haptics.

Join Ranell Shubert, IDA Nonfiction Access Initiative (NAI) Funds Program Manager, and Keisha Knight, Director of Funds and Advocacy, to discuss the NAI program and launch of the NAI Nonfiction Media Makers with Disabilities Survey. Ranell and Keisha will present information about the survey, discuss how it was developed, and answer any questions.

Location: Hybrid, virtual on Zoom or in-person at IDA Office in Los Angeles In today’s rapidly evolving political and technological landscape, a legal doctrine as established as fair use, which remains as crucial to documentary filmmakers as the day it was introduced, is not safe from change. As a

Join Emmy®-winning filmmaker Lindsey Dryden and filmmaker & writer Kyla Harris in a workshop on Disability Justice, disabled-led creativity, and accessibility in the film and TV industry.