This event is free and open to the public with advanced applications and registrations. Applications are now closed and all applicants are informed via email.
This summit grew organically from conversations between IDA and the Video Consortium about the space that exists culturally, aesthetically, and philosophically between visual journalism and documentary film. What are the similarities — and vast differences — between both fields? What can each learn from the other? Should journalistic rigor be applied to all documentary filmmaking? What is truthful storytelling? Nonfiction films quite literally create culture and transform lives, and as we move through this current era of misinformation, new standards and practices are urgently needed.
This four-part virtual series is a combination of braintrust, debate, and how-to; the aim is for attendees to take away from each session helpful and practical learnings that they can directly apply to the pre-production, production, post-production, and impact stages of their non-fiction storytelling practices to make impactful films.
Day 1: Pre-Production:
Where to Get Your Money at the End of the World
Tuesday, March 7 at 9 am PT - 10:30 am PT
The panel will be followed by a 30-minute breakout room session (10:30 - 11am PT). All attendees are welcome to stay and participate.
How do you set up a documentary for success — and how should journalistic ethics be considered along the way? Join us for a collaborative conversation with commissioners and development executives who share extensive experience across journalism and independent documentary storytelling. Come away with best practices and ideas to consider when creating — and commissioning — nonfiction stories.
Featuring: Rahdi Taylor (Executive Producer/Executive Vice President, Concordia Studio), Bruni Burres (Producer and Senior Consultant, Sundance Documentary Program), Amanda Spain (Vice President of Longform Acquisitions, MSNBC Films), Samantha Stark (Director/Producer, “The New York Times Presents,” The New York Times/FX/Hulu), and moderated by Abby Ellis (Director/Producer).
Day 2: Production: Crew, Care, Crisis
Wednesday, March 8 at 9am PT - 10:30am PT
The panel will be followed by a 30-minute breakout room session (10:30 - 11am PT). All attendees are welcome to stay and participate.
Whether you’re in the field or in the studio, physical and ethical roadblocks are inevitable throughout the production process. How do you navigate these obstacles? During this session, experienced documentary journalists from the New York Times, CIR, and others discuss how to maneuver a melange of difficulties, questions, and situations that we all encounter along our storytelling journeys. No one has the answer, but together, we can come closer to a solid set of best practices.
Featuring: Amanda Pike (Director of TV & Documentaries, Reveal + The Center for Investigative Reporting), Mike Shum (Filmmaker), and Emily Rhyne (Video Journalist, The New York Times); moderated by Xinyan Yu (Journalist/Filmmaker).
Day 3: Post-Production: Check Your Facts!
Thursday, March 9 at 9am PT - 10:30am PT
The panel will be followed by a 30-minute breakout room session (10:30 - 11am PT). All attendees are welcome to stay and participate.
In the age of Tiktok news, misinformation, and grassroots journalism, what role do legacy institutional apparatuses like fact-checkers play in the creative process? Recent documentary controversies surrounding films like Sabaya and Roadrunner often hinge on how editing decisions, like non-sync sound and image, and compressing the timeline for a narrative, can harm the audience’s understanding of filmmaking accuracy. In the US, The New Yorker magazine is known as the gold standard of fact-checking, with all writing and videos undergoing the rigorous process. In this session, members of The New Yorker’s fact-checking and legal teams will outline their workflow, the precision and diplomacy required to communicate about complex situations, and the value that they instill into the publishing process.
Featuring Sean Lavery (Head Research Editor, The New Yorker), Yasmine AlSayyad (Journalist and Co-deputy Head of Fact-Checking, The New Yorker), Fabio Bertoni (General Counsel, The New Yorker); moderated by Isabel Castro (Filmmaker).
Day 4: Impact: What is Impact? (Publication/Distribution + Impact)
Friday, March 10 at 9am PT - 10:30am PT
The panel will be followed by a 30-minute breakout room session (10:30 - 11am PT). All attendees are welcome to stay and participate.
How do we measure impact and how do we help stories reach their intended audiences? Journalism and documentary have different approaches and metrics to determine the value of the impact of a story. What can they learn from each other? What are different approaches to impact? How can we create more robust infrastructures for impact?
Featuring Almudena Toral (Executive Producer, ProPublica), Toni Achebe Bell (Impact Producer/ Documentary Consultant), Aber Kawas (Impact Producer); moderated by Sonia Kennebeck (Journalist/Documentary Filmmaker).