Working with Broadcasters: Getting Independent Film Voices heard

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. Join 2023 Logan Elevate grantee Janay Bolous in conversation with current and ex-TV commissioners: Producer Natalie Humphreys, Head of Al Jazeera Industry Days Adel Ksiksi, and Head of Docs Up Fund Alex Szalat to discuss these questions.

If you need any other accommodations or help accessing this event, please get in touch with us at funds@documentary.org by July 2, 2024. We'll do our best to meet all access needs.

Event Participants

Janay Boulos

Janay is a Lebanese journalist and filmmaker. She graduated with a Master's degree in International Journalism from Brunel University. From 2012, she worked for BBC News in various roles, displaying versatility across TV, radio, and digital production. Her skills include shooting, editing, and field production in hostile environments. In 2021, she started a production company, Habak Films, with her partner, Syrian filmmaker and activist Abd Al-Kader Habak. She has worked on several documentaries for BBC News and Al Jazeera Arabic and her focus centers around sharing stories of lived experiences within the Middle East, particularly from Lebanon and Syria. Currently, she is immersing herself in the world of feature documentary production and has participated in several programs such as IDFA Project Space, Documentary Campus Masterschool, Sheffield DocFest's Future Producer School and Aflamuna Impact Lab.

Natalie Humphreys

Natalie has worked across the UK and global production sector for nearly three decades as a writer, director, producer and executive producer, winning multiple awards for cinematography, innovation and reaching new audiences. She has created programming across the spectrum, from premium documentaries to drama, arts, history, science and natural history landmarks.

Prior to launching Scottish indie Storyboard Studios, Natalie led the BBC’s factual network and a £100M portfolio. She is known as a trusted originator and brings a long track record in hands-on editorial, sensitive access, compliance, partnerships and co-productions. She started her career as a researcher on natural history programmes, after a degree in Zoology and a PhD on the genetics of symbiosis. She’s a busy mum with two sons and enjoys art and photography, as well as giving time pro bono to teaching storytelling skills to students, and regularly mentors for organisations that support people from less advantaged backgrounds.

Adel Ksiksi

Manager of Programming responsible for developing plans for programme strands and preparing the programme grid on a daily, weekly and monthly basis, as well as overseeing the global planning effort with regards to special events, series and long and short-term programme planning to increase viewership ratings. Adel Ksiksi is also the Head of Al Jazeera Industry Days. It is an event that intends to support the expansion of documentaries worldwide, including international co-productions, and aims to match key decision-makers with interesting and valuable projects.

Alex Szalat

Producer and Director 1987-2004

Former commissioning editor at Arte France and head of the documentary department at Arte France 2005-2019

Head of Docs Up Fund since 2019