Moderated by IDA Board Member Stephen Nemeth of Rhino Films, our panel of veteran non-fiction producers will discuss what to expect when producing a doc and how a successful producer gets the entire production team to deliver their best.
Seminar
The Fair Use Doctrine allows for copyrighted materials to be used without permission or payment—under certain circumstances. But what are these circumstances? How is fair use determined? What is the impact the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and its exemptions on documentary filmmaking? And how does using copyrighted material under Fair Use impact documentary filmmakers?

A very small number of film festivals seem to hold an enormous amount of sway over a film’s sales and distribution prospects, as well as the filmmakers’ chances at creating a sustainable living through filmmaking. This perception drives many filmmakers to pin their hopes on just a handful of market-driven festivals that are most important in their region, whether it’s North America (where Sundance looms large), Europe (Cannes, which accepts very few documentaries), Asia (A-list festivals like Busan or Singapore) or elsewhere. In reality, there is a vast ecosystem of film festivals that can all contribute to the healthy life of a documentary film project, and distribution that doesn’t rely on the catalyst of perceived film festival success.
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.
Can film advance and energize Black Women’s Wellness? If so, how?
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.
In this IDA members’ only workshop, veteran marketing expert and researcher Fred Greene will give a brief presentation on different moments filmmakers can position and present themselves in their projects. Greene will follow this talk with a series of short strategy sessions with pre-selected projects workshopping their written materials and conclude with an audience Q&A.
This 90-minute event is developed through IDA’s Getting Real Fellowship and will bring together filmmakers from Bangladesh and Taiwan who have experience negotiating the international film circuit. Facilitated by programmer Pei-hua Chung (Taiwan International Documentary Festival), filmmakers Huang Yin-yu (Green Jail) and Farid Ahmad (Waiting for Winter) will share a film with event registrants ahead of their conversation around shared concerns. They will discuss this complicated landscape, touching on topics from international co-productions, the assumptions behind ideas of universality in narrative structures, and the unsaid challenges of being platformed. This event is presented in partnership with Dhaka DocLab, TFAI and Taiwan Docs.
A 90-minute workshop with Maya E. Rudolph, Vice President of Non-Fiction at Louverture Films.
A four-part virtual summit that collaboratively explores the disparate yet interconnected fields of visual journalism and documentary film — and best practices that lie at the intersection of both.