Post-September 11, we have trained our senses on other corners of the world, and on ourselves. In “ Short Takes” this month, we cite two initiatives, 9.11 Moments, producing by Independent Television Service (ITVS) and War & Peace, a project of the D-Word Community, as examples of how our community is responding. In addition, New York-based collectives Third World Newsreel, Paper Tiger Television and Independent Media Center are all producing media works that examine the schism between how Americans really see themselves and how the America mainstream media and government would like us to be
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Entertainment companies reeled in films and canceled dramatic shows that might remind people of the horrors of September 11, while channels that primarily broadcast documentaries clamored for programming that could explain the tragic events of that day. Documentary buyers, producers and distributors began grappling with this shift at last fall’s television market, MIPCOM, in Cannes, France, the day American bombs started to fall on Afghanistan. “A new reality has set in,” according to documentary production executive Ron Devillier. “We don’t know what it is exactly, but it’s there.” Even
I was ready for something different. Over the course of six years, I had written, directed and produced documentaries about Judy Garland, Charlie Chaplin, Samuel Goldwyn and Ozzie and Harriet. I had also supervised my staff’s production of more that 40 profiles including John Steinbeck, Bobby Darin, River Phoenix, James Baldwin, Gloria Swanson, Bob Newhart, Jack London and Roman Polanski, to name a few. In an era when bit players in bad sitcoms get their own “documentaries,” we’ve been lucky to do well-known subjects who actually have led meaningful lives. Nevertheless, I was ready for a break
A Closer Walk is a $2 million feature-length film about the global AIDS epidemic, scheduled for worldwide release in 2002. As the film nears completion, I have been reflecting upon the six-year journey my colleagues and I have traveled in raising money for this project, and what we have learned along the way. The actual filming of A Closer Walk over the past two years has been the most enriching and rewarding experience of my life, and I have high hopes for what the film can accomplish. But as any independent documentary filmmaker knows, it was not easy getting to this point. I started working
There are certain names that always come to mind when you think of documentary film: John Greerson, Robert Flaherty, Alberto Calvalcante, the Maylses Brothers, Frederick Weitzman and David Wolper, among others. What makes these documentarians special is that they’re more than filmmakers, more than teachers and artists, more than preservationists, scholars and mentors—although they are certainly all of these things. But they’re more than the sum of their accomplishments; they are, in the truest sense of the word, “pioneers,” whose work is marked by firsts: first documentary feature, first
In many ways, the making of my documentary My Khmer Heart appears to be the classic “success against all odds” story. One can suffer “survivor guilt” after the sale of a self-funded, non-commissioned documentary to HBO. Instead of the “let’s enter you in the Emmys and four-wall you for the Oscars,” we could have been in the “thanks, but no thanks” pile, with only a second window screening in Estonia on the horizon. So how did an unknown Australian documentary team make it to Cinemax? If your reading this story because you want handy inside tips on how to pitch, get funding or get your
Driving down Melrose Ave. on a warm August day, one couldn’t miss the distinctive bright banners of the Hollywood Film Festival flanking either side of the historic gate at Paramount Studios. In the festival’s fifth year, Founders Carlos de Abreu and Janice Pennington have worked tirelessly to counter the myth that Hollywood could not host another film festival. “Our mandate since day one has been really clear: to bridge the gap between established mainstream Hollywood and emerging filmmakers from the global creative community,” says de Abreu. This year, de Abreu added a documentary sidebar.
To grasp the importance of private foundation support for documentary film, one has only to read the long lists of funders in the final credits of many docs. With thousands of foundations in existence, seeking grants from these organizations can be a daunting task. According to The Foundation Center Online—a gateway for philanthropy information on the Web—there are over 63,000 private and community foundations in the United States alone. Getting to know which foundations are relevant to your project is the first step toward narrowing your search. A good place to start looking for information
Virtually every documentary filmmaker hopes that the meaningful slices of history they have captured will be saved for posterity. For Steven Lighthill, ASC (American Society of Cinematographers), some of those slices were captured during the turbulent 1960s, when he belonged to a filmmaking cooperative in the San Francisco Bay Area. One of his projects was Sons and Daughters, an insightful documentary that focused on the anti-Vietnam War movement. Lighthill stowed the film in a basement closet, which luckily was a cool, dark place. About 20 years later, Lighthill decided to entrust his
Dear IDA Members: As we head into the holiday season, we find reason to rejoice at the simplest of life's pleasures: just the freedom to read this magazine, pursue the films we want to make or watch, and be with family. Our constant prayer is for a world that works for everyone. The documentary form has a unique role to play in that process by shedding light, revealing truth and helping to bind people together through better understanding of each other's ways and thinking. Bob Guenette, the first recipient of IDA's Pioneer Award, is an example of a documentary maker who has made films that