Over the last several years, as sustainability has become a hot topic in the documentary community, we have seen the issue unfold in a number of ways: surveys of filmmakers and industry have been disseminated and dissected, numerous convenings have been held, a national report has been issued by the National Endowment for the Arts and IDA, and various organizing efforts have sprung up (most notably the Documentary Producers Alliance). So far, however, there has not been much focus on the production companies and nonprofit organizations that filmmakers have created to structure the documentary
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Legal FAQ: When production of a documentary is just getting off the ground, filmmakers have an opportunity to memorialize the terms of relationships with investors, employees for hire, and co-producers, among others. Not taking the time and trouble to do so can make life difficult later.
Dear Documentary Community, The IDA Documentary Awards, held each December, always feel like the closing of a cycle—a moment to reflect on the past year and a time to look back at the remarkable work done by documentary makers rightly celebrated, regardless of who wins the awards. The Awards salute both the impact of longtime makers and supporters and the emergence of new voices. The year we honored the great legacy and ongoing canon of a filmmaker who truly embodies the moniker “independent filmmaker.” Julia Reichert, whose films with partners Jim Klein and Steve Bognar, from the 1970s to
Screen Time is your curated weekly guide to excellent documentaries and nonfiction programs that you can watch at home. Premiering January 27 on CNN is Tim Wardle’s Three Identical Strangers, the multiple award-winning box-office hit about identical triplets separated at birth, but united by chance 20 years later. Upon discovering the truth behind their separation, the story takes a deeper dive into medical ethics and questions of nature vs. nurture. And following the announcement of the Oscar nominees, the following docs are now streaming online: Documentary Feature: Minding the Gap (Dir
Essential Doc Reads is a weekly feature in which the IDA staff recommends recent pieces about the documentary form and its processes. Here we feature think pieces and important news items from around the Internet, and articles from the Documentary magazine archive. We hope you enjoy! IndieWire's Anthony Kaufman speculates on the sales activities for the docs at Sundance. While documentaries have experienced greater theatrical market share and overall ticket sales in past years, 2018 will be remembered as the first time four independently-released nonfiction films earned more than $10 million
The works of four IDA grantees will have their world premieres at the upcoming 2019 Sundance Film Festival. The films are all directed by women and include IDA Enterprise Documentary Fund Production Grantees Knock Down The House directed by Rachel Lears and One Child Nation directed by Nanfu Wang and Jialing Zhang, as well as IDA Enterprise Documentary Fund Development Grantee Life Overtakes Me, a Netflix Originals short documentary directed by John Haptas and Kristine Samuelson.
Documentary interviews Astra Taylor about her upcoming film What is Democracy?, a cinematic essay that asks that simple, yet profoundly complex, question. The film is essential viewing at this time because it both allows and forces us to grapple with the blindingly complex conundrums of governance.
Editor’s Note: What follows is a statement from the IDA regarding the Documentary Producers Alliance’s “ Best Practices in Documentary Crediting.” Over the last several years, the IDA has engaged in and convened numerous conversations across our field about critical sustainability issues facing documentary filmmakers. One issue that has consistently emerged is that filmmakers and their financial partners lack standards around crediting, pointing to the fact that there has been little agreement on what credits reflect in terms of actual work or financing. Given the extreme competition and
Editor’s Note: What follows is a statement from the IDA regarding the Documentary Producers Alliance’s “ Best Practices in Documentary Crediting.” Over the last several years, the IDA has engaged in and convened numerous conversations across our field about critical sustainability issues facing documentary filmmakers. One issue that has consistently emerged is that filmmakers and their financial partners lack standards around crediting, pointing to the fact that there has been little agreement on what credits reflect in terms of actual work or financing. Given the extreme competition and
Screen Time is your curated weekly guide to excellent documentaries and nonfiction programs that you can watch at home. Premiering January 14 on Independent Lens is Rodents of Unusual Size, from Quinn Costello, Chris Metzler and Jeff Springer. An IDA Pare Lorentz Award grantee, the film takes you deep into the bayous of Louisiana, where a colorful cast of locals faces off against a growing menace: the monstrous, 20-pound swamp rats known as nutria. Also coming to Independent Lens, on January 21, is Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World, from Catherine Bainbridge. The film tells the electric