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! Realscreen speaks to alumni of the Hot Docs Forum about making their projects stand out in the documentary market. When it came to the basics of pitching, Levison said a successful pitch should be broken down into three basic principles: What's the story you're telling, why does it need to be told, and why are you
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"This exciting game is filled with betrayal, alliances, and surprise attacks. On the battlefield, anything goes! …. The player who completes his or her secret mission first—and reveals the Secret Mission card to prove it - wins. And remember... when it comes to taking over the world, it’s all about who is willing to take the biggest Risk." – from the description of Risk, the Game of Strategic Conquest, from toy manufacturer Hasbro's website. The above description of the board game Risk, coincidentally created by Oscar-winning French documentary filmmaker Albert Lamorisse ( Le Vent des amoureux
Since IDA’s DocuClub was relaunched in 2016 as a forum for sharing and soliciting feedback about works-in-progress, three DocuClub alums have premiered their works on the festival circuit this past month. In an effort to both monitor and celebrate the evolution of these films to premiere-ready status, we reached out to the filmmakers just prior to their festival premieres. To launch this series, we contacted Nathan Fitch, producer/director, and Fivel Rothberg, producer, of Island Soldier. They premiered the film at Full Frame Documentary Festival and subsequently screened it at Hot Docs this
My father was a dedicated and thoughtful philanthropist, whose estate plan included a deposit into a donor-advised fund in my name. Once the fog of grief lifted after his death, I embarked on an intense quest to discover a passion to support. When in 2014 I learned that making documentaries often requires grants, I couldn't believe my luck. A lifelong lover of stories, with a deep appreciation for aesthetics and some philanthropic capacity, I found my calling. I dropped right into the heart of the "art vs. impact" debate. At Good Pitch NYC and Getting Real that fall, keynote speakers, panels
Screen Time is your curated weekly guide to excellent documentaries and nonfiction programs that you can watch at home. On May 1 at 10:00 p.m., Independent Lens premieres Sonia Kennebeck's National Bird, which The New York Times called "an elegantly unsettling documentary." The film tells the story of the whistleblowers determined to break the silence around the controversial, secret US drone war. Streaming on Netflix starting May 1, it's Sacha Gervasi's Anvil! The Story of Anvil. The hilarious, poignant, unforgettable story of an influential but commercially unsuccessful Canadian heavy metal
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 rounds up a group of new documentaries that reflect upon the 1992 L.A. Uprising. It's 25 years later, and Los Angeles – and the LAPD – have changed. But has the rest of the country? Regular reports of police brutality, now well-documented in an age of phone cameras, make it clear that we haven't come all
By Michael Bracy & Cynthia Lopez By Michael Bracy and Cynthia Lopez In a time when public funding and media are in jeopardy, distribution outlets are multiplying, reality programming is increasingly attracting audiences, technology is ever-evolving, and philanthropic institutions are reassessing how much and how they support the documentary genre, nonfiction filmmakers are facing a hostile environment in which to create their work—and maintain a livelihood. Despite these circumstances, documentarians are making films that are cinematically breathtaking, politically brave and powerful enough to
Editor's Note: This article comes to us courtesy of the Center for Asian American Media ( CAAM). Filmmaker Grace Lee uses the medium of documentary to paint a picture of Asian American lives with insight and honesty. Her films include The Grace Lee Project, American Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs and Off the Menu: Asian America. Her newest project, K-TOWN ’92, is an interactive documentary of the 1992 Los Angeles Riots. It comes 25 years after Los Angeles erupted in flames and anger after Los Angeles police officers were acquitted of savagely beating motorist Rodney King - the
I was sitting at an IDA-produced summit on sustainability in February in Washington, DC. Dozens of seasoned filmmakers shared personal struggles about how they have survived in their careers as documentary filmmakers. I listened to people I deeply admire and respect candidly discuss potential action items to fix a financial model that many in the room agreed is broken. As a young filmmaker, I wondered what kind of contribution I could make to a big goal as elusive and abstract as sustainability. Then the topic of transparency came up repeatedly in conversation. It was striking to hear how many
Last December, the popular crowdfunding platform Kickstarter announced the promotion of Liz Cook to Director of Documentary Film. Though Cook has been with Kickstarter since 2013, and had already been serving as an Outreach Lead for documentary filmmakers, the promotion signaled a more robust commitment to advancing docs through the crowdfunding process. To doc filmmakers, the news won't come as a surprise. Documentary is the most popular subcategory of the film community on Kickstarter, and this year, 42 Kickstarter alumni brought their films to Sundance. Speaking by phone from the rooftop of