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! At Business Insider, Jason Guerrasio reports the story of a filmmaker's Netflix deal gone bad. Atkinson said he wanted to go public with his experience because he wanted filmmakers and fans of Netflix to understand that for as much good as Netflix was providing mass audiences with exceptional content, he believed
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December 14, 2016 Public Relations Department Corporate Communications Division Canon One Canon Park Melville, NY 11747 Dear Canon, We, the undersigned documentary filmmakers and photojournalists, are writing to urge your company to build encryption features into your still photo and video camera products. These features, which are currently missing from all commercial cameras on the market, are needed to protect our safety and security, as well as that of our sources and subjects worldwide. Without encryption capabilities, photographs and footage that we take can be examined and searched by
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! At Columbia Journalism Review, Judith Matloff reports on the legal challenges that documentary filmmakers may face in the Trump era. Documentary filmmakers tend to gravitate towards topics like whistleblowers and corruption, which make them vulnerable to legal action. They are more exposed than reporters, because
"The MacArthur Foundation supports independent inquiry and storytelling that helps to inform, engage and inspire the American public to think critically and deeply about the challenges we face as a nation," said Kathy Im, Director of the Journalism and Media program at MacArthur. "Support for this new fund at IDA is an expression of the Foundation’s enduring commitment to independent media, and part of a broader set of investments aimed at building strong institutions in the fields of nonprofit journalism, nonfiction storytelling, and participatory civic media." "Independent documentary makers
Editor's Note: The landscape of American entertainment would look very different without the work of Norman Lear, who wrote, produced, created or developed some of the most popular and provocative shows of all time, including All in the Family , The Jeffersons and Sanford and Son . Lear's liberal-minded sitcoms held up a mirror to American society, using comedy to tackle thorny issues of race and class while entertaining millions of viewers. Lyn Davis Lear is a social and political activist engaged with the most pressing global issues. Lyn Lear Productions works to mobilize action on climate
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! At Indiewire, Eric Kohn reports on the indie film career of Trump's senior advisor Stephen Bannon. Ten years ago, Bannon oversaw the distribution of independent films released by Wellspring Media, a company that supported a wide range of international cinema as well as gay-themed and other "transgressive" titles
Stanley Nelson has, for the past quarter-century, established himself as an indefatigable chronicler of the African-American experience, bringing to light the neglected stories of intrepid warriors who fought for their rightful place in the ongoing American narrative. From Madame C.J. Walker, the first female self-made millionaire, to Ida B. Wells and the daring legion of African-American journalists in the 19th and 20th centuries, to the foot soldiers of the Civil Rights Movement, Nelson and his team at his company, Firelight Media, have created a living history of America's ongoing struggle
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! At Indiewire, film critics discuss how the film world will respond to Trump's election. "Perhaps the most important thing we need to do is survive. Trump is about to declare a holy war on the press, and while he's definitely thinking more about David Fahrenthold than he is about David Ehrlich, we nevertheless have
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! At Alternet, Michael Moore shares his post-election to-do list. You live in a country where a majority of citizens have said they believe there's climate change, they believe women should be paid the same as men, they want a debt-free college education, they don't want us invading countries, they want a raise in
Since Alex Rivera earned the inaugural Emerging Documentary Filmmaker Award back in 2003, the honor has gone to a distinguished company of filmmakers who have more than met the criterion of having made "a significant impact at the beginning of his or her career in documentary film." Marshall Curry, Jehane Noujaim, Natalia Almada, Danfung Dennis, Zachary Heinzerling: These are a few of the honorees who have gone on to earn Academy Award nominations, Emmys, Peabodys and, for Almada, a MacArthur "Genius" Grant. Dennis has since launched Condition One, a leading VR technology company. This year's