The distribution landscape is changing — fast. So, on April 21st, we gathered a panel of experts at our monthly Doc U series to discuss the rapidly shifting world of theatrical distribution in the first of a two-part series on distribution. Alexandra Johnes (The Square) moderated a conversation with Peter Goldwyn (Samuel Goldwyn Films), James Shapiro (Drafthouse Films), Michael Kananack (Gathr Films), and Brenna Sanchez (Burn) who covered the crucial role that theatrical exhibition can play in a documentary’s overall distribution plan. We’ve distilled their talk into digestible bits of advice to keep in mind as you take your film out into the world.

And be sure to join us on Monday, May 19 at Cinefamily in Los Angeles for Distributing Your Doc, Part 2 – Cable and Internet Movers and Shakers. More info / tickets

1. Make a great movie that stands out from the pack.

We’re in a golden age for documentary, which means there are a lot of great docs out there. Your film has got to stand out. Most distribution brands—those that aren’t studios—are highly curated labels. While they do look at the marketability and monetization of a film, they primarily want to know that your documentary is one of the best films they’ve seen that year.

2. Get your film out there.

Distributors find films just about anywhere: festival screenings, internet searches, recommendations from colleagues, walk-ins, sales agents, and sometimes even crowdfunding platforms. Cut a great trailer and make a great poster to showcase your film’s marketability. Anything that illustrates why it would be an easy sell is a huge plus. Great distributors will become aware of your film way before it hits the festivals as long as you create a buzz around it.

3. Drive your own distribution train.

Get active on social networks. You have to convince your distributor that you can really build an audience for your film, and then point those fans to wherever your film has landed. Social and email communication make your audience feel like they are in direct contact with you, the filmmaker. It can also help you gauge just who and how big your audience is so that when it’s time to decide on your distribution model, you’ll know which is right for you. At the very least, you’ll know how best to help your distributor steer your film towards a wider audience.

4. Be confident that you’re the best person to sell your film.

Bring your A-game when you advocate and market the cause or story of your film. Communicate on Twitter and Facebook consistently. Talk about your doc’s subject matter and let your unique passion for it shine. Your fan base will find a lot more reason to feel strongly about the film if you give them the bigger reason to care about it.

5. Accept that there is no one-size-fits-all model.

Opening weekends and weeklong runs don’t determine a film’s success anymore. Distributors are now constantly experimenting with all the different formats and platforms available. Sometimes, they only do one traditional film release a year (for example, theatrical-only for ninety days). Increasingly, they orchestrate day-and-date release (simultaneous release for VOD, DVD and theatrical). Other times, they negotiate streaming on Netflix to be made available a month after the film is released in theatres. Sometimes, one-off screenings in ten different cities are the way to go. Being flexible to new models will help make sure your film gets eyeballs.

6. Don’t be (too) difficult.

A distributor’s job is to get somebody who knows nothing about your doc to go to the theater, buy a ticket, and watch it on Friday night. Their job is to try and sell your product, that film you have lived and breathed for so long. Try to hear your distributor out on what might be marketable within your film and what will be a better idea to roll out once your audience is already hooked. Don’t be too difficult, and don’t be unreasonable. However, walk that line carefully. Don’t compromise on something that your instinct and beliefs tell you to hold onto. Most distributors will be open to you asking questions and fostering a true partnership.

7. Stop expecting everyone to have the answers.

That sales agent, publicist or distributor isn’t necessarily going to know more than you do. It’s the Wild West out there. If all the distributers pass on your film or nobody returns your calls, don’t sit around waiting for the golden ticket that the industry might provide while your film gets left out in the cold. You have to follow your gut and take the path you really believe in for your film.

8. Be aware of what constitutes fair use.

Too many filmmakers miss out on great distribution deals because they aren’t fully informed on their clearance issues. Understand the differences between clearing your footage for worldwide, for trailers or for ancillary merchandise. While distributors will work with you on the really vital pieces, they won’t like the inevitable delays that come with clearing rights for excessive clips. It might cause them to forgo your film altogether.

9. Let opportunity arise from desperation.

As there’s no one-size-fits-all model anymore (see #5), you don’t necessarily have to worry about being able to afford a publicist or sales agent. Brenna Sanchez (Burn) was forced to self-distribute her film when no one wanted it, even after the film won audience awards and gathered a lot of buzz. After traveling to 170 cities where she rented theaters and managed ticketing herself, she didn’t just break even; in the end, Sanchez grossed $1.2 million, beating out every distributor who had initially passed on her film. Word of warning, however: If you do choose to go your own way and distribute yourself, just be aware of the immense fortitude and commitment of resources it requires.

10. Understand that your failures don’t define you.

In a particular year, your really great film might not get the attention, distribution opportunities, or audience size it deserves because of various factors: it could be the wrong time for your subject matter, the economy might be in free fall, or a natural disaster could strike on the same day as your film’s theatrical roll out. Give it all you’ve got—and then go out there and make another really great film.

Los Angeles-based ArcLight Cinemas has long supported the documentary art form. For the past several years, the theaters have presented the Documentary Film Festival, a showcase of the best in independent documentary filmmaking. This year, IDA Board President Marjan Safinia has been selected to curate the new ArcLight Documentary Series, a short run of four noteable recent documentaries. Each selected for their accolades from recent film festivals and their potential to unite the local documentary film community, the films in the series promise an exciting filmgoing experience in a city that already fosters a great love for the movies.

Starting on Tuesday, May 13, ArcLight Hollywood will be showing a new documentary film every Tuesday evening at 7:30pm:

Tuesday May 13, 7:30pm
112 Weddings

Tuesday May 20, 7:30pm
Slingshot

Tuesday May 27, 7:30pm
The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz

Tuesday June 3, 7:30pm
Rich Hill

Each of the four films is making their Los Angeles premiere in the ArcLight Documentary Series. Both Slingshot and Rich Hill are part of IDA's Fiscal Sponsorship Program, which helps hundreds of independent documentaries, which may otherwise have been unable to secure funding, get funded and finished. Marjan has been a champion of these films, and is thrilled to finally present them to the greater Los Angeles public.

Be sure to stick around after each film for a Q&A with the filmmakers and a reception in the ArcLight Cafe Bar, where you can mingle with fellow filmgoers and connect around the film.

For more information on the series and to sign up to receive updates, please visit arclightdocseries.com. Please help spread the word to other documentary lovers in your world!

Here is the latest installation of great funding opportunities coming up this summer. There is money to be had. Go for it!

IDFA BERTHA FUND
The IDFA Bertha Fund is the only fund in the world dedicated solely to stimulating and empowering the creative documentary sector in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and parts of Eastern Europe. The fund is looking for new creative documentary projects which can be submitted in project development, production, and post production.
Deadline: May 15th, 2014

SHAW MEDIA-HOT DOCS FUNDS
Established in April 2008, the Shaw Media-Hot Docs Funds consist of a $3-million Completion Fund and a $1-million Development Fund that aim to provide Canadian documentary filmmakers with much needed financial support at critical stages in their projects. Hot Docs will manage and disperse the Funds’ benefit monies over a seven-year period.
Deadline: May 21, 2014
 
WOMEN IN FILM FINISHING FUND
The Women In Film Foundation's Film Finishing Fund (FFF) supports films for or about women by providing cash grants of up to $15,000 and in-kind services.
Early Deadline: May 23, 2014      
Final Deadline:  June 6, 2014       

FILM INDEPENDENT PROJECT INVOLVE
Project Involve is Film Independent’s signature diversity program dedicated to cultivating the careers of filmmakers from communities traditionally underrepresented in the industry. The program, which runs from October through June, selects filmmakers from diverse backgrounds and filmmaking tracks—a mix of writers, directors, producers, DPs and editors, as well as those seeking work in acquisitions, marketing, distribution and agencies.
Deadline: May 31, 2014

NEH - BRIDGING CULTURES THROUGH FILM: INTERNATIONAL TOPICS
The Bridging Cultures through Film: International Topics program supports documentary films that examine international and transnational themes in the humanities. These projects are meant to spark Americans’ engagement with the broader world by exploring countries and cultures outside of the United States. Proposed documentaries must be analytical and deeply grounded in humanities scholarship.
Deadline: June 11, 2014

HOT DOCS BLUE ICE GROUP DOCUMENTARY FUND
The Hot Docs-Blue Ice Group Documentary Fund is a grant program providing financial support to African documentary filmmakers for development and production. Development grants of $3000 - $8000 and production grants of $5000 - $40,000 are awarded to approximately four to 10 projects annually.
Applications open: June 20, 2014

POV CALL FOR ENTRIES FOR 2015 BROADCAST SEASON
POV, public television's premier showcase for independent, nonfiction film seeks programs from all perspectives to showcase in its annual PBS series. All subjects, aesthetic approaches and lengths are welcomed.
Deadline: June 30, 2014

VALENTINE FOUNDATION
The Valentine Foundation funds fiscally sponsored projects that produce significant change in the social, economic and political systems and institutions that impact the lives of women and girls in order to make those lives more equitable. Primary focus is on organizations that serve the Greater Philadelphia area or that have national impact with a local connection.
Deadline: June 30, 2014

FLEISHHACKER FOUNDATION
The Fleishhacker Foundation makes grants to film projects within its Small Arts Grants Program. Applications are only accepted for the post production phase of the project based on rough cut. Most grants are in the range of $2,000 - $5,000. Artists may only apply once for any given film project, and a Bay Area arts organization is preferred to serve as the fiscal sponsor.
Deadline: July 15, 2014
 
NUVOTV - NU POINT OF VIEW FOR EMERGING LATINO FILMMAKERS
Nu Point of View is looking for the next group of emerging Latino filmmakers and is accepting film submissions for a brand new showcase with a possibility to earn up to $3000. Shorts, features and documentaries are accepted. The film must be relevant to NUVOtv which focuses on the Modern Latino. Films must be in English.
Deadline: July 31, 2014

HUBERT BALS FUND
The Hubert Bals Fund of International Film Festival Rotterdam supports filmmakers from developing countries with contributions in the stages of script development, post-production and distribution. Annually, between 20 to 40 film productions are realised with the support of the Hubert Bals Fund.
Deadline: August 1, 2014

NEH - GRANTS FOR MEDIA PROJECTS
This grant is for broadcast length projects - stand alone films or series. There are two categories:  Development (up to $75K) and Production/Post Production (up to $650K).
Deadlines: August 13, 2014
 
OPEN MEADOWS FOUNDATION
Open Meadows Foundation is a grant-making organization seeking projects that promote gender/racial/economic justice. The projects must be led by and benefit women and girls, particularly those from vulnerable communities. Organizational budget should not exceed $150,000.
Deadline: August 15, 2014

NEH FUNDING – DIGITAL HUMANITIES START-UP GRANTS
The NEH funds programs that reach the general public (digital projects, museum exhibitions, radio, library events, documentaries etc.). This digital projects category presents a new funding initiative such as games, apps, websites, immersive experiences etc. There is no emphasis on innovation in terms of technology. There are two stages  of planning including Discovery (up to $25K) and Prototyping/Testing (up to $100K).
Deadline:  September 11, 2014

CATAPULT FILM FUND
The fund provides development funding to documentary filmmakers who have a compelling story to tell, have secured access to their story and are ready to shoot and edit a piece for production fundraising purposes. Catapult's mission is to enable filmmakers to develop their film projects to the next level at a stage where funding is hard to find.
Applications open: July 14, 2014
Deadline: August 25, 2014

China's documentary television sector has travelled light years in a decade. This boom is driven by China's vast-scale, rocketing economic growth, its deep cultural respect for content-rich programming and its top-down media policy.

Documentary channels are flourishing at the national level—at CCTV (China Central Television), the predominant state television broadcaster, and in the regions as well.

Viewers are hungry for informative storytelling that seems quaint by the "Big, Noisy Character" measure deployed by an increasing number of Western networks. Beijing has rejected reality TV and many competition formats as "trashy" and "cultural pollution." There is a diktat from the Communist Party for China to become a world leader in the documentary niche.

According to Yves Jeanneau, director of Asian Side of the Doc, "The national media regulator SARFT [State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television] recently directed that every one of China's hundreds of satellite channels must program at least 30 minutes of documentary programming every day." That decree will expand the pipeline for format deals, co-productions and original Chinese productions, but it excludes acquisitions from international suppliers.

"The market changes by the quarter," Jeanneau notes. "There are now approximately 12 channels in China that are dedicated to documentaries and educational programs. The leader is CCTV9, the Documentary Channel. CCTV10, the Science & Education Channel, is up-and coming. Shanghai Media Group and Hunan TV (Golden Eagle) are the leaders in the provinces, where even municipal broadcasters are launching nonfiction channels and blocks."

CCTV9 Documentary Channel

CCTV is China's national public broadcasting behemoth. It operates 37 channels: 25 public and 12 premium channels. The network's total domestic audience share in 2012 was 32 percent.

CCTV9 Documentary was launched in 2011, following an official culture war against subversive "vulgar tendencies" in the media that was directed against reality series. CCTV9 took off: Its average primetime audience is now said to be 63 million. According to its press office, "Our highest daily audience exceeded 94 million." Its viewers are said to be well educated and influential.

In 2013, CCTV9 signed on to 14 international co-productions, totaling 50 episodes for an investment in the $8 million to $12 million range.

Liu Wen, the Documentary Channel's managing director, says that his team wants to work with companies that have "abundant resources and rich experience in every field, or who specialize in a particular field, such as underwater filming." Partners tend to be well-established broadcasters or producers. They include BBC, France Televisions, NGC Asia, NHK, NHNZ, Gebruder Beetz Films, Screen Australia, Gulliver Media, ITV, Kwanza (France), KBS Korea and Bearcage Films.

In 2012, CCTV9 announced four in-house signature productions, and eight in 2013, when there were 500 hours of original production and 800 hours of international acquisitions. CCTV9's investment is growing fast. The budget "Sweet Spot" for co-productions is $660,000 and for the unique signature programs, $1.25-2.5 million.

The editorial focus is on the untold stories of Chinese history and natural history, as well as destination-based programs that show China in a positive light. Science is also a promising genre.

Experienced China hands say, "Avoid politics and religion. And history is tricky." And, they add, "Say ‘No!' to the Three T's: Tiananmen, Taiwan and Tibet!"

CCTV10, the educational channel, is moving away from instructional programs to documentaries that entertain and inform. A new English-speaking acquisitions team has taken charge, and CCTV10 is both a growing national player and an alternative to CCTV9.

China's regions and cities are also competing to develop documentary channels and production centers.

Global Dimension

CCTV offers international channels in Chinese, English, French, Spanish, Russian and Arabic.

China's documentary sector has already gone global: Blue chip co-productions are underway with the BBC, Nat Geo, Discovery and others, and CCTV made its presence felt at the 2013 MIPTV market in Cannes, France. "Size is important at MIPTV," says Luo Ming, CCTV's vice president for economic affairs. "And the higher the profile of Chinese content in general, the more interest there is in all our shows."

CCTV Documentary Channel is widely distributed outside China. CCTV's international channels are broadcast in English French, Spanish, Arabic and Russia. And CCTV News operates five regional news hubs and 63 bureaus. The largest are in Washington and Nairobi. 

Challenges

There are very important structural issues to be resolved for China's Western partners.

Contracts are vaguely enforceable in China, and many Western distributors point to the lack of transparency at CCTV, citing the lack of a rate card, a standard contract and a standardization of deal terms.

License fees are mainly in the low four figures in US dollars, which doesn't match the media value of the programs.

Corporate sponsorship is a proven path for producers to schedule individual productions and programming blocks. This can equally apply to entertainment, or content-driven nonfiction. The sponsorship model involves producers with agents and dealmakers, and Western agents are established in the major media centers.

Buyer Beware!

Pre-emption is an issue: As the national broadcaster, CCTV can pre-empt regional and local schedules and deals. I have heard of instances where producers and provincial broadcasters had jointly arranged to fund series through sponsorship deals with regional companies or government agencies. CCTV noticed the programs on the regional broadcaster's schedule, liked them and then commandeered them for a national CCTV network. The sponsors backed out because they were no longer reaching their target regional audiences. And the producers were left to cover the deficits.

Takeaways

In 1998 in Beijing, I was a guest speaker at what was billed as "China's first documentary conference." Beijing TV Networks was the host. There were two Chinese documentary producers in attendance, and it was said that there were none outside Beijing. A decade and a half later, the contrast is staggering.

Expect even faster growth in the flow of commissions, budgets and editorial quality of documentaries as China creates more wealth and more leisure time that will free up more consumers to enjoy media.

CCTV will inevitably expand its solo Documentary Channel to a suite of factual entertainment channels. These networks will also commission and distribute programs that will find international markets.

In the short term, Western producers can expect a struggle to participate in what is still a thin, partly formed and politically mandated market. But based on decades of futile attempts to gain a lucrative foothold in China by the likes of media magnate Rupert Murdoch, they can forget about earning equity in large-scale Chinese production companies and channels.

It is interesting that CCTV Documentary Channel has adopted a "preferred vendor" strategy that is comparable to UK and US channels. That means rough going for independents, unless they can partner up with a major player.

Ironically, China's exploding demand for content-driven "classic" documentaries comes at a time when many Western channels like Discovery are shifting toward a mix of scripted and unscripted entertainment. China's emergence as a co-production partner may bolster the economics of the remaining blue-chip documentary slots in North America and Europe by replacing the evaporating contributions from those regions—but only for highly selective topics that fit China's top-down documentary policy.

Peter Hamilton is a New York-based executive producer and senior business consultant to nonfiction television industry leaders, governments and foundations. He is a former CBS executive. His clients since 1987 have included Discovery Communications, A+E Networks, BBC and Smithsonian Channel. He is the co-executive producer of The Shot Felt Around the World, a 2013 bio doc that features Bill Gates and is about the late medical researcher Jonas Salk, for the Smithsonian Channel. Hamilton is the founder, editor and publisher of DocumentaryTelevision.com.

© 2010-2014 Peter Hamilton. All Rights Reserved.

SIDEBAR

'Super Boy' Doc Smashes Crowd-Funding Record

Super Boy is a Chinese hit show for male singing contestants. It was inspired by the UK elimination format Pop Idol.

The producer, EE Media, embarked on a feature documentary project—now entitled I Am Here, and directed by Lixan Fan—that follows three young men as they compete for the ultimate prize. The boys come from tough family backgrounds; for them, the stakes are high. But they become fast friends on the ride up. That is, until the final rounds, when they compete against each other—and things get more than a little catty.

The budget is $1 million-huge for a Chinese documentary.

To finance its film, EE Media turned to the Chinese crowdfunding site zhongchou.cn. The campaign was supported by Super Boy's broadcaster, Hunan TV, a powerful regional operator of about 12 channels, including two national ones. The crowdfunding campaign for I Am Here raised $820,000. 

A nationwide, multi-screen theatrical launch is planned for 2014. It's the first-ever simultaneous opening for a documentary in China. All previous cinema releases for docs have followed the market-by-market "art house" path that is familiar to Westerners.

—Peter Hamilton

Guest post by recent USC Law grad Rom Bar-Nissim ’13, who was on the legal team on the brief. Clinic interns Patrick Boyle and Patrick McCormick also worked on the project.

On April 15, 2014, the International Documentary Association and Film Independent filed an amicus brief in the Garcia v. Google case in the Ninth Circuit. The brief was prepared by the legal team of Gary L. Bostwick, Jack Lerner, Michael C. Donaldson, Lincoln D. Bandlow and Rom Bar-Nissim.

Garcia v. Google is a copyright case brought by an actress in the highly controversial film The Innocence of Muslims. The actress, who was lied to about the nature of her role, claimed a copyrightable interest in her 5-second performance; the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals accepted her theory and ordered Google to disable access to all copies of the film.

The Clinic argued that the Ninth Circuit’s opinion will create three forms of chaos for independent filmmakers and will result in a chilling effect on filmmaking activity. First, the opinion makes it unclear to filmmakers when a "copyrightable interest" arises for someone who appears onscreen. Consequently, a filmmaker does not know when or whether to get a release. Second, the court appeared to state that unestablished filmmakers are not "employers...in the regular business of filmmaking" for copyright purposes. Employer status is important for burgeoning filmmakers. If a filmmaker is considered an employer of someone who makes a copyrightable contribution to the film, then the filmmaker owns the copyright in that contribution. Third, the court held that even if the filmmaker had an implied license from the actor or other contributor, there are limits on how far the filmmaker can stray from the actor’s understanding. Unfortunately, the court did not articulate how far the filmmaker can stray.

Ultimately, the chaos created by the Ninth Circuit’s opinion creates so much uncertainty for independent filmmakers that the only way forward will be to retain costly legal counsel. But even with counsel, many films may still be more likely to see a lawsuit then the light of day.

In making our argument, we solicited and used statements from Academy Award-nominated filmmakers like Josh Fox (GasLand) and Scott Hamilton Kennedy (The Garden). We also employed a wide array of films and examples to illustrate our arguments, including Easy Rider, Errol Morris’s Tabloid, skateboard viral videos, and reality TV. We also explored the humble beginnings of filmmakers like Christopher Nolan’s Following, Robert Rodriguez’s El Mariachi, Jim Jarmusch’s Permanent Vacation, and filmmaker Lee Storey who made the documentary Smile ‘Til it Hurts: The Up with People Story in her spare time while working as a lawyer and then successfully beat the IRS in court to be recognized as a filmmaker.

The brief is available here.

On December 29, 2013, three Al Jazeera English journalists were imprisoned in Cairo. Today marks the 100th day of the detainment of Mohamed Fahmy, Peter Greste, and Bahar Mohammed in the Egyptian capitol, who were charged with spreading false news, belonging to a terrorist group and operating without a permit. Al Jazeera is holding a press conference and symposium in New York City this afternoon to mark the occasion, and to call on the Egyptian Authorities to immediately release its journalists.

The International Documentary Assocaiation was invited to include a letter of support in the press packet for this event. Below is the letter from IDA's Executive Director Michael Lumpkin in support of the release of the three journalists. Please read the letter and sign on with your support to the #FreeAJstaff petition.

April 6, 2014

His Excellency Adly Mahmoud Mansour
Office of the President
Al-Ittihadia Palace
Cairo, Arab Republic of Egypt

Dear President Mansour,

The International Documentary Association (IDA) represents over 2,000 filmmakers in North America and around the world. As a non-profit, non-governmental organization dedicated to defending the rights and freedoms of documentary artists, activists and journalists, we believe that the free flow of information is vital to fostering an informed, compassionate, and connected world.

We are deeply troubled by the ongoing detention of three Al Jazeera journalists who have been arbitrarily imprisoned by Egyptian authorities since December 29, 2013. Peter Greste, Mohamed Fadel Fahmy and Baher Mohamed are professionals who work to present impartial reporting on current events in Egypt. The IDA is profoundly concerned that their ongoing detention constitutes an attempt by the Egyptian government to inhibit critical reporting and suppress freedom of expression.

We urge you to immediately release Peter Greste, Mohamed Fadel Fahmy and Baher Mohamed, as well as all journalists being held behind bars in Egypt.

Sincerely,



Michael Lumpkin
Executive Director

The University of California at Santa Cruz (UCSC), tucked between mountains and the redwoods of the central Pacific coast, is famous for its progressive values and faculty/student activism. This legacy thrives in UCSC's acclaimed master's program in Social Documentation/Film-Digital Media, nicknamed "SocDoc."

Documentary spoke to B. Ruby Rich, co-founder of and professor at SocDoc, as well as its former director of graduate studies; and John Jota Leaños, associate professor and director of graduate studies, via email about the history and mission of the program.

How did the program get started in 2005?

B. Ruby Rich and John Jota Leaños: In the early 2000s, the Community Studies Department decided to start a graduate program in what it called "social documentation." Today, we call ourselves "SocDoc." The idea was to transfer the department's interdisciplinary richness (anthropology, history, sociology, geography) into a basis for documentaries on the kind of communities with which faculty and students were already collaborating. Renee Tajima-Peña (now at UCLA) and B. Ruby Rich launched SocDoc to attract students committed to social change and with a passion for using documentary in the service of under-represented communities and unexamined issues. Though our program is now in the Film and Digital Media Department, it has kept the same interdisciplinary framework and continues to involve faculty in the social sciences and humanities in our advising and curriculum. They're our secret weapon.

What are the goals and mission of the program?

The SocDoc Program aims to train students to use documentary at the highest possible level, professionally and ethically, to advance social justice and bring attention to people and issues that might otherwise go unremarked. SocDoc is committed to a cohort model of learning, in which students collaborate rather than compete and in which learning and achievement are intertwined, along with creativity and service.

What are the program's strengths and weaknesses?

Our strengths are in our approach to the interdisciplinary to documentary filmmaking. Not only do we train students in techniques of documentary (lighting, sound, editing, motion graphics, animation, post-production), we also prepare students with social-science research methodologies in courses on ethnographic writing and documentary fieldwork taught by professors from the departments of anthropology, sociology, literature, feminist studies and beyond. Students also take electives in doc project-relevant subject matter in a wide range of graduate courses throughout UCSC. Technical exercises, workshops and preparation combine with the ethical, methodological and critical studies training to guide our students in the production of doc projects that go "beyond the story," creating social impact and personal transformation for characters, audiences and documentarians alike. We are also invested in developing character and narrative strategies for documentarians, not only for creation of time-based video but also to establish new media content and audience participation beyond the film festival, community screening and website.

Weaknesses? SocDoc presently offers only an MA degree. But the good news is that we are in the process of converting to an MFA program and will be able to offer this terminal degree within a couple of years.

How much theory and film history do you offer in addition to technical education?

SocDoc teaches courses on documentary history and critical theory. We prepare students in understanding the complex history and new directions of documentary filmmaking and production through a foundational course and occasional special events, and students can take many other courses via the department's PhD curriculum. We don't believe in teaching one without the other.

Does your emphasis on social justice and human rights differ from other programs?

Yes, very much so. We attract a terrific group of students from around the country and the world who want to make a difference with their work. Our faculty and students tend to come from diverse perspectives and cultural backgrounds, which informs the ways we look at social justice and human rights.

What access do students get to the tools of production and post-production?

Students are well equipped with both production and post-production equipment, thanks to the resources of the Film & Digital Media Department in which SocDoc is housed.

What is the program's relationship to the San Francisco Bay Area community?

Many of our faculty, guest lecturers and workshop leaders are part of the very active documentary media community in the Bay Area, including longtime lecturers Jennifer Maytorena Taylor (New Muslim Cool; Paulina) and Leo Chiang (Mr. Cao Goes to Washington; A Village Called Versailles) and founding production specialist Spencer Nakasako (now at UC Berkeley School of Journalism). 

Can you say something about the makeup of your faculty?

Leo and Jennifer are fantastic documentary filmmakers with impressive track records in the field. They guide students through logging, structuring and editing their films. B. Ruby Rich is our film historian, critic and theorist. John Jota Leaños focuses on documentary animation and alternative documentary forms (photography, new media). Lewis Watts is our resident documentary photographer, who resides in the Art Department. Marcia Ochoa is an anthropologist who teaches documentary methodologies and ethnographic writing to our SocDoc students. We also work with literature professor Karen Kei Yamashita on documentary writing and anthropologist Megan Moody on teaching our students social-science research methodologies. Filmmaker Gustavo Vazquez, who is chair of the Film and Digital Media Department, has taken over Spencer Nakasako's former production "boot camp," which plunges students into shooting ambitious projects the minute they arrive.

What about Santa Cruz makes it a special place for documentary film students?

UC Santa Cruz has a long history of being a center for activism, social justice and critical studies. SocDoc continues this tradition through the production of public media and documentary (note that we have also turned out remarkable photo documentarians). The interdisciplinary dimension makes it special; this is a world-renowned campus of very student-centered professors with whom our students are able to study. In fact, they have to; we require every student to work with a professor in the subject area of their documentary. It's remote enough to allow a unique community to develop, while close enough to make Bay Area and LA excursions easy. We also tap into the lively documentary community in the Bay Area (and to the south) with guest lectures by media-makers and leaders such as Sam Green, Dawn Valadez, Alex Rivera, Wendy Levy, Evangeline Griego, Judy Irola, Kate Amend, Lucy Walker and many others. With all the area film festivals, we've also been able to incorporate such important filmmakers as Hubert Sauper and Josh Oppenheimer. Plus, the ongoing events of our larger department keep the energy going.

Has Ruby's extensive experience in curating/journalism/exhibition influenced the kinds of students you look for?

Yes, we approach documentary from a much more holistic perspective-as a practice that is grounded in social locations, not just production protocols, and that is founded in ethics as much as camera brands, emphasizing collaboration not just with crew but with subjects and communities, placing documentary into a social fabric that it can affect.

What is SocDoc's track record in job placement and alumni achievement?

We have an astonishing success rate with our alumni. Several have had successful careers as independent documentary filmmakers. Recent graduates have landed significant grants and support for new projects, and others have won awards for work created in the program. Just a few examples:

• Juan Mejia, from our very first cohort (SocDoc class of 2007), had his thesis film Uprooted (about Afro-Colombians removed from their ancestral lands into refugee camps) shown in numerous festivals, where it won awards and was broadcast on PBS under the auspices of the National Black Programming Consortium. Juan won a Tribeca Fellowship for his sequel and got matching funds from Colombia's cultural ministry and is now finishing the film in New York City.

• Tad Nakamura (class of 2008) was commissioned right after graduation to direct Jake Shimabukuro: Life on Four Strings by CAAM (Center for Asian-American Media), which had a national PBS broadcast and went on to win the Gotham Audience Award.

• Kimberly Bautista (class of 2009) had had immense international success with her documentary Justice for My Sister, about feminicide in Guatemala. The film has shown in numerous film festivals and taken the Audience Award at many. Like many SocDoc alums, she's distributing with New Day Films.

• Bridgette Auger, who came to SocDoc as a photographer and trained in video with us, has been reporting from the Middle East since graduating in 2011. She just had her new piece This Is Not Me acquired by SnagFilms.

• Melissa Koch (class of 2012) won a Frameline Completion Award for her thesis film, The Infamous T, on a year in the life of a homeless queer teen entering a new host family program. It premiered in Frameline's LGBT festival in San Francisco and at the prestigious Margaret Mead Film Festival in New York City.

   

How does the cost for your program compare with other schools?

We are the probably the cheapest option available to students interested in this kind of training. Our students can take classes and receive guidance from professors from different disciplines and experts in various fields on campus, including environmental studies, sociology, anthropology, psychology, etc. We will become more attractive and more competitive in the next year or two, when we offer an MFA instead of the MA. We also work in small cohorts. Students get a lot of attention, help and guidance from their mentors and peers in the program. Annual tuition is just over $11,000, and that is often covered by students' securing teaching assistant positions. Out-of-state students can convert to in-state after one year.

How does the program help support grads later on in their careers?

We offer professional training and exposure to many professionals in the field. We also nurture relationships between students and professors beyond the two-year MA program. Many students have worked for, been placed by and received references from faculty and via professional connections made during their time here. Thanks to the collaborative cohort model, they also help each other and have a vibrant alum network exchanging information and jobs.

Fact Box

Duration of program: Two years (admission for fall quarter only, full-time enrollment only)

Degree Offered: MA in Social Documentation

Components of Program: Documentary history, critical theory, interdisciplinary courses, technical training, production

Number of Students: Seven to 10 traditionally admitted out of about 40 applications

Internship Placement Opportunities: No internship program at present, but many students arrange internships with Bay Area documentary filmmakers after graduating.

Frako Loden is adjunct lecturer in film, women's studies and ethnic studies at California State University East Bay and Diablo Valley College. She also reports on film festivals for Fandor.

IDA and Film Independent, through attorney Michael C. Donaldson, testified April 2 before the House Judiciary Committee in Washington, DC. Donaldson urged Congress to consider documentary and independent filmmakers when crafting new legislation on orphan works, which are copyrighted material whose owners cannot be found after a diligent search has been made. 

Donaldson backed adoption of recommendations made by the Copyright Office in 2006. That approach called for a case-by-case solution, which would impose limitations on remedies against users of orphan works in the event a rights-holder emerged after the filmmaker had made a substantial search for the owner prior to the use.  Under current law, a filmmaker is threatened with huge damages and injunctive release when they use unlicensed material, no matter how hard they looked for the owner.

Donaldson commented, "Fair use can often provide a partial solution for the documentary filmmaker, but is not available to a feature filmmaker who wants to base a film on an orphaned book or who wants to remake a wonderful, but orphaned film."  His testimony was in support of an Orphan Works bill that passed the Senate in 2008 but ultimately stalled in the House, and was in line with the comments he and the USC Intellectual Property and Technology Law Clinic filed in March with the Copyright Office.

Watch Michael Donaldson present this orphan works case to the House Judiciary Committee:

Comments: United States Copyright Office, Library of Congress, In the Matter of "Orphan Works and Mass Digitization," Docket No. 2012-12

As part of The Art of Documentary series, the IDA screened the award-winning film The Naked Room at the Landmark Theater in Los Angeles on Thursday, March 13. The film shows a whole world without leaving a single space: the examination room in a children's hospital in Mexico City. Listening to the children, their parents and the doctors during consultations allows us to have a more profound and complex view of our social reality and of human nature.

Filmmaker Nuria Ibáñez was traveling and unable to attend the screening, so we solicited questions for the filmmaker from our Twitter audience. See below for questions from the Twittersphere, including a few from our own engaged IDA staff members.

What led you to look at childhood through the eyes of children that have suffered trauma?

I could see through these children's experiences not only the representation of their own stories, but mainly the reflection of our social reality and human condition.

The subjects seemed very unaware of the camera and seemed to be responding very naturally. What techniques or equipment did DP Ernesto Pardo employ to accomplish this? How was the sound recorded: camera mic or boom mic?

We used an EX3 sony camera—which is not very big—and sometimes a very simple steady to be stable during the long conversations. That was all. Regarding the sound, the sound operator Federico [gave] them all (doctors, parents and children) a wireless microphone, and he used a boom. I was so interested in getting a clean sound because I filmed during the renovation of the hospital, and I had a lot of background noise.

Why was The Naked Room structured the way it was? Did you plan this raw, direct style from the beginning?

The structure was one of the most challenging aspects of the doc during the editing process. This structure allows us to underline a final message that is not explicitly expressed in each individual case, but it is conveyed with the sum of all the different stories. I filmed each consultation in only one shot, because I didn't want to interfere with the natural conversation of each one of them. I was not thinking about the editing while I filmed. I focused on observing and listening the children as if a camera would have not been present. So yes, I planned this direct style from the beginning.

While making The Naked Room, who was your target audience? What feeling did you want us to leave with? What action would you want the audience to take?

I never thought about a target audience. This film is about human condition and I think we all are reflected in a way or another.

I think the film gives space to different feelings and reflections at all levels. But one of the most strong feelings that I still experience is the fragility of human kind. I want people to be open to diverse stories without judging, avoiding prejudices.

Have you screened the film for any of the subjects (children, parents, psychologists) who participated in the film? If so, what was their reaction?

Not yet, but it is happening in June. I'll keep you updated about the reactions.

How did you come upon the title The Naked Room? How are the children now?

Because I filmed it in a room, and because this room gave them a way to bare their souls. I tried to detach from them as not to confuse them, and to avoid confusing myself as well. However, I'm looking forward to seeing them in June.

What is next for the film?

The film is in the promotional film festival process and educational distribution is coming soon. Anyone interested can contact Magic Lantern for further information.

What is next for you?

A film about outdoors and landscape.