Don’t miss our monthly selection of stories that capture industry trends, curated with my friends and partners at Sunny Side of the Doc. Streamers are Green-lighting! Mickey Mouse doc for Disney from auteur Morgan Neville // Realscreen DISNEY+ tweets out nostalgic lineup for debut // Ad Week HBO Max commissions Monica Lewinsky scandal doc and …
Apple faces daunting competition in the Streaming Wars. As consumers turn to the SVOD / subscription / “All You Can Eat” video model, they are cutting back on purchasing and renting programs. Take a look at the 3+ year trend in US Home Entertainment Spending revealed in the chart below from DEG and nScreenMedia: The …
At Sunny Side of the Doc, producers packed into the presentation on Netflix’s documentary strategy. But they were less interested in learning What Do We Want? from the many broadcasters, cablers & foundations who presented later. The producers missed out on a lot of valuable information that could translate into new business. Here’s why the …
Why do Netflix-type Subscription Video On Demand / Over-The-Top (SVOD/OTT) services succeed? Or fail? My colleague Dr John Morse (Byron Media) shared a very useful presentation / webinar from research firm Parks Associates titled AVOIDING OTT’s TOP FIVE MISTAKES. The key is Subscriber Retention. More than 25% of current SVOD/OTT customers have recently cancelled a …
Producers are on the receiving end of another rate card reduction from Amazon Prime Video Direct. The online retail behemoth is cutting U.S. royalties from the present range of 6 to 15 cents per-hour-viewed. The new rate is between 4 and 10 cents per-hour-viewed. A similar 33% rate reduction is being introduced in UK, Germany …
The feature documentary is booming. That’s the message from Sundance 2019. Reported bids for rights approach $20 million. Topping the list is Knock Down the House, the Sundance Audience Award winner that captures the run for Congress in 2018 of the “AOC” superstar Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The SVOD giant reportedly bid $10 million for worldwide rights. That’s …
In this week’s podcast, veteran unscripted producer Michael Hoff shares his Takeaways on the Realscreen Summit. Realscreen was held in New Orleans for the first time this year. Michael is President & Executive Producer of Hoff Productions. Key Takeaways include: Michael says that network executives are regaining their footing after enduring the recent hard impacts of …
The documentary niche has remarkable financial scale, as measured by the films seeking selection at Sundance. Let’s assume that the average production cost of all 2,649 Sundance submissions for 2019 is $500,000. Actual budgets range from around $200,000 up to $5+ million. $500K is a conservative average. Production Cost: 2,600 documentaries were “Not Accepted” in 2019. The …