How is Canada’s documentary sector navigating the Netflix Era? I turned to Stephen Ellis who I first met in the ‘Eighties when he was a high-volume program supplier to my client, the fledgling Discovery Channel. Stephen was CEO of Ellis Entertainment which he sold in 2011 after 47 years in the business. He is now …
Sue Dando has been the head of The Nature of Things, CBC Television’s flagship documentary science and nature series, for seven years. The strand is one of the most successful television series in the world: it is now heading into its 59th season. Sue shared her strategy and commissioning process at Sunny Side’s Science-themed Meet The …
NATIVE AMERICA is a premium PBS series that explores the world created by America’s first peoples. It describes their foundational belief systems that synthesize science and spirituality. The 4-part series captures the incredible diversity of the expressions of these beliefs across North, Central and South America. Providence Pictures’ President and Executive Producer/Director, Gary Glassman was preparing …
OnScreen Manitoba‘s executive director Nicole Matiation is leading a strong delegation of producers to Sunnyside. It’s Manitoba’s first trip to the compatible market-by-the-sea at La Rochelle. The build-up featured my all-day workshop in Winnipeg on how to approach an international market, plus one-on-one prep with the delegates. The Sunnyside team has been very supportive by …
What is the level of government funding for public broadcasters worldwide? How important are commercial revenue streams in the mix? These questions matter at a time when public television faces fierce cutbacks from ideologically-driven governments. That’s certainly the situation in Australia, where the governing Coalition announced a $254 mn cutback for the ABC, and proposed a doubling …
Sunnyside was recently under threat when Sheffield Doc / Fest rescheduled its prestigious event from the autumn to early June. Many buyers were obliged to choose between South Yorkshire or the French seaside. The ‘Anglo-Saxons’ mostly opted for Sheffield. The ‘Franco-phones’ stayed at a diminished SSD. La Rochelle is a historic city dominated by medieval siege …
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Next week’s visit to New York by Australia’s Prime Minister Tony Abbott got me thinking about the state of documentary funding in my homeland. The headline is that in its first budget, the conservative Abbott government took the razor to the key documentary funders: Screen Australia. ABC. SBS. And after the razor comes the machete! …