A Sundance Film Festival award lags only behind an Oscar nomination as a measure of success for documentarians. But what are the odds that a U.S. or international documentary will earn a slot on the Sundance program? Is $848 million really the total spent on all those submissions that missed out? Read on for my …
The COP 26 UN Climate Change Conference opens in Glasgow on October 31, bringing urgency to the race to save our planet. Documentary commissioners, producers and distributors have responded with lots of new orders. Does global warming have the urgent audience appeal of programs that address hot button issues like true crime, gender, and social …
Who are key documentary buyers worldwide? What programs and series do they want? How can you reach them? 260 decision-makers / 137 companies / 42 countries The expanded and updated Sunny Side of the Doc Guide to Documentary Decision Makers is now available for $99.95. That’s a 33% instant savings of $50 off the regular …
West One International has closed a deal with Moving Still Productions for international TV distribution rights for the climate change documentary “Earth Emergency,” narrated by Richard Gere with contributions from Greta Thunberg, Jane Fonda and the Dalai Lama, as well as a roster of distinguished scientists and environmentalists. Picking up where its predecessor, the short film anthology “Climate Emergency: Feedback Loops,” left off, …
Meet Chris Schmidt and Julia Cort, Executive Producers of NOVA, and Melanie Wallace, Senior Series Producer. They joined me at this year’s Sunny Side of the Doc for a revealing MEET THE EXECUTIVE presentation, including clips of program highlights. Watch the NOVA / Sunny Side video here: And don’t miss my detailed coverage of NOVA …
It was standing-room-only at the East Village premiere that I attended for The Woman Who Loves Giraffes. The Q&A that followed resembled a celebrity speaking tour: the star in the spotlight was the sparkling 87-year old, Anne Innis Dagg. This Canadian feature combines several of my favorite genres: Archive-based History Wildlife Science Plus a bit …
A SHOT TO SAVE THE WORLD is a special about Jonas Salk’s race to defeat the dreaded polio virus. It captures how strong, unifying leadership and Science-based government can overcome a terrible global epidemic. I became committed as an Executive Producer. Bill Gates kindly agreed to serve as the narrator of our film, and his foundation supported …
A Sundance campaign is a license to lose money. Lots of it! Here’s why: Let’s assume that the average production cost of all 1,774 Sundance submissions for 2020 is $500,000. Actual budgets range from around $200,000 up to $5+ million. $500K is a conservative average for a feature, according to D-Word‘s Doug Block. Production Cost: 1,725 …