The challenges of covering the Coronavirus pandemic are anticipated in two of my Case Studies: Rise of the Killer Virus and In Ebola’s Wake. HIV / AIDS: The Rise of the Killer Virus is a scientific detective story. It traces the pre-history of HIV back to the moment of its origination in Africa around 1908. Key …
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 …
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 program? Submissions: 1,774 Documentary Features were submitted to the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, which opens on January 23: 840 were from the U.S. …
How is non-fiction storytelling evolving in the age of Netflix? I talk with Ed Hersh of consultancy StoryCentric about his work with producers and channels. His focus is on how Netflix and a host of new Direct-to-Consumer subscription platforms are challenging the storytelling conventions that once dominated in the Linear/Cable/Satellite era. You’ll hear about: Program …
Michael Hoff is a veteran producer who has delivered more than 1,000 hours of mainly male-targeted Factual Entertainment to dozens of clients. Michael shares his 5 Top Takeaways for 2019… focusing on how the shift to streaming is changing the ways that cable channels commission programs. Listen to Hoff Productions’ Michael Hoff (25 min) Michael …
Are Netflix and the streamers killing the channels’ business? And thus are opportunities shrinking for producers at the end of the ’20-teens’? Sample – 12 Factual Channels: For my presentation to the upcoming New York State Bar Association annual conference, Nielsen aggregated the Primetime audience for 12 channels that focus on Factual programs. They are: …
A new publication packed with original research from Peter Hamilton and DocumentaryBusiness.com: DOCUMENTARY PRODUCTION ROADMAP: 34 CASE STUDIES From Concept & Development to Production & Distribution Contents Complete set of 34 detailed Case Studies of award-winning projects 200+ pages of original research Projects in U.S., Australia, UK, Germany, Japan, France, Scandinavia and more. Compelling Takeaways …
NETFLIX 2020: What You Need To Know Now! is my updated study of how Netflix buys documentaries. Netflix has been a black box for the documentary production community. My new research reveals much more about Netflix’s strategy, programming decisions, budgets, deal terms, preferred producers, and the business model that drives it all. The new study …