Ellen Windemuth launched OFF THE FENCE from her basement 25 years ago. In this week’s podcast, Ellen: Looks back at her company’s launch. Reflects on the particular challenges then for women in a male-dominated industry. Explores how Off The Fence grew into an industry-leading independent distributor / producer with a turnover of around $20 million. Describes her …
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 …
The Guardian‘s Head of Documentaries is Charlie Phillips. I caught up with him on the sunny terrace of Melbourne’s Federation Square. It was one of lots of productive conversations with buyers and sellers that I enjoyed during Day 1 of AIDC. Charlie recapped his hot buttons and key terms. I found the information to be …
Realscreen Summit 2017 came at a moment that felt weighted with history. It kicked off in Washington the day after the massive Women’s March in which many delegates participated, and ended as my new president set of alarm bells by slamming down the phone on my prime minister. In between was the hard realization that …
(Originally published, September 21, 2014). The PBS/NGCI documentary The Fidel Castro Tapes caught our attention with its compelling and unseen footage of the Cuban revolution and the Cold War drama that followed. We wondered about the challenges of creating an archive-based film about an 88-year old Spanish-speaking personality who can be dangerously controversial, and who …
Here is my expanded selection of our ever-popular and instructive Case Studies. Each documentary or reality project is unique. The 21-project collection is a mosaic that describes models for your future productions. As they say in Recovery programs: “Take what you like, and leave the rest!” Read now before my free, practical research and analysis …
The archive continues to power primetime signature shows. But it takes imagination to find the topics, and the undiscovered ‘jewels’ in the archive that can tell stories in a fresh way and at an affordable cost. This week’s Case Study is Nat Geo’s Challenger Disaster: The Lost Tapes from Peabody Award winner Tom Jennings Productions. …
This week’s story is about how to succeed in the very tough world of independent production. Our case study is Hoff Productions, whose ups and downs we covered back in 2010 in a popular post titled A Preferred Producer: Hoff Productions between Basement and Buyout. Hoff was on a ride. But, as you can see from …