A highlight of Sunny Side 2017 was my Archive Masterclass on Grammy and Focal Award winner THE BEATLES: EIGHT DAYS A WEEK. The stars of our standing-room-only panel were Apple Corps executive producer Jonathan Clyde and Matthew White who originated the concept to create an archive-based film about Beatlemania. Takeaways About the archive… Home movie footage related to …
Letters From Baghdad is a beautiful documentary that uncovers the story of British adventurer, diplomat and Arabist, Gertrude Bell. Filmmakers Zeva Oelbaum and Sabine Krayenbühl reveal the struggles of a brilliant, lone woman in an all-male world. Their research uncovered a largely forgotten but mesmerizing film and photographic archive of the early 20th century. Their film blends footage …
Here are my masterclass and moderation opportunities at Sunny Side of the Doc, La Rochelle, June 19-22. Master Class “The Beatles: Eight Days a Week – The Touring Years” Jonathan Clyde, Executive Producer, Apple Corps, UK; Matthew White, Executive Director, ACSIL, USA. Tuesday, June 20 4:00p. Jonathan and Matt will describe how the production team uncovered rare …
Kickstarter smashed its record for the documentary category when 8,688 backers pledged $1,126,036. The campaign? “Frank Zappa is one of the strangest, most amazing and influential figures of our era, but his definitive story has never been told. Now, for the first time ever, the Zappas have given us complete, unrestricted access to the contents …
(Originally published, August 2016). I was thrilled when I heard that Apple Corps is the force behind a major cinema release of an archive-based documentary on the rise of The Beatles. Then I saw a rough cut of THE BEATLES: EIGHT DAYS A WEEK, and for this early boomer, it delivers one emotional hit after …
The Sundance Film Festival will screen 45 feature-length documentaries. A total of 1,701 feature documentaries were submitted. 823 were from the U.S. 878 were international. The success rate for feature docs in 2017 was 2.6%! Sundance Funding: Of the 45 selections, 12 had received prior funding from the Sundance Institute. Takeaway: If your documentary is not on …
How can a producer best establish a winning relationship with a distributor? Creative Europe Media sponsored a workshop on distribution at mipcom that was moderated by Jone Aldave and featured Windrose’s Pauline Mazenod. The workshop complements our unique post on how a documentary distributor like Windrose manages its workflow at a major industry events like mipcom. …
(First published, March 28, 2016. Reposted for MIPCOM, 2016). This week’s focus is on the business and operations model of the boutique, international documentary distributor. Windrose is a Paris- and Nurnberg-based firm headed by Pauline Mazenod. In this unique Case Study, Pauline shares in generous detail her strategy, key business practices, advice for documentary producers, and much, …