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 …
Discovery Inc. President and CEO David Zaslav announced the discovery+ streaming service on Wednesday. Here are: The key facts. Takeaways from veteran programming exec Dan Salerno and myself. And another veteran network exec added valuable feedback. Mission “With discovery+, we are seizing the global opportunity to be the world’s definitive product for unscripted storytelling.” David …
I turned my spotlight on to the NOVA strand in time for next week’s virtual World Congress of Science & Factual Producers. NOVA is PBS‘s science documentary powerhouse brand. Now enjoying its 5th decade on broadcast, NOVA is expanding across multiple digital platforms including YouTube, podcasting and more. Read more here about NOVA’s pipeline, funders, co-pro …
Today’s New York Times links two stars of Reality TV in a report about the U.S. president’s end-of-term power of clemency. Donald Trump (The Apprentice / NBC) is being lobbied to pardon Joseph Maldonado-Passage (Tiger King / Netflix). “Others seeking creative ways to forge ties to the president include Joseph Maldonado-Passage, the former Oklahoma zoo …
Twelve documentary buyers and producers reveal what drives their decisions. Each commissioner is driven by a particular strategy, pipeline and budget ‘sweet spot’. Each producer describes a unique path from concept through funding and production to distribution. Since 2010, the mission of my Documentary Business newsletter has been to reveal how these individual production pathways …
How are the channels responding to the rise of Netflix and the streamers? They’re launching their own streamers like NBC and Peacock, providing their brand and content, like Nat Geo to Disney +, or maybe just getting caught in the headlights. Dan Salerno is deeply specialized in documentary and unscripted programming, and together we pull …
Sports ratings in the U.S. are in sharp decline. Why? What does it mean for the Documentary/Unscripted sector? What’s driving Sports viewing? Some industry analysts blame Covid: Empty stands take away the noise, the fan reaction shots and fan storylines that both energize games and deepen the viewer’s emotional engagement. Many fan-free top-flight games in …
While Quibi collapsed, its key mobile video competitor SNAP showed what could have been. Snap started as a user-generated mobile content and social media venture. The target: Gen Z and millennials. Camera technology is at the center of its value prop. Watch the SNAP promo. Video Strategy: Snap expanded beyond user-generated content Its free Discover …