Hot Docs names Diane Weyermann 2012 Doc Mogul

January 18, 2012 by Kevin Ritchie

Diane Weyermann

Diane Weyermann (pictured), exec VP of documentary films for Participant Media, is to be the recipient of Hot Docs’ 2012 Doc Mogul Award.

The award is handed out annually by the Canadian film festival to individuals that have made “an essential contribution to the creative vitality of the documentary industry.”

Weyermann, who is also founder of the Sundance Documentary Fund, will receive the award at a luncheon to be held on May 1 during this year’s Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival.

“While I could never think of myself as any kind of mogul, I am truly honored to receive this award from my esteemed colleagues in the international documentary community,” she said in a statement. “I admire Hot Docs tremendously for everything it has done over the past two decades to support and showcase documentary filmmakers. This is extremely rewarding.”

Hot Docs executive director Chris McDonald added: “Diane’s imprint on the documentary world has been immeasurable. The Sundance Documentary Fund alone has supported hundreds of groundbreaking projects and award-winning filmmakers, and Diane’s work with Participant has produced some of the most important and successful documentary films of the past decade.

“We are honored to celebrate our friend and colleague Diane Weyermann as our 2012 Doc Mogul.”

Since joining Participant Media in 2005, Weyermann has overseen high-profile documentaries such as Errol Morris’ Standard Operating Procedure, Davis Guggenheim’s An Inconvenient Truth, Robert Kenner’s Food Inc and Ted Braun’s Darfur Now.

Prior to that she was director of the Sundance Institute’s Documentary Film Program and oversaw the Sundance Documentary Fund, which supports docs focusing on human rights, social justice and civil liberties. She was also part of the Sundance Film Festival’s programming team.

In 1996, she launched the Soros Documentary Fund (later the Sundance Documentary Fund) and has been involved in the production of more than 300 documentary films.

Past winners of the Doc Mogul Award include IDFA’s Ally Derks, Films Transit International’s Jan Rofekamp, HBO’s Sheila Nevins, the BBC’s Nick Fraser, and The Knowledge Network’s Rudy Buttignol.

Tags: Chris McDonald, Diane Weyermann, Doc Mogul Award, Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, Participant Media