Sarah Keenlyside
Funds Without Frontiers
NEWSFor 14 years, the San Francisco-based funding organization Independent Television Service (itvs) has been one of the premier sources for American producers to fund their doc projects. Now, for the first time, the service is opening its coffers to international producers with a new five-year initiative called the International Media Development Fund (imdf).
Natural History: Intrepid Explorer
NEWSIts cameras have scaled the summit of K2, plunged to the depths of the Atlantic to capture the discovery of the sunken Titanic, and traversed 1,200 miles through the jungles in Congo to help save one of the last wild places on Earth. It has over 400 awards to its credit, including 13 CableACE awards, two Academy Award nominations and 54 Emmy Awards, including two this month for Wolf Pack and Killer Cats of the Kalahari – more Emmys than any other news or documentary program. Looking back over its track record, one could say that National Geographic’s Explorer series is a bit of an over-achiever.
The first day on the job
NEWSFormer host Boyd Matson recounts his first assignment for Explorer
Picking Up the Pieces
NEWSAt 9 p.m. on September 10, 2001, the feature-length documentary Carving Out Our Name enjoyed its world premiere and launch party at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Two new post grants for doc-makers
NEWSCalifornia-based From The Heart Productions will administer two new post production grants for doc projects, called the Roy W. Dean Editing Grants, having confirmed the support of the Digital Media Education Center in Portland, u.s. For nearly 10 years, fth has overseen the Roy W. Dean Grants – three annual awards that supply equipment and services to selected doc projects. Since 1997, The Digital Media Education Center has offered the Avid Film Camp, a program that pairs filmmakers with aspiring editors in a technically equipped arena.
Festival Wrap: Vancouver International Film Festival
NEWSDocumentaries figured prominently at this year’s VIFF (September 27 to October 12), with over 30 non-fiction films gracing the fest’s screens.
Mail order and male bonding
NEWSIf you tuned into Cinemax on February 20 at 8:00 p.m., you were treated to some unusual TV fare – a doc that more closely resembles a home movie than much of the high profile non-fiction airing on the majority of…
Slamdance keeps edge
NEWSHaving spent the last four of its seven years of existence shacked up at the cozy Treasure Mountain Inn, the Slamdance Film Festival finally outgrew its digs this year. The renegade indie film festival, which ran from January 20 to 28,…
Fallen lords and murder most foul
NEWSVikram Jayanti is committed to making docs that entertain people. ‘What will make documentaries into something other than the poor country cousin of movies is sheer entertainment value,’ he says. ‘You’ve got to push it for maximum impact, and comedy is the way to do it.’
Big Screen Big Deals
NEWSWhile the majority of documentaries find their home on the small screen, sometimes there’s no substitute for a live audience. A festival run gives a producer or prospective distributor a peek into what viewers think – but where should you start?
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Photos
Factual Entertainment Forum 2011 - Chris Balish, host of Realscreen’s Factual Entertainment Awards in Santa Monica.