Susan Zeller
Reinventing the doc
NEWSJust for a moment, I want you to put yourself in the role of the viewer and imagine that you have switched on a program marketed as a factual special. Now imagine that what you are presented with is a show about dragons – how they could possibly fly, the science behind their fire-breathing ways, the composition of their armor-like skin. But, you may ask, how can a non-fiction program be based on creatures that have only ever existed in fairytales?
Influential People – the Gatekeeper
NEWSPatricia Boutinard-Rouelle: Chosen for her daring vision and influence in programming
Influential People – the Advocate
NEWSAnand Patwardhan: chosen for raising the profile of docs and bringing them to new audiences
Brave new world
NEWSCommissioning editors around the globe make room for big science docs and warm to the idea of adding a touch of fiction to the facts. SUSAN ZELLER reports
A love for the irrational
NEWSThe last official day of summer was September 23 according to my calendar, but somehow the warm-and-lazy months always seem to end abruptly at the beginning of that month. I’m sure that feeling harkens back to my school days, but it has followed me into my working life, too. The reason is mipcom.
Chpt.11 for post facility
NEWSFirst Henninger Media and now Roland House. The Arlington, U.S.-based post-production facility founded by Fritz Roland in 1984 filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on August 18, a little over a year after fellow Arlington post-house Henninger was obliged to make the same decision.
Step Lively
NEWSAfter years of languishing in the background while broadcasters danced off with program rights, the U.K.’s independent production community suddenly went from wallflower to belle of the ball this summer. The Cinderella-like transformation can be traced to the U.K. government’s endorsement of the long-discussed Communications Bill in July. The new law addresses a number of significant issues for the U.K. media sector, including foreign ownership of British broadcasters and whether industry giants Granada and Carlton should be allowed to merge (both were greenlighted). But for indies, the most relevant portion pertains to the program supply market.
Dark night, bright idea
NEWSA week before this issue of RealScreen went to press, the lights (and everything else electrically powered) went out at our home base here in Toronto and, as we learned later, across much of North America’s eastern seaboard.
Behind the smoke and mirrors
NEWSI’ve been thinking about image a lot lately – what it means, how important it is, what’s behind it. The answer to the first question is pretty straightforward (it’s how we’re perceived by others), as is the assessment of image’s importance (very). But, understanding what drives the public’s impressions is more complex.
PBS group disbands
NEWSU.S. public channels WGBH (Boston), WETA (Washington, D.C.) and Thirteen/WNET (New York) have disbanded the PBS Sponsorship Group, a consortium formed with PBS in 1997 to collectively raise money for each member’s projects. Now, the channels will each fend for themselves and possibly compete with one another.
The definitive factual resource.Over 5,000 company listings!
Photos
Factual Entertainment Forum 2011 - Armoza Formats’ CEO Avi Armoza during “Formats that Fly” at Realscreen’s Factual Entertainment Forum.