Festival Focus
The Interrupters’ interpreter: Steve James
FILMThe Interrupters, Steve James’ most ambitious project since his 1994 masterpiece Hoop Dreams, sees the acclaimed director returning to the streets of Chicago to tackle the thorny issue of gang violence. As the film continues its festival run in advance of a summer U.S. theatrical release, he tells realscreen about the experience
Morgan Spurlock: Birth of a Salesman
FILMMorgan Spurlock sold 22 brands on taking part in his new documentary, POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold. Now he’s selling the film to international audiences via the festival circuit.
James Marsh: Human nature
FILMJames Marsh follows up the Oscar-winning Man on Wire with an examination of what it means to be human, as experienced by a chimpanzee.
Sheffield makes its move
FILMSheffield Doc/Fest, the UK’s largest documentary festival, moves to the summer for the first time this year. Ahead of its launch on Wednesday, festival director Heather Croall (pictured) discusses the reasons behind the shift and what to expect from this year’s event.
Doc community pays tribute to Hetherington
FILMRestrepo co-director Sebastian Junger, Michael Moore and National Geographic are among those offering praise for the late photojournalist/filmmaker.
Stock footage/production music
Fast footage
TVWhen it comes to producing a fast turnaround doc, finding the right footage to drive the story, and the right footage house to deliver the goods is essential. Here, realscreen gets the word from various stock houses and researchers about how to get the right clips in a hurry.
Tips for tracks
TVLooking for just the right musical soundtrack to add to your show, but unsure of when to use library, composers or licensed music? Realscreen talked to two music house heads to find out what producers should know about giving their shows a musical boost.
Reality Report
Executive positions: Greif, Lambert and Smith
TVRealscreen spoke with three unscripted production veterans about their thoughts on the present and future of reality programming, trends to watch out for and their efforts to evolve their own businesses.
Radarscreen: Syfy bumps up reality
RADARSCREEN / TVNBCUniversal-owned cable net Syfy has amped up its non-fiction content with a development slate rife with reality, in a move to give its viewers what they want, says president of programming Mark Stern (pictured).
One (real) life to live
BLOGS / Real Insights Blog / TVABC’s cancellation of One Life to Live and All My Children sends a clear message: soap operas are over. Except they aren’t really dead; they’ve just transformed.
Editorial
Truth, tragedy and inspiration
FILMThe recent death of Tim Hetherington seemed to unify the doc community in its shock and sadness, as it mourned the loss of a talented truth-seeker to the sad and senseless brutality of war.
Out & About
FEF round-up, BEF and Realscreen Summit dates announced
PEOPLE NEWSAs I write this, the realscreen team is putting the finishing touches on the program for the Factual Entertainment Forum.
Biz
On the slate
TVSpringtime is Upfront season for U.S. cable networks, and as the weather heats up so too does the fight for eyeballs. Here’s a look at what various cable nets have on the way for 2011-2012.
Shake-ups at Shine, Reveille
PEOPLE NEWS / TVReveille managing director Howard T. Owens is leaving the U.S. production company in June, with former Celebrity Apprentice showrunner Eden Gaha hired as president.
Culpepper to head Nat Geo Television
PEOPLE NEWS / TVMaryanne Culpepper has been promoted to president of National Geographic Television (NGT), the factual giant’s production arm, replacing Michael Rosenfeld, who has left the company.
Best Practices: How to run an effective meeting
BLOGSWe have all been there: stuck in boring, pointless meetings that seem to last forever and get nothing done.
Ideas & Execution
The world is watching
FILMNext year, broadcasters from around the world will unite to coproduce Why Poverty?, a multi-million dollar series of films examining issues surrounding global poverty. Here, series editors Nick Fraser (pictured) and Mette Hoffmann Meyer exclusively unveil its flagship titles.
And One More Thing
Ordering a hit
TVBest known for his performance as mobster Bobby Baccalieri Jr. in the late, great HBO drama The Sopranos, actor Steve Schirripa moved this spring from covering the fictional world of organized crime to the real one, signing up to front and exec produce Nothing Personal.
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Photos
Realscreen Summit 2013 - DR TV\'s Mette Hoffman Meyer