Tribeca Film Festival, May 3 to 11, 2003, New York, U.S.

‘The thing that gets me up at 4 A.M., terrified, is how do I tell a good story?’

- U.S. filmmaker Ken Burns, Jazz

‘My films never make money, but I always pay the people [in them].’

- U.S.-based filmmaker Aaron Matthews, My American Girls: A Dominican Story

‘Technology is what has allowed us to stay alive as filmmakers.’

- U.S. filmmaker Chris Hegedus, The War Room, on broadcasters’ shrinking per-project budgets

‘If you’re making a politically sensitive film, don’t go to American institutions for funding. Same for anything criticizing American corporations.’

- U.K. filmmaker Nick Broomfield, Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer

Hot Docs, April 25 to May 4, 2003, Toronto, Canada

‘We’re not a factual company, we’re a documentary production company – there’s a big difference.’

- Phil Grabsky, filmmaker, Seventh Art Productions, U.K.

‘What’s a format?’

- Michael Burns, program director/acquisitions,

The Documentary Channel, Canada

‘People would rather watch The Simpsons, and frankly, so would I.’

- Former Discovery exec Chris Haws,

on the ‘stodgy’ docs from risk-averse broadcasters

‘If broadcasters cover a topic in a 10-minute segment on a public affairs show, they feel the subject has been done. This is a problem.’

- Monique Simard, producer, Les Productions Virage, Canada