Surfing the Documentary Web

As I was surfing the web, looking for some good sites to waste some time on, I ran across a real gem for us documentary filmmakers! DocumentaryFilms.net is a must see for anyone interested in making a doc. Why? You ask… Information! I say.

A central hub where filmmakers can publicize their latest doc or catch up on some reviews of newer films they may have missed at the festivals. I LOVE IT! For instance, and this is a shameless plug, I know, I was able to log on with minimal information necessary and place As Seen Through These Eyes in the film directory. Immediately it was listed. HOT!

Now what it is missing is more information. For instance, in the forum few people actually post responses - which is a real shame. There is a great question brought up by “Wander” on profit and sales figures for docs. Nobody got back to him with an answer, and granted they are hard to come by, but Wander did some research and answered himself… a few times… with some great information. Hats off.

With another disturbing article in the LA Times yesterday (Thursday, June 19) on the state of affairs in the doc world, it is important that we share as much information as we can to keep the genre healthy and seen. So I challenge everyone to go to this site an publish at least one thing they feel would be important to the doc world. Look, this is the first entry in Google when you type documentary. A great place to place information… Let’s do it!

Anyway, back to old editing system to finish my next doc that will be another up hill battle to gain viewers. Forward march…

Doc to see this week… WHEN WE WERE KINGS. Great story of how this little gem was made. Rent the movie and you will get the story in the extras.

Support your local documentary!

PS. This is an unsolicited review… I got all I needed from their site for free! Including posting FIB on their Online Resource. Post what you know.

The Documentary Film’s State of Affairs

Unbelievable. Desperate. Nothing to be excited about. Just plain bad… In fact, the only hope left are the measly stimulation checks arriving in post boxes around the country.

(Thank you, George W. Bush. Now I may have just enough money to start that documentary on our nation’s state of affairs after your glorious eight years.)

Bitter? I think so.

As a producer, it is my job to be keeping up to date information on the state of affairs in my genre, and let me tell you, things aren’t looking so hot. From the studios to the funders, from the distributors to the theaters. Everybody has something bad to say. Films that are winning prestigious awards around the world are now not able to pick up a theatrical distributor.

Why? Your guess is as good as mine. But by looking specifically at the numbers, the docs just aren’t adding up at the theaters. This is a 180 from where we were 18 months ago when I could walk into a production company and hear the executive get excited about the possibility of funding a documentary.

From the outside, they look great… smaller budget - greater reward. So off all these companies went funding docs and buying docs and distributing docs. Could the problem be as simple as supply and demand. Or just that nobody took the time to figure out what would actually work in the theaters.

Either way, I am currently paying the price. The doc world may have taken one step forward and now two steps back. The funders and financiers and distributors are scared. They aren’t willing to put up any money unless you have a big name in it… sound familiar.

Bitter… yes. But hopeful - that is what makes me a documentary filmmaker… The salt and the pepper.

After taking some time off to deliver my second child… I am back! Full of piss and vinegar - or at least that is what I smell like a good deal of the time caring for a little boy and learning how to deal with the new parts… if you know what I mean.

I would like to also give a SHOUT OUT to my friend Meredith Berg who just got selected to join this summer’s AFI’s Directing Workshop for Women! Yeah Meredith. Here is a perfect place to see your stimulation check hard at work. She is currently looking for donations towards her film and the future of woman directors…
voidmovie.googlepages.com - you can go to this link to donate.

 

Finally, this weeks Must See Doc is War Dance. You think your life is tough???

God bless our children.