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.