- April 24, 2024
Variety Co-Editor-in-Chief Cynthia Littleton reports on the changing climate in Washington, DC, surrounding mergers and acquisitions and the enforcement of—and calls for revisions to—antitrust laws.
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In recent years, the global landscape for the distribution of independent documentary films has undergone seismic changes. A documentary market boom that was once heralded as the “golden age of documentary” collided with a global streaming industry hungry for growth and resulted in a “bust” in the independent film marketplace overall, and the public interest documentary sector in particular.
In response to this crisis, support organizations, industry leaders, journalists, and filmmakers have been organizing convenings, collaborating on fresh solutions, and writing in-depth examinations about how we got here and what comes next. The Shorenstein Center’s Documentary Film in the Public Interest Initiative is compiling this Documentary Distribution Literature Review to capture the quickly evolving landscape through a curated collection of annotated articles, webinars, talks, and convening summaries for an audience of experts and lay people alike. Our aim is to both inform and inspire new directions for where the conversation evolves next.
This project was born from a convening organized by the Shorenstein Center’s Documentary Film in the Public Interest Initiative, Points North Institute, International Documentary Association, Doc Society, and Sub-Genre for the 2023 Camden International Film Festival.
For a full bibliography of all resources included in this literature review, click here.
Search the Lit Review
- April 24, 2024
Variety Co-Editor-in-Chief Cynthia Littleton reports on the changing climate in Washington, DC, surrounding mergers and acquisitions and the enforcement of—and calls for revisions to—antitrust laws.
- April 23, 2024
Evan Shapiro reports on the weakened state of public service media in the US and its implications for democracy.
- April 22, 2024
Following the news of Participant Media shutting down, filmmaker and producer Davis Guggenheim discusses the company's focus on social impact—starting with a look at the origin of the documentary "An Inconvenient Truth."
- April 18, 2024
Strategic brand consultant and independent film producer Brian Newman provides his thoughts on the atmosphere surrounding the International Documentary Association's 2024 Getting Real conference in Los Angeles, and proposes the need for large-scale systemic change in the independent film industry as whole, not only for documentaries.
- April 17, 2024
Writers Dominic Patten and Anthony D'Alessandro report that the Sundance Film Festival will now consider bids from potential new locations, and from the incumbent location, for the festival after its contract with Park City expires following the 2026 program.
- April 16, 2024
Writer Brooks Barnes reports on the closure of Participant Media, a production company that focused on social issue dramas and successful documentaries like "An Inconvenient Truth," "The Cove," and "RBG."
- April 15, 2024
Jacobin contributing editor Daniel Bessner reports on the current risk-averse state of the screenwriting business in Hollywood—discussing compensation trends and tracing the history of its value in the film and television industries through company consolidations, labor movements, streamers' strategies, executives' predisposition toward intellectual property-driven content, and more.
- April 9, 2024
Writers Jesse Whittock and Sara Merican delve into the competitive landscape of the streaming industry in Southeast Asia, where Prime Video and Disney+ are retracting much of their presence in original productions, leaving Netflix as the main American streamer commissioning projects there.
- April 5, 2024
Writer Addie Morfoot summarizes points made from a panel discussion called "Documentary Dealmaking" at the 2024 Full Frame Film Festival, highlighting the financial challenges faced by documentary filmmakers and the need for fair compensation, stronger alliances with industry organizations, and collective action to address systemic issues in the industry.
- March 18, 2024
Writer Anthony Kaufman reflects on the state of independent film distribution following several events fostering exploration on the subject at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, reporting on the challenges independent film exhibitors face in reaching audiences and potential solutions like varying programming, theatrical distributor P&A subsidies, and blockchain-backed distribution models.
Disclaimer: This literature review is non-comprehensive, and will continue to be developed over time. Materials compiled in this literature review are the intellectual property of their respective authors and/or publishers. The Shorenstein Center and its Documentary Film in the Public Interest Initiative does not hold any rights to the materials included here, and is sharing them for informational purposes only. The Shorenstein Center assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions within the materials shared here, and the opinions of the authors and publishers are their own. Inclusion in this literature review does not connote endorsement of the ideas contained within each article by the Shorenstein Center or its programs, faculty, or staff. Questions about the materials, or copyright-related requests about them, should be directed to the authors and original publishers.
