Doc Distro Lit Review: Documentary

Photograph of a person leaning on bicycle handlebars
Journalist Anthony Kaufman provides case studies and insights into various films from the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, shedding light on the festival's notable occurrences and trends in the industry.
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An account from the 2023 Camden International Film Festival (CIFF), featuring discussions of documentaries "Beyond Utopia," "A Golden Life," and "The Last Year of Darkness," alongside a discussion of the film industry's contradictions.
Image of three people with the headline "Beyond Resilience: The Documentary System Is Broken. Now What? Now Streaming"
Firelight Media's Marcia Smith spoke with documentary veterans Brian Newman and Geralyn Dreyfous about the state of the documentary industry, discussing market shifts, positive developments, and the need for audience advocacy.
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Writer Addie Morfoot describes the 2024 Oscar documentary shortlist race, with fewer streamer-backed films opening up possibilities for filmmakers utilizing smaller awards campaign budgets.
Deadline and Nō Studios's Doc Talk podcast logo
Hosts of Deadline and Nō Studios's Doc Talk podcast, writer-director John Ridley and Deadline’s documentary editor Matt Carey, speak with Diane Becker (producer, "King Coal"), Joe Peeler (co-director, "Bad Press"), and Keith Wilson (producer, "Joonam") on their innovative approach to Oscar awards campaigning, with their DIY FYC (Do It Yourself For Your Consideration) strategy.
Photograph of a person standing in front of a screen filled with organization logos
At Color Congress's National Convening, Karin Chien from Distribution Advocates, presents plans to address the documentary distribution crisis, by fostering collaboration for a more equitable filmmaking ecosystem.
Photograph of a person wearing glasses and a necklace
President and CEO of Independent Television Service (ITVS), Carrie Lozano spoke at the 2023 Camden International Film Festival on the potential opportunities to be found from perceived threats to the industry, looking at the creation of ITVS in the late 1980s as an example.
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At the 2023 Camden International Film Festival, strategic brand consultant and independent film producer Brian Newman spoke about a "booming" documentary industry that is bound to "bust" and declared the need for collaborative strategizing around reaching audiences.
Compilation of photographs from films, featuring various people looking upward, at each other, or at the camera
New York Magazine Features writer Reeves Wiedeman spoke with more than eighty documentary filmmakers about the state of the industry with the streaming platforms playing a larger role in the production of such films.
Distribution Advocates logo
Reporting on the presentation of Distribution Advocates' data on film festival sales at the International Documentary Association's 2022 Getting Real Conference, film writer Anthony Kaufman describes the challenges independent documentary filmmakers face finding financing, festival acceptance, exposure, and distribution deals that make sense for them.
The Center for Media & Social Impact logo
A study by the Center for Media and Social Impact (CMSI) exposes a lack of diversity among documentary filmmakers, emphasizing the dominance of white men and revealing disparities in acknowledging racism, particularly in the representation of BIPOC and women of color across major platforms, including streamers, cable, and public television.
Slide showing the text: "US Film Festivals as a Point of Sale for Documentaries, Preliminary Data Presentation by Distribution Advocates, September 27"
Distribution Advocates' slideshow explores the link between film festivals and documentary distribution, featuring visuals on acceptance rates, director demographics, funding, and retained rights.