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- May 3, 2024
Writer Matthew Carey reports on the return of New York's Margaret Mead Film Festival, which celebrates documentary film from around the world—amid a landscape of struggling festivals.
- April 24, 2024
Writer Addie Morfoot reports on staff departures and government-funding issues surrounding the 2024 edition of the Hot Docs Film Festival.
- 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.
- 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.
- March 13, 2024
Human Rights Watch closes its longstanding film festival due to financial constraints, while praising its three-decade legacy of promoting independent films on human rights issues and advocating for increased accessibility standards in the film industry.
- February 21, 2024
Hosted by producer, filmmaker, and Distribution Advocates co-founder Avril Speaks, this episode of the Distribution Advocates Presents podcast features conversations with industry leaders Amy Hobby, Kaila Sarah Hier, Abby Sun, and Jemma Desai, on the film festival system's efficacy in promoting discovery, dealmaking, and filmmaker connection, as well as the language and meaning evoked by this environment.
- February 15, 2024
Strategic brand consultant and independent film producer Brian Newman assesses the state of censorship in independent filmmaking—at film festivals, as well as with funding, streaming distribution, online promotional opportunities, and more.
- February 8, 2024
The British Film Institute (BFI) has awarded new grants through its UK Global Screen Fund, endowed by the Department for Culture, Media, and Sport (DCMS), to nine UK independent screen projects for international distribution, targeting Film Sales, Prints & Advertising (P&A), and Festival Launch tracks to boost the global visibility of UK feature films, with further funding opportunities available in different categories.
- February 8, 2024
Strategic brand consultant and independent film producer Brian Newman critiques the prevailing trend in the film market that favors commercially viable projects over smaller, more artistic ones, suggesting that filmmakers seeking success will prioritize larger, more accessible endeavors to align with market demands despite potential compromise to artistic integrity.
- February 4, 2024
Writer Anthony Kaufman reflects on Netflix's unprecedented acquisitions of documentaries at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, raising questions about the impact on theatrical distribution, the role of celebrity endorsements, and the evolving dynamics of the documentary market.
- February 3, 2024
The 2024 Oscar documentary nominations, dominated by international filmmakers and with little major streamer-backed films, have sparked discourse on potential resentment in the documentary branch, a preference for social-issue documentaries, and considerations for altering the voting system.
- February 1, 2024
Writer Anthony Kaufman reports on the optimism felt for documentary film sales at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.
