Skip to main content

Sneak Peek: Inside the Summer Issue of 'Documentary' Magazine

By Tom White


Hot fun in the summertime—get ready for the Summer 2014 issue of Documentary!

Out of school...fish are jumpin'...the time is right for dancin' in the streets...we're on safari to stay...and the Summer 2014 issue of Documentary is the beach-reading of choice for discerning perusers everywhere! This edition, we offer you a glimpse at

New Online and Cable Venues for Docs

The digital space is the volatile frontier, with stakeholders large and small jockeying for a piece of it. We look at a few of the newer players who are staking their claim, including Al Jazeera America, which in less than a year since launching has garnered a passel of honors. We talk to Shannon High-Bassalik senior vice president for shows and documentaries, about Al Jazeera America's programmatic mission and goals.

As the print world rethinks its survival strategies, some of the old-timers have been busy over the years beefing up their online video efforts. We look at some of the innovations coming out of The New Yorker, The Atlantic and The New York Times.

Finally, one of the more interesting debuts over the past couple of years has been Storyhunter, a network for video news journalists and docmakers to pitch their stories to publishers and distributors looking for creative content. We talk with co-founder Jaron Gilinsky about the brief history of Storyhunter—its achievements, as well as the obstacles it's had to overcome.

Elsewhere in the issue, June is bustin' out all over with Summer Solstice, graduations, Father's Day—and weddings. We feature two nuptial-centric docs premiering on HBO: Ben Cotner andRyan White's The Case Against 8, about the long road to the landmark Supreme Court decision that overturned Proposition 8, the California law that banned same-sex marriage; and Doug Block's 112 Weddings, in which the filmmaker, who moonlights as a wedding videographer, interviews some of his old clients about how their marriages turned out.

So, enjoy those lazy, hazy days; join IDA and get Documentary magazine year-round: Summer, Fall, Winter and Spring!