Essential Doc Reads is a weekly feature in which the IDA staff recommends recent pieces about the documentary form and its processes. Here we feature think pieces and important news items from around the Internet, and articles from the Documentary magazine archive. We hope you enjoy!
At Los Angeles Times, David Pierson reports that Facebook is looking at new ways to compensate video creators.
The new payment method would be in addition to existing monetization tools such as branded content and, to a smaller set of creators, advertising breaks in videos. Facebook said it will also be testing a tool that will make it easier for advertisers to find creators for branded content. Creators will soon be allowed to set-up a portfolio indicating their areas of expertise so that advertisers can search for them.
At Variety, Todd Spangler reports that U.S. consumers spend $2 billion monthly on streaming services.
The survey found, on average, that Americans watch 38 hours per week of video content, of which 39% is streamed and 61% is on live TV. For younger audiences, streaming is bulk of their video diet: Gen Zers watch 22 hours of streaming video weekly vs. 16 hours of TV, and Millennials watch 19 hours of streaming video vs. 15 hours of live TV. Overall, about 48% of all U.S. consumers stream TV content at least weekly, versus 37% in 2016.
At Digiday, Sahil Patel reports that Netflix's deal terms are posing a conundrum for TV studios.
A U.S. TV company recently signed a deal with Netflix for a new original drama series. Under the terms of the arrangement, both the TV company and Netflix are funding the show and collaborating on distribution: The TV company will release it in the U.S., and Netflix will get global streaming distribution rights. The TV company retains the ownership rights to the show, which means it can find other licensing partners for the program in the U.S. and abroad. But under the terms of the deal, the TV company also has to wait a certain period of time before it can license the show elsewhere. And with Netflix available in more than 190 countries globally, there aren’t many international TV networks and distributors that would want a show that's already streaming in their markets.
At Cineuropa, the East Doc Platform in Prague hosts a panel on the risks of documentary filmmaking.
The murder of Slovak journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancée, Martina Kušnírová, who were investigating the connections between the country's politicians and the Calabrian ’Ndrangheta mafia clan, has been the talk of Central Europe since it occurred on 25 February, igniting protests in the country and even triggering the resignation of prime minister Robert Fico. For better or worse, these events fit in squarely with the East Doc Platform theme for this year, "New Resistance," and the Prague documentary industry gathering included a very interesting panel on the risks of journalism and documentary filmmaking in the current climate.
At IndieWire, counting down the best documentaries about cults.
Wild Wild Country is earning strong buzz on Netflix for investigating the rise and fall of a spiritual cult that made headlines in Oregon throughout the 1980s. The documentary is one of many titles in the fascinating subgenre of controversial religious documentaries. Click through the gallery for 13 real-life cults secretive religions, and the documentaries you need to watch on each one.
"Some movies we will give a theatrical release because it does help get reviews. It helps start the dialogue a little bit. We do them fairly concurrent with our release on Netflix. And I would hope someday there won't be any stigma about theatrical or not because it really is inside baseball. Most consumers of most movies don't have any idea if it played in the theater or how long it played in the theater. They mostly watched it at home."
IDA Elevate Grant Supports Emerging Women Filmmakers of Color
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California Documentary Project Award Winners Announced
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SXSW '18 Audience Award Winners Announced
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Hot Docs Announces Film Lineup
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Primetime Emmys See Change in Nonfiction Categories
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Netflix Giving NYT Magazine's 'Diagnosis' Column the Docuseries Treatment
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