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Getting Ready for Getting Real: Meet the Programmers

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3600 Wilshire Blvd. , Suite 1810, Los Angeles CA 90010

  • Abby Sun
  • Lisa Valencia-Svensson
  • Meghan Monsour

Event Flyer for IDA's upcoming event Getting Ready For Getting Real. Meet the Programmers

Join us for a conversation with Getting Real Conference Director Abby Sun, Conference programmers Lisa Valencia-Svensson and Meghan Monsour, and Anisa Hosseinnezhad, IDA Membership Manager, for an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the research, themes, and design shaping Getting Real ‘26 and tips and tricks on how to best prepare for this year’s conference.


The documentary world is expanding, and Getting Real ’26 is here to examine what that means. This summer, we will explore what it might mean to bridge the gap between industrial reality and the expanding world of documentary filmmaking. What does documentary look like when we follow it beyond the festival circuit into community screenings, participatory media, and creator-driven nonfiction? Who is already doing this work, and what can the documentary community learn from them?

Join us for a conversation with Getting Real Conference Director Abby Sun, Conference programmers Lisa Valencia-Svensson and Meghan Monsour, and Anisa Hosseinnezhad, IDA Membership Manager, for an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the research, themes, and design shaping Getting Real ‘26 and tips and tricks on how to best prepare for this year’s conference.

Whether you have already purchased your pass or are curiously browsing the schedule, this event gives you a deeper look at this year’s conference, the conversations you can expect, and ways to prepare to get the most out of the experience.

RSVP for this session is required. IDA Members have priority RSVP. Registration for the public opens two weeks before the event.

This session is hybrid, with in-person attendance at the IDA Office and virtual participation.

Attendees and Participation
Open to the public for registration, IDA Members receive priority registration. This session will be recorded and made available to IDA members only. 
For in-person attendees, coffee and pastries will be provided.


Hybrid Event
Date: Monday, June 15, 2026
Time: 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Pacific
Location: IDA Office in Koreatown 
Address: 3600 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 1810, Los Angeles, CA, 90010
Virtual: Zoom

Access:
ASL interpretation and captioning will be provided for this session. IDA Office is ADA-compliant. If you have any other access needs to share with us, please email access@documentary.org at least two weeks before the event. We will do our best to accommodate.

Code of Conduct:
All participants agree to read and approve the IDA Events Code of Conduct here.


This event is generously supported by the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA), which strengthens the quality of life in Los Angeles by stimulating and supporting arts and cultural activities.
 

This event is generously supported by the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA), which strengthens the quality of life in Los Angeles by stimulating and supporting arts and cultural activities.


Event Participants

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    Portrait of Abby Sun, IDA's director of programs and editor of Documentary magazine. An Asian woman with short hair, wearing a black blouse and standing in front of a white flower bush.

    Abby Sun

    Abby Sun is IDA’s director of programs and the editor of Documentary.

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    A light brown woman with glasses, medium length black hair, wearing a beige top in front of a bulletin board on a wall.

    Lisa Valencia-Svensson

    Lisa is an Emmy award-winning producer and Acting Industry Programs Director at Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival. She was previously Head of Operations at Multitude Films, where she co-produced Pray Away (Tribeca 2020), Call Center Blues (Academy Award Best Short Documentary shortlist 2021), and Always In Season (Sundance 2019, Independent Lens). She produced Call Her Ganda (Tribeca 2018, POV), which The Hollywood Reporter called “heartbreaking and inspirational.” Her first documentary Herman's House (Full Frame 2012, POV) won an Emmy for Outstanding Arts & Culture Programming. Her second feature Migrant Dreams (Hot Docs 2016, TVO) won the Canadian Hillman Prize and was a Top Ten Audience Favorite at Hot Docs. Other credits include The World Before Her (Tribeca 2012, POV) and Laila At the Bridge (CPH:DOX 2018).

    Image
    Close up headshot of Meghan Monsour with long dark hair and fair skin.

    Meghan Monsour

    Meghan Monsour is a film programmer and programming consultant based in Mexico. Her career has been dedicated to reimagining how films connect with their audiences and developing alternative distribution networks for documentary film. Previously she was the director of programming at the Ambulante Documentary Film Festival.