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It is not surprising that the Tow Center for Digital Journalism's research project, Video Now —which examines current trends of news publications' video departments, focusing on October 2013 through February 2014—comes with this disclaimer: "The organizations that we visited and feature may all have moved on to new models by the time you watch this." It is a swiftly shifting world, with new leaders emerging and partnerships being formed everyday in the race to produce quality video content and maintain and grow audiences. Publications formerly steeped historically in print are forging ahead

The distribution landscape is constantly evolving. We already gave you 10 Keys to Successful Theatrical Distribution for Your Doc and the most important 5 Digital Distribution Tips for Filmmakers. Now, here are some of the most oft-used terms and their definitions to help you figure out how best to get your doc out into the world. Theatrical Releases: Wide release: a film is shown nationwide simultaneously in hundreds of theaters. Limited release: a film is released in a select several theaters across the country. This release style is frequently used for documentaries, art films, and

The rapidly changing distribution landscape has brought a whole new vocabulary with it. But where do you, the filmmaker, fit in?

North Carolina is a "right to work" state, which is part of her independent charm for documentary filmmakers, but also her challenge. There are no unions to organize and unify media artists, and networks tend to be loose, informal webs. Filmmakers seem to be regionally connected, allied to the Triangle (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill), the Triad (Greensboro, High-Point, Winston-Salem), the Mountains (Asheville) or the Coast (Wilmington). The more tightly knit areas of the documentary production network appear to be associated with the universities, supported by university resources such as

Digital projection of video has been with us for some years, but has yet to attain wide acceptance in movie theaters. Initially, there were three major problems: the high cost of the equipment, the insufficient light output to meet the movie industry's strict quality standards and the question of who was going to pay for it. Prices have come down as light output has risen, but it's still difficult to find theaters that can project video. Although technically possible, digital projection of mainstream movies has yet to be fully embraced by the movie industry, although the most recent Star Wars

"One night in 1997, I was watching a documentary about Philo Farnsworth, the inventor of television, on American Experience," says David Strohmaier. "I said somebody should do something similar about Cinerama. I was in between editing projects and my wife encouraged me to produce a documentary about Cinerama. Based on that, I flew to Dayton, Ohio, to meet John Harvey, a film collector and projection engineer who had built a 350-seat theater where they were showing vintage Cinerama prints during Saturday matinees. There were people there from all over the world." Strohmaier subsequently

For a filmmaker, there's nothing like watching one's film unspool in a theater. My partner, Suki Hawley, and I recently made a documentary called Horns and Halos, about the re-publication of a discredited biography of George W. Bush. At the tail end of the film's festival run in 2002, we were in a very interesting position. Due to a kick in the pants and fiscal sponsorship from the IDA, we had managed to raise money for a film print. Cinemax had purchased the film for Reel Life, and we had several offers to distribute the DVD. However, there was no serious interest in releasing the film

A review of Liz Stubbs' 'Documentary Filmmakers Speak'

If you were looking to see independent films about Quidditch competitions, the life of Olympic diver Greg Louganis, the wild boar invasion in the Netherlands, or the man inside of Big Bird, AFI DOCS (formerly Silverdocs) was the place to be in June. The international festival, celebrating its 12th year in the Washington, DC area, offered 84 feature and short documentaries and 14 premieres over five days. But it wasn't just cultural topics that attracted viewers. Social issues docs were big. There were stories about homeless high school students trying to graduate (Anne de Mare and Kirsten

Sunny Side of the Doc ( www.sunnysideofthedoc.com) took place last June in a magnificent former palace, high up on a hill overlooking Marseille, France. The view from the câfé terrace included a castle and a cathedral, with sailing boats darting about on an azure sea. It was an enlivening backdrop to a market dedicated solely to business. The strength of Sunny Side, unlike its competitors, is that it is attached to a film festival. It is purely concerned with buying and selling. Sunny Side might be said to divide into three parts. There were the dozens of brightly decorated stands representing