Dear IDA Members: I have just returned from MIP and MIPDOC in Cannes. These two events really are the center of the international broadcast marketplace. MIPDOC is a two-day specialized market dedicated solely to documentaries. There were some 1,031 entries this year, and the market attracted 350 buyers from around the world. I met a great number of people, most notably, the programmers from the Arab cable and satellite channel, al Jazeera, which is launching a second channel dedicated to documentaries and is looking for programming about the world at large. As Jehane Noujaim's Control Room, a
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"It seems to me that the natural world is the greatest source of excitement; the greatest source of visual beauty; the greatest source of intellectual interest. It is the greatest source of so much in life that makes life worth living."-Sir David Attenborough Things have changed since Sir David Attenborough brought us Life on Earth. Back in 1979 when the BBC's 13-part series first aired, nature films were solely about ecosystems and the environment, digital technology was still a ways off, and television was the predominant outlet for these films. Today, digital technology has made an enormous
It used to be that when you went to see a movie about Mars, you assumed it was science fiction. Tales of the red planet involved little green men, ancient canals and doomsday radio broadcasts. However, with the arrival of the Spirit and Opportunity Rovers on Mars in early 2004, the fourth planet from the sun has become a hot topic among factual filmmakers. A number of docs are currently in production, with the blessings and full cooperation of NASA and JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratories), the lab where Spirit and Opportunity were constructed. Projects in the works include two NOVA programs (one
Dear Readers, There are documentaries about music and those who create it; there are documentaries with music as a driving force; and there are documentaries with no music at all, but are nonetheless musical in their structure. Three documentaries coming out this spring focus as much on the creative process as on the fame and fortune it might bring—and the repercussions of that fame and fortune. DIG!, Ondi Tominer's Sundance Grand Jury Prize award-winner, follows over the course of seven years the internal conflicts and struggles of two rising bands—the Dandy Warhols and Brian Jonestown
Dear IDA Members, There are a number of excellent conferences worldwide devoted to the documentary. A notable one here in the US is the RealScreen Summit. I usually encourage new and even well seasoned producers to attend this event at least once. For the past few years it has been held in Washington, DC. Many of the world's top broadcasters attend to discuss the business and creative direction of the factual program market. If you're going to be in this business and you intend to sell your film, you had better know what the buyers are looking for. This is one event where you can find out. For
Dear IDA Members, Before I address you as your new president, I would like to say a few words about my predecessor, Michael Donaldson. About four years ago, IDA moved into new offices and almost simultaneously lost its executive director. At the end of that year, a new president was elected. Those were challenging times. Michael kept the organization headed in the right direction, and that was not easy. The board is comprised of individuals of varying creative and business opinions, but Michael, a consummate diplomat, would harness these opinions and forge them into a unified action. My hat is
Dear Readers, Every four years, the American political system is put on bombastic display, in the sprawling epic known as the presidential election race. In the denouement of this year-long, image-morphing, issue-spewing pageant, the final two or three candidates rise above the fray and vie furiously from coast to coast for votes. One winner emerges, intoning giddy election-night promises of new beginnings, new hope and new horizons, and misty-eyed pledges of unity and harmony. What courses through this grand American tradition—and, some would argue, runs counterpoint to it—is an even grander
Dear IDA Members, When I took the helm as IDA President three years ago, I eschewed "pompous pledges and misty projections" and promised to "keep my hand on the tiller as we pass through this period of great growth and unparalleled opportunity." Now that I am completing my tenure, though one might conjure up images of Prospero breaking his wand, I am not leaving the documentary stage. Indeed, with pundits across the country declaring 2003 to be "The Year of the Documentary," I am as excited as ever about the future of the art form and will continue to work on its behalf. Needless to say, I'm
Dear Readers, When one considers the film festival, one thinks of a happening, ranging in duration from a weekend to a month, in which towns, cities or whole communities are mobilized around the celebration of films and filmmakers. Depending on its scope and stature, a festival is enhanced with distributors, publicists, journalists and other festival directors—and audience members. And out of the sometimes 100 or more films that throttle the senses in a given festival, a few rise to the surface, garnering buzz, awards and accolades—and perhaps distribution or a free ride to next big festival
Dear IDA Members, It's the end of an active year of continued changes and growth for the IDA. Our biggest accomplishment was getting InFACT, formerly DOCtober, on the road and into theaters across the country—in Del Mar, Seattle, Little Rock and Austin. This was a great way to build relationships with the filmmakers, exhibitors and film-going communities of those cities. This has been a landmark year for documentaries at the box office, beginning with Bowling for Columbine and continuing with Winged Migration, Spellbound, Capturing the Friedmans, Step Into Liquid and Rivers and Tides. At press