The rush from linear to streaming accelerates. Netflix reaches saturation in North America and is targeting global growth (See chart). Its U.S. rivals are mostly left far behind in both subscribers and in spend on original programs. Streaming competitors have emerged in Europe and elsewhere. The good news is that the platforms need content including …
Sunny Side News Roundup: Global Shift to Streaming Accelerates Read More »
The COP 26 UN Climate Change Conference opens in Glasgow on October 31, bringing urgency to the race to save our planet. Documentary commissioners, producers and distributors have responded with lots of new orders. Does global warming have the urgent audience appeal of programs that address hot button issues like true crime, gender, and social …
News Roundup: Climate Change Documentaries Breaking Through? Read More »
STORY OF THE MONTH: 9/11 IN DOCUMENTARIES That was the view from my Brooklyn study on 9/11/2021. It’s the same window from which I saw the 9/11 attacks, certain that we had lost family, close friends and neighbors, but waiting to find out which ones. For the 20th anniversary, the news media captured the …
Sunny Side News Roundup: 9/11 anniversary documentaries disappoint… & much more Read More »
Essential Afghan Documentaries – War boosters & critics: 15 key documentaries about Afghanistan, From ‘Taxi to the Dark Side’ to ‘Hell and Back Again‘ // Variety ‘Pat Tillman‘ and other films both critical and supportive of the war // Washington Post Art Workers in France Mobilize to Help Afghan Creators // Artnet Women journalists fear brutal Taliban // Vice Director’s escape from …
My News Roundup for July — a content partnership with Sunny Side of the Doc – leads with a catchy chart from Parrot Analytics. Parrot quantified consumer demand for six genres, from Crime to Sports, comparing 2019-20 with 2020-21. Parrot scoops up consumers’ ‘demand expressions’ from across the online universe, and weights them, for example …
Story of the Month: Investors Target Unscripted Production. There’s a frenzy of investment in unscripted production // Wall Street Journal. New SVOD’s fail to understand that success depends on streaming addiction // Lightshed Partners. Netflix Australia: Revenues surge but avoids taxes and local production // The Age + Documentary Business. Audiences want more documentaries in streaming libraries …
SUNNY SIDE OF THE DOC – NEWS ROUNDUP, June 2021: Unscripted Investment Frenzy & more Read More »
The Wildlife genre is enjoying a hot streak that can be measured by an expanding pipeline of commissions and prestigious awards. MY OCTOPUS TEACHER swam away with the PGA 2021 Documentary Award, and is a buzzy competitor for the Oscar. As well as the intimate Human/Animal connection found in OCTOPUS, recent greenlights cover pure Blue …
Story of the Month BBC VISION MEETS FIERCE OPPOSITION BBC VISION: new director Tim Davie shares strategy // Worldscreen BBC BESIEGED: Under relentless fire from rightwing // London Review of Books GLOBAL PARTNERSHIPS: Key to BBC’s future // TBI Vision BBC CHAIR: Ultra-conservative candidate is knocked // Deadline DISCOURS INAUGURAL choc pour le boss de la BBC …
News Roundup: BBC’s new vision meets hardcore opposition, and more… Read More »