miptv 17-19 april 2023 palais des festivals, cannes

Documentary Business

Peter Hamilton Consultants, Inc

Netflix

David Bowie Tops Music Documentary Update. Huge Stars. Unique Access. New Footage. Mega Budgets

HBO Max‘s release of the David Bowie interpretive bio doc Moonage Daydream reminds us that the market leaders can spend big on Music: $25 million by Apple TV+ for Billie Eilish. $30 million by Disney+ for Elton John. In this post, Camran Shealy updates her July 2022 profiles of commissions that feature musical celebrities and …

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Best Documentaries of 2022: The Picks from the Players. The Oscar Noms & More

What were the critics’ picks for Best Documentaries for 2022? Caitlin Cooper surveyed Variety, Deadline, Sundance and more to provide links to their selections. Among them are prize-winning indies such as All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, Bad Axe, and All that Breathes. Dominating the competition are Brett Morgen’s Moonage Daydream for HBO Max, and …

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Shedding Light on the Business of the Documentary Business. 2022 Report Card. Mission for 2023

My unchanging editorial goals since launching my Documentary Business newsletter in 2011 are to: Capture in a few words how the ever-evolving unscripted ecosystem shapes opportunities for industry veterans and rookies alike, and Publish detailed Case Studies that reveal how productions that aren’t by award-winning A-listers are developed, funded and ultimately delivered to grateful audiences. …

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Netflix Dominates: 85% of “Minutes Watched”. All Other Streamers: 15%

Analysts LightShed Partners published a noteable pushback to the gloom surrounding Netflix‘s outlook. Remember that investors savaged Netflix, whose market cap has lost around two thirds of its its peak valuation. This tracker tells the story: Wall Street turned sour on Netflix for a cascade of factors including: Stalled subscriber growth. Questions about the quality …

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TRUE ROYALTY: The Netflix for “super-engaged Royals fans”. A Podcast with CEO Gregor Angus (Republished)

Queen Elizabeth‘s passing reminded me of our 2019 coverage of TRUE ROYALTY, the ‘mega-niche’ streamer for “the 150M people worldwide who are Royal super-fans.” TRUE ROYALTY now carries a library of “450+ constantly-refreshed quality titles about Royalty today, around the world and throughout history.” First published, October 2019 TRUE ROYALTY is a London-based subscription video …

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Netflix & the Streamers. What do they want? What they pay! My Show & Tell Webinar with Keith Ochwat. September 15, 1pm/PT

How do you figure out what the streamers want? The volatility of the streaming ecosystem is hard to navigate. What was true a year ago has changed. You need to know how your film fits within the ever-evolving streaming world. WEBINAR I will be joining distribution expert, Show&Tell’s Keith Ochwat next Thursday for a special …

Netflix & the Streamers. What do they want? What they pay! My Show & Tell Webinar with Keith Ochwat. September 15, 1pm/PT Read More »

Netflix 2023 What You Need To Know Now


New Trends in True Crime: Streamers are Changing the Game… What producers need to know! A podcast with Ed Hersh

Ed Hersh is a veteran channel executive who spent years at A&E, Court TV, and Investigation Discovery as one of the architects of their True Crime programming. He is my fellow New York-based, senior consultant, and has his own company now, StoryCentric, which advises networks and producers on their development, pitching and storytelling strategies, with a …

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True Crime Boom: Recent Releases Highlight What Producers Need to Consider (Part 2)

With Worst Roommate Ever, we continue our coverage of the True Crime genre in Part 2 of Camran Shealy’s snapshots survey of 20+ recently announced or released  projects. Read Part 1 here, including The Tinder Swindler and more. And here below is Part 2… My Podcast, Webinars + MIPCOM Workshop New Trends in True Crime: …

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