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Documentary Business

Peter Hamilton Consultants, Inc

Panels

Afghanistan in Documentaries: Sunny Side’s Story of the Month. Plus: Is Barack Obama a celebrity-fixated documentary producer?

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 …

Afghanistan in Documentaries: Sunny Side’s Story of the Month. Plus: Is Barack Obama a celebrity-fixated documentary producer? Read More »

PBS Strategy in the Streaming Era: Meet Sylvia Bugg, PBS Chief Programming Executive & General Manager at Sunny Side of the Doc

Sylvia Bugg is PBS‘s highly-respected Chief Programming Executive & General Manager, General Audience Programming. Sylvia shares her strategy and program highlights in our engaging Meet the Executive session for Sunny Side of the Doc. Watch the Session: Key Themes I begin by asking Sylvia how PBS is adapting to the streaming era. She references clips …

PBS Strategy in the Streaming Era: Meet Sylvia Bugg, PBS Chief Programming Executive & General Manager at Sunny Side of the Doc Read More »

Discovery Documentaries: SVP Howard Swartz reveals “The docs we’re looking for!”

Howard Swartz is the Senior Vice President Docs and Specials, Factual Networks & Streaming, for Discovery. For Sunny Side of the Doc‘s Meet the Executive session, he joined Peter Hamilton to share Discovery’s documentary strategy and key buckets. Following are session highlights, including clips of several projects that reveal Howard’s priorities. MISSION & STRATEGY What …

Discovery Documentaries: SVP Howard Swartz reveals “The docs we’re looking for!” Read More »

Netflix 2024: What You Need To Know Now!


Discovery Transformed by WarnerMedia: Pro’s & Cons. Winners and a Loser.

Three years ago, I wrote here: “Discovery must be in play after AT&T’s recent takeover of Time Warner with its Warner Bros, HBO and Turner programming assets.” (Discovery for Sale, June 20, 2018) ATT confirmed today that it will spin off its renamed WarnerMedia unit into Discovery Inc. My Initial Takeaways: 1.Discovery Transformed A leading …

Discovery Transformed by WarnerMedia: Pro’s & Cons. Winners and a Loser. Read More »

Off The Fence execs reveal Sales, Acquisitions & Commissioning strategy at our Sunny Side Global Pitch. Webinar

Loren Baxter (Head of Acquisitions), Stefanie Fischer (MD of Sales) & Leila Monks (Head of Commissioning) joined me for a revealing Off the Fence webinar at Sunny Side’s Global Pitch. My key questions: What is your key focus in Sales, Acquisitions and Commissions? What is Off the Fence working on? How do you work together …

Off The Fence execs reveal Sales, Acquisitions & Commissioning strategy at our Sunny Side Global Pitch. Webinar Read More »

NOVA: What do they want? Watch Sunny Side’s Meet the Executive Presentation

Meet Chris Schmidt and Julia Cort, Executive Producers of NOVA, and Melanie Wallace, Senior Series Producer. They joined me at this year’s Sunny Side of the Doc for a revealing MEET THE EXECUTIVE presentation, including clips of program highlights. Watch the NOVA / Sunny Side video here: And don’t miss my detailed coverage of NOVA …

NOVA: What do they want? Watch Sunny Side’s Meet the Executive Presentation Read More »

Desktop Doc Netflix course


Who are the documentary buyers? What do they want? How many? Deal highlights and more

Twelve documentary buyers and producers reveal what drives their decisions. Each commissioner is driven by a particular strategy, pipeline and budget ‘sweet spot’. Each producer describes a unique path from concept through funding and production to distribution. Since 2010, the mission of my Documentary Business newsletter has been to reveal how these individual production pathways …

Who are the documentary buyers? What do they want? How many? Deal highlights and more Read More »

BBC STORYVILLE: Mandy Chang guides her legendary documentary strand through COVID turbulence. Our panel at virtual CCDF-CNEX

Mandy Chang, commissioning editor BBC-STORYVILLE recently joined my panel at Taiwan’s virtual CCDF-CNEX Documentary Conference. In this post, we recap Mandy’s valuable insights into the legendary STORYVILLE stand, and the impact of COVID on the BBC’s documentary commissioning process. Our fellow expert panelists were: Hong Kong-based, Phoenix TV exec Haibo Huang And from Washington DC, veteran …

BBC STORYVILLE: Mandy Chang guides her legendary documentary strand through COVID turbulence. Our panel at virtual CCDF-CNEX Read More »