Sunny Side of the Doc | 19-22 June 2023

Documentary Business

Peter Hamilton Consultants, Inc

UK

True Crime Boom: Recent Releases Spotlight What Platforms Want (Part 1)

The True Crime genre earns ever more attention — and greenlights, from platforms worldwide. My editorial associate Camran Shealy surveyed recently announced or released True Crime projects, summarizing of 20+ of them here. Everyone’s doing it: commissioners include Netflix, Discovery+, Peacock, ARD Germany and hulu. Netflix dominates Camran’s selection, as expected given its nearly $20 …

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Rupert Murdoch’s Dark Power: My ANZAC Day Reflection on the How a Kingmaker Father Inspired the ‘Aussie Prince’ (Updated)

Rupert Murdoch stepped into his father’s shoes when he took aim at power and profit.   Keith Murdoch was the Australian kingmaker who taught the young Rupert how to forge political influence from media ownership. The son’s values differ from the father: Rupert’s incites racial and class resentment saturated with bigotry.  His objectives: Build profitable audiences, …

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Top 100 UK Documentaries in 2021: Attenborough and familiar talent stand out in a 2nd troubled year of Covid

The BBC dominates the Top 10 most viewed Factual programs in the UK for 2021. The mix of documentary and lifestyle programs is led by the Attenborough-narrated A Perfect Planet, with more than 7 million viewers and nearly 30% share. Storm Clouds: This week, the troubled Boris Johnson government announced an ominous overhaul of the BBC’s …

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Netflix 2023 What You Need To Know Now


News Roundup: Climate Change Documentaries Breaking Through?

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 …

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Sean Bean To Narrate Osprey Raptor Wildlife Doc For Love Nature & Sky (by Deadline’s Peter White)

Sean Bean is to lend his voice to a natural history documentary about Osprey. The Game of Thrones star is narrating Osprey: Sea Raptor, a one-hour doc for wildlife brand Love Nature that will also and Sky in the UK. The film, which is produced by Love Nature and CosmoVision Media Group, tells the true …

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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 »

Netflix 2023 What You Need To Know Now


SUNNY SIDE OF THE DOC – NEWS ROUNDUP, June 2021: Unscripted Investment Frenzy & more

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 …

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BBC STORYVILLE: Mandy Chang departs. A lookback at her strategy. Our panel at virtual CCDF-CNEX

Update: Mandy Chang is leaving her post as legendary BBC-STORYVILLE‘s commissioning editor. Last year she recapped her STORYVILLE strategy in detail for my panel at Taiwan’s virtual CCDF-CNEX Documentary Conference. Our fellow expert panelists were: Hong Kong-based, Phoenix TV exec Haibo Huang And from Washington DC, all-knowing veteran programmer and senior consultant Dan Salerno. Read on …

BBC STORYVILLE: Mandy Chang departs. A lookback at her strategy. Our panel at virtual CCDF-CNEX Read More »