Several very interesting developments occurred this week in the ever-expanding world of Documentary and Factual Television: Ford Foundation Ford announced a $50 million initiative to fund docs over 5 years The aim is to help find and support a new generation of filmmakers whose works address urgent social issues. The new initiative is called JustFilms. It “will invest …
by David Kaplan Producers and channels everywhere struggle with evolving definitions of ‘Network Deliverables’. It’s a fast-changing field due to: The rapid adoption of HD and file-based shooting The take-up of digital exploitation technologies And the steady expansion of the classic definition of ‘Deliverables’ David Kaplan has led the Quality Control team for the A&E …
Network Deliverables: What are they? How are they evolving? Why they matter! (1/3) Read More »
This Week’s Issues: Memo to Talent: Re Compensation — Build a self-branded enterprise. Don’t rely on appearance fees. Dirty Jobs‘ Mike Rowe is the model to follow! “Speed to Air” matters! Work-for-hire versus retaining Rights. Renewals and bumps. How to pitch – and how to blow a pitch – to History. The Panelists Late last …
Here’s a holiday trivia question: How frequently are ‘Documentary‘ and ‘Reality TV‘ mentioned in the vast library of Google-scanned books that were published between 1900 and 2008? When does ‘Documentary‘ peak? After 2000: Is there a vertical curve for references to ‘Reality TV‘? For the surprising answers, check out Google Books Ngram Viewer And read the NY Times to learn …
Documentary vs Reality TV: Who’s Winning the ‘Battle of Google Books’? Read More »
Are U.S. multichannel subscribers cutting the cord in such numbers that programmers and producers should be concerned for the long term? Analysts of our sector were recently whipped into a bit of a frenzy by the release of two studies: SNL Kagan reported that the U.S. industry lost 119,000 subscribers in the 3rd quarter 2010, …
Cord-cutting: How Serious? What Does it Mean for Channels and Producers? Read More »
NEH Bridging Cultures Through Film Grants Awarded By Michael Rose The first round of documentary filmmaker recipients of grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) new Bridging Cultures through Film initiative were announced today. “They were made, for a total of $1,116,715– three for development, and two for production of documentary films,” said …
Two panels on 3D fundamentals and trends were among the highlights of the terrific program at the World Congress of Science and Factual Producers (WCSFP) in Dresden . Following are our session notes and Takeaways And don’t miss our earlier ground-breaking analysis of 3D Budgets from Hoff Productions (SF/NY) Discovery 3D Channel Sarah Hume Vice President …
PIN-POINTING THE GREEN LIGHTS 2/2 Last week, we published our sensitivity analysis of the locations of producers who are suppliers to U.S. Factual networks. Following are the findings 7 more of the 25+ channels that we surveyed: Methodology We reviewed Upfront and other new programming announcements for 2010/2111 We tracked down the locations of the cited …
U.S. Channels: Where are the Producers Located? 2/2 Read More »