Documentary Business

Why Marry Up with Pilgrim? A ‘Super-Preferred Producer’ at WestDoc

2010 September 20 / Commissioning Process, Documentary Production, Producers' Tool Kit

Last week’s Westdoc Conference was a great success for attendees due to: the quality of the speakers and panelists the easy access to buyers and experts and the very friendly environment Johnny Gould, Pilgrim Films and Television’s vice president for Programming & Business Development gave a stimulating presentation. Pilgrim is a powerful player in the …

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Commissioning Process, Documentary Production, Producers' Tool Kit

How to Pitch & Sell Your Project. A&E, #3/3. “Seven Key Takeaways”

2010 September 10 / Commissioning Process, Documentary Production, Network Profile, Producers' Tool Kit

Part 3/3 Click here for Part 1/3.: A day in the life of a developer, and more Click here for Part 2/3: A&E’s four filters: “Death is the ultimate high stakes”, and even more By Erin Essenmacher A&E director of Development Stephen Harris spoke at Silverdocs and WIFV panels that were moderated by DocumentaryTelevision.com editor Peter …

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Commissioning Process, Documentary Production, Network Profile, Producers' Tool Kit

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How to Pitch and Sell Your Project to a Network. A&E, #2/3. “Death is the Ultimate ‘High Stakes'”

2010 September 6 / Commissioning Process, Network Profile

By Erin Essenmacher Part 2/3. Click here for Part 1/3. A&E director of Development Stephen Harris spoke at Silverdocs and WIFV panels that were moderated by DocumentaryTelevision.com’s Peter Hamilton. Will It Really Matter in 18-Months? Harris emphasized that the best ideas aren’t necessarily the most controversial: “We’re looking for programs that aren’t just topical …

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Commissioning Process, Network Profile

How to Pitch and Sell Your Project to a Network. Case Study: A&E, Part 1/3

2010 September 1 / 'Sweet Spots', Commissioning Process

An “Insider’s Guide” To How Factual Television Channels Develop and Commission Programs (Part 1/3) By Erin Essenmacher This Silverdocs presentation featured A&E’s director of Development Stephen Harris and was moderated by DocumentaryTelevision.com’s Peter Hamilton. Harris and Hamilton originally presented at the Silverdocs Conference on June 23, 2010. They did a reprise the following day as part of …

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'Sweet Spots', Commissioning Process

Discovery Doubles Up On OWN The Oprah Winfrey Network. Why?

2010 August 25 / Network Profile

This week: The Latest on Oprah’s Documentary Club What’s going on with Discovery’s big new investment in OWN? The Rosie thing? And Martha is in the picture? A Tanned and Buffed DCI Legal/Business Affairs office in LA? More on Oprah’s Documentary Club We recently reported that OWN rolled out the red carpet for Julia, Forest, …

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Network Profile

The Preferred Producer System: Credit for Credits / ‘Preferred’ Doesn’t Mean ‘Forever’!

2010 August 21 / Commissioning Process

Our friends called in with two important insights into the networks’ ‘preferred producer’ system. 1. Line of Credit We missed a big motivating factor for why networks work with preferred vendors: Access to Credit Networks used to pay producers 45+/- days provided that the contracts/ invoices/ workflows/ omens were all aligned Payment terms have since slipped. And slipped. …

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Commissioning Process

Preferred Vendors: Multiple Commissions / Multiple Networks. Why?

2010 August 16 / Commissioning Process, Documentary Production, Documentary TV, Producers' Tool Kit, Upfronts

This week, we ask three questions: Which producers are getting the repeat commissions? Who gets commissions from multiple U.S. networks? And why? The Data We created lists of producers who earned commissions for new and returning programs from Discovery Networks, including the digi-nets, as well as AETN and Nat Geo Channels. Our sources were: Upfront press …

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Commissioning Process, Documentary Production, Documentary TV, Producers' Tool Kit, Upfronts

Payday for Snooki & The Sitch – What Do MTV’s Reality Stars Earn?

2010 August 1 / 'Sweet Spots', Commissioning Process

Here’s a teaser for our upcoming analysis of MTV’s ‘Sweet Spots’. Who’s Snooki? Who’s watching? What does payday look like for the Jersey Shore ensemble? What are industry insiders saying about Jersey Shore? So Who Is Snooki? If you live happily outside the popular culture, get refreshed by reading: Cathy Horyn’s snooty ‘Snooki’s Time’ in The New York …

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'Sweet Spots', Commissioning Process