At DISCOP in Joburg, we caught up with Rick Feldman, the executive director of the new US Nonfiction Producers Association.
Rick was a longtime head of NATPE.
Here’s Rick with the latest on his new role:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6wMC4IRp38&list=UUzKqMnS0asUe_M8sNZGFpWw
You can read more at: www.nonfictionproducers.org.
Takeaways
- US producers and their creative communities lack many of the workplace rights and protections of, say, their UK and Canadian peers.
- Except for a small handful of winners, even well-established US producers lack the IP and other assets that enables them to build their businesses so that they can be ultimately sold.
- Their work environment is hammered by the shocking complexity and unfairness of the US health insurance system, amongst other business conditions.
- ‘Reality TV’ suffers from a bad rep that does not recognize the scale of employment and economic contribution created by nonfiction producers.
This is a most welcome initiative, thankfully backed by several of the industry-leading players in nonfiction television.