Oprah’s New Documentary Fund
Last week’s newsletter about “The New Documentary Movement” hit a nerve, generating lots of feedback! More on that in a moment.
First, if you’re directing a character-driven documentary, I’m teaching my often sold-out seminar “Structuring the Character Driven Documentary” this weekend, March 12 and 13, in San Francisco. You can register at the San Francisco Film Society website. If you aren’t in the Bay Area, you can get the online recording of the seminar (the first module is only $1) at: https://newdocediting.com/
Now back to The New Documentary Movement, described in last week’s newsletter as a trend in producing hopeful, inspiring films that speak to audiences rather than depressing documentaries that turn audiences away.
First, a correction. I wasn’t the first to come up with the term “The New Documentary Movement”. I’m happy to report that the Creative Director of the Bay Area Video Coalition (BAVC), Wendy Levy, used the terms in 2009 for two panels she helped develop, one for Sundance New Frontiers called “The New Documentary Movement” and one for the Producers Institute for New Media Technologies.
It’s exciting to know that others are taking note of new developments. The trend that I see includes:
- Hopeful documentaries that are…
- Audience-sensitive (dramatically entertaining) and …
- Made by entrepreneurial-minded filmmakers who …
- Use technology in creative ways.
BAVC’s Producers Institute for New Media Technologies is a cutting edge player in producing documentaries that, according to Levy, “include audiences early in the production process” and promote the use of a “cross-media” practice. Learn more at http://www.bavc.org/producersinstitute and http://www.bavc.org/stream.
At the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, I saw ample evidence of the new movement not only in individual documentaries, but in developments like Oprah’s appearance at Sundance to launch her new documentary development fund. She pledged to do for documentaries what her book club did for books-turning mainstream audiences on to this art form.
I met one film critic at the HBO party who wondered if Oprah’s efforts would sugar coat or dumb down the documentaries she funded. But Oprah is known to be warm and optimistic without shying away from hard realities, so I think it’s a positive development. In fact, at the same party I met director Barbara Koppel, whom Oprah commissioned for one of her first films. She’s working with Mariel Hemingway on a documentary about suicide in her family. And Barbara Koppel doesn’t shy away from the hard stuff.
When I returned from Sundance, I held a teleseminar on the topic of the new movement. More filmmakers subscribed than we could fit on the free conference call (more than 120 people). You can still access the free recording here:
https://newdocediting.com/teleseminars/NewDocumentaryMovement.wav
Since the teleseminar, I’ve heard from many subscribers to my newsletter (subscribe at newdocediting.com) who are excited about this trend. For example, filmmaker Cathy Stevulak says, “I am so pleased to hear about the trend in optimistic, what-can-be-done, social issue films”. And Scott Ryan wrote to say he’s been working on an exciting project called “Manifesto”, a documentary-based TV series which followed the stories of activists” in a tone that he calls “the opposite of the news”.
I also heard from a student at the London Film School who says he’s excited about the new movement because in school, he’s bombarded with examples of political documentaries that “leave me with an impression of a crumbling society and leaving it at that”.
I invite filmmakers to take advantage of institutions like BAVC and Oprah’s new documentary fund. At the same time, let’s show compassion toward our audiences, who are sensitive to the tone our films create. And let’s lead our emerging filmmakers, such as the student from the London Film School, into a brighter, smarter way of telling stories, bypassing when appropriate our industry’s tendency toward jaded, dark films. Stay tuned for more ideas about how take on society’s biggest problems in a way that motivates your audience into action, rather than frightening them into denial.