Darcy Heusel
Founder and CEO, Outside
The Solutions Lab (Nov 14, at The New School)
If we were rebuilding the documentary ecosystem today, what would we do differently regarding funding, distribution, and audience-building? The Solutions Lab combines a field-wide conversation with project-specific feedback. The first half of the day features a panel discussion and small group conversations to encourage participants to imagine new possibilities for the field. The second half of the day shifts from big-picture solutions to individual projects. Through small-group consultation sessions, filmmakers can workshop a specific challenge and get direct feedback from an industry professional and peers.
TICKETING INFORMATION
The Solutions Lab pass grants access to the day’s events and the Festival Lounge, where you can enjoy complimentary happy hour.
Purchase an individual pass (via the Buy Ticket button above) and take part in a day of collaborative problem-solving, structured networking, and individualized project advice.
Ticket sales for this event close on Friday, October 30th.
*IMPORTANT NOTE: This event will occur at the New School. Starr Foundation Hall, 63 Fifth Ave, New York City.
SCHEDULE
10:00 AM – 10:30AM
Arrive and Welcome
10:35-11:50AM
Opening Discussion and Q & A
If we were rebuilding the documentary ecosystem today, what would we do differently regarding funding, distribution, and audience-building?
The Solutions Lab combines a field-wide conversation with project-specific feedback. The first half of the day features a discussion based off the essential question moderated by Natalie Bullock-Brown (The Documentary Accountability Working Gr0up), with Darcy Heusel (Outside Films) and Douglas Dicconson (Theorem Media) and small group conversations to encourage participants to imagine new possibilities for the field.
Darcy Heusel
Founder and CEO, Outside
Darcy Heusel is the founder and CEO of Outside, a new independent film studio and cultural community focused on building audiences for global Black cinema. She has spent her career working at the intersection of independent film, culture, audience and impact, most recently as SVP of Artists & Audience Engagement and Co-Head of SUPER LTD at NEON. Her work has spanned film distribution, audience strategy, cultural partnerships and campaigns designed to connect independent films with audiences beyond traditional film marketing. She also serves on the board of the Next Narrative Africa Fund, supporting African and diaspora filmmakers.
Douglas Dicconson
Theorem Media, Inc.
Douglas Dicconson
Theorem Media, Inc.
Douglas Dicconson is the CEO of Theorem Media Inc., a nonprofit dedicated to connecting communities through storytelling. Theorem Media builds direct-to-audience distribution campaigns for independent films, bypassing gatekeepers to reach the communities each film was made for.
Theorem’s 2026 slate includes Wisdom of Happiness, featuring His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama; Ask E. Jean, the documentary about E. Jean Carroll; 2Die4, a groundbreaking IMAX experience produced by the Abdala Brothers; Hail to The Breadsticks! A film by legendary comedy writer Donick Cary (The Simpsons); I Have A Name, produced by Adam Bronfman and distributed in partnership with Bruce Mau’s Massive Change Network; and coming in 2027, Tecie, a scripted film about Gen Z animal rights activists Executive Produced by Moby.
In August 2026, Theorem acquired Portrait Creative Network, the curated filmmaker community behind roughly 80% of official selections at Sundance, SXSW, and Tribeca over the past three years.
Natalie Bullock Brown
Documentary Accountability Working Group
Natalie Bullock Brown
Documentary Accountability Working Group
Natalie Bullock Brown is director of the Documentary Accountability Working Group, a collective she co-founded in 2020, which produced a framework that provides guidance for documentary filmmakers in accountable storytelling, and a syllabus to teach that framework. Natalie is also a 2023 Harvard Kennedy School Shorenstein Center Documentary Film in the Public Interest Fellow; a 2023 DOC NYC New Leader; and a 2021 Rockwood Institute JustFilms Fellow. Natalie is director/producer of a documentary work-in-progress that explores the impact of messaging about beauty and aging on Black women. She also served as a producer for award-winning filmmaker Byron Hurt’s PBS documentary, Hazing, his NOVA film, Lee and Liza’s Family Tree, and his soon-to-be-released short doc, Men of Courage. Natalie is executive producer for filmmaker Resita Cox’s upcoming film, Basketball Heaven, and was an associate producer on documentary filmmaker Ken Burns’ 10-part PBS series, Jazz.
12:05-1:00PM
If We Started Over: Small Group Discussion and Debrief
In small groups, you’ll share your perspective on this question: if we were rebuilding the documentary ecosystem today, what would we do differently with funding, distribution, and audience-building? Take turns talking, build on each other’s ideas, and pick one idea to share back with the room.
2:15-3:30PM
Bring Your Dilemma: Industry Consultation Tables
In small groups of 6 filmmakers and 1 industry rep, each member shares a project challenge or dilemma that gets workshopped by the whole group so you leave with a fresh ideas you could not see on your own. Industry reps who will lead small groups are Dawn Bonder (The deNovo Institute), Christie Marchese (Kinema), Dani Carlaw (Screen Scotland), filmmaker Byron Hurt (Hazing), producer Sabrina Schmidt Gordon (Seeds), Madeleine Schumacher (Giant Pictures), distribution consultant Mia Bruno and others.
Dani Carlaw
Screen Scotland
Dani Carlaw
Screen Scotland
Christie Marchese
Kinema
Christie Marchese
Kinema
Christie Marchese is the founder and CEO of Kinema. Kinema is a global film distribution and exhibition platform that leverages the power of community and social interaction to screen and stream films. She was previously the founder and CEO of the award-winning impact agency Picture Motion. Prior to PicMo, she ran impact for Righteous Pictures, led digital strategy for the social action group at Participant Media, and handled program coordination and social media at Norman Lear’s GOTV nonprofit Declare Yourself.
Christie is also the co-author of The Distribution Playbook and won several industry recognitions, including being named one of Fortune’s Rising Female Founders in 2023 and Fast Company’s Most Creative People in 2021. She’s currently on the board of Subject Matter and The Reinvent Stockton Foundation, and on the Capacity Council for Brown Girls Doc Mafia.
Dawn Bonder
The deNovo Initiative
Dawn Bonder
The deNovo Initiative
Dawn founded The deNovo Initiative to support storytellers who challenge our conceptions, opinions, and beliefs, propelling their stories as catalysts for building empathy and changing hearts and minds. She endeavors to identify storytellers focused on exposing systemic stupidity and identifying solutions focused on better outcomes for all.
Dawn has embraced storytelling as a powerful tool for developing and implementing change throughout her career. Recent credits include I Didn’t See You There (2022), Bad Axe (2022), Pay or Die (2023), The Eternal Memory (2023), Beyond Utopia (2023), Food and Country (2023), Richland (2023), Songs from the Hole (2024), Love Machina (2024), Agent of Happiness (2024) and The Debutantes (2024). Dawn received a BSBA from Boston University Questrom School of Business, summa cum laude, and a J.D. from New York University School of Law. A lover of people who make her laugh or think, Dawn has called Portland, Oregon home for 28 years.
Byron Hurt
Director
Byron Hurt
Director
Byron Hurt is an award-winning documentary filmmaker who tells provocative non-fiction stories about cutting-edge race, class, and gender issues. Millions of viewers worldwide have watched Hurt’s films, which have achieved international acclaim. Hurt’s documentaries have been distributed throughout the world on PBS, TVOne, Netflix, Prime Video, Apple TV, Youtube, Xfinity/Comcast, Kanopy, Kweli.TV, The Media Education Foundation, and other digital platforms.
He currently teaches at the SUNY-College of Old Westbury in the Media & American Studies Department.
Hurt is the former host of the Emmy-nominated series, “Reel Works with Byron Hurt.” His acclaimed documentary Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, and broadcast nationally on PBS’ Emmy-award winning series Independent Lens.
Byron’s film Soul Food Junkies also aired on Independent Lens, and the cable news station TVOne.
Byron’s film, Hazing, premiered at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival, and aired on Independent Lens in 2022. His documentary, Lee and Liza’s Family Tree, aired on PBS NOVA in 2023.
Byron’s new short documentary, Men of Courage, won best documentary at several film festivals, and is currently featured on Black Public Media’s YouTube channel for their AfroPop Digital Shorts Series.
Sabrina Schmidt Gordon
Filmmaker/Impact Strategist
Sabrina Schmidt Gordon
Filmmaker/Impact Strategist
Sabrina Schmidt Gordon is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and impact strategist from NYC. Her editing debut won an Emmy, and she has continued to distinguish herself as a producer, editor, and director. Her film, Quest, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2017, nominated for a Peabody, two Emmys, two Independent Spirit Awards, and is a New York Times Critic’s Pick. VOGUE magazine featured Sabrina in an article about the making of the film, and disrupting American narratives about race.
Sabrina’s credits include Documented, which she co-produced and edited, had record viewership on CNN; the Emmy-nominated BaddDDD Sonia Sanchez, which she co-directed, produced and edited, winning Best Film Directed by a Woman of Color at the African Diaspora Film Festival; and her feature debut as a producer and editor, Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes, also premiered at Sundance and made the Chicago Tribune’s list “Best Documentaries of 2007.”
In 2018, Sabrina was selected for the prestigious Women at Sundance career fellowship, followed by an invitation to the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). She is currently producing To the End, the follow up film to the award-winning feature, Knock Down the House by director Rachel Lears. It follows four young women of color who are leading the fight for the Green New Deal.
Madeleine Schumacher
Giant Pictures
Madeleine Schumacher
Giant Pictures
Madeleine Schumacher is independent film distribution executive and producer specializing in digital platforms and streaming. As Director of Distribution at Giant Pictures, she oversees acquisitions, release strategy and content management for more than 50 independent films and documentaries annually across the company’s distribution labels: Giant Pictures, Drafthouse Films and Tribeca Films.
Previously, Madeleine worked in film production and produced The Last Thing Mary Saw, a gothic horror feature released by Shudder following its world premiere at Fantasia.
She has participated in industry panels and workshops with the Producer’s Guild of America, Film Independent, The Gotham, Tribeca Festival, and Dances with Films, as well as several colleges and universities, speaking on the evolving landscape of independent film distribution and opportunities for filmmakers in the digital marketplace.
Mia Bruno
Distribution Consultant
Mia Bruno
Distribution Consultant
Mia Bruno is a producer of marketing and distribution, designing and executing distribution strategy, theatrical booking, impact campaigns, sales, and grassroots marketing. Mia infuses innovation into the traditional distribution framework, working with filmmakers both who are working with distributors or who are self-releasing their films. Mia creates campaigns that elevate films in the marketplace and connect with audiences meaningfully, achieving goals both financial and impact-based. Mia’s recent campaigns include Sundance documentary, Heightened Scrutiny, NY Times Critic’s Pick Art For Everybody, and was the U.S. impact producer for BAFTA and Academy award-winning documentary, Navalny.
3:45-4:30PM
Now What?
In this closing conversation, we’ll come back together as a full room to share the solutions and insights that surfaced throughout the day. Tell us what shifted for you, what you’re taking home, and what you want to try next.
DOC NYC PRO is co-presented by:
