This event was recorded live on Thursday, March 11, 2021.

Join DOC NYC PRO for a 90-minute panel about the organizations and programs that support filmmakers’ creative careers and professional development, beyond project-based funding–and the importance of such programs, particularly to women filmmakers, filmmakers of color, and other historically underfunded groups within the industry. Guests include Rodrigo Reyes, Co-Creative Director of the MediaMaker Fellowship at the Bay Area Video Coalition; Chi-hui Yang, Senior Program Officer at JustFilms, The Ford Foundation; Debra Zimmerman, Executive Director of Women Make Movies; Monika Navarro, Senior Director of Artist Programs at Firelight Media; and Rahdi Taylor, EVP of Artists in Residence at Concordia Studio. Panelists will discuss the mentorship, fellowship and career development programs they offer under the umbrellas of their own organizations, and discuss the broader role of such programs in advancing the documentary field. The panel discussion will include a 30-minute moderated Q&A.

Thank you to our friends at SONY for sponsoring live captioning / CART services for this event.

Tickets for this event are $19, or get access to all ten events in DOC NYC PRO’s winter season by registering for the Winter 2021 Season Pass.

All registrants may participate in the live session, and will also receive access to the recorded event, a written transcript, and a copy of the slide presentation after the livestream. Tickets are non-refundable. 

If you have questions about registration, please email ticketing@docnyc.net. For questions about accommodations and accessibility, including requests for live ASL interpretation, please email accessibility@docnyc.net. 

This event was recorded live on Thursday, February 25, 2021.

Join DOC NYC PRO for a 90-minute panel about the evolving viability of documentary films in the international marketplace. Guests include sales agents specializing in doc features, shorts and series, including Aleksandra Derewienko, head of sales and acquisitions at Paris-based CAT & Docs; Philippa Kowarsky, managing director of international sales at Cinephil, in Tel Aviv; and Salma Abdalla, CEO of Autlook in Vienna. Panelists will discuss recent successes, the prognosis for worldwide doc sales in 2021, and the impact of pandemic-related industry disruptions on sales to broadcasters, theatrical distributors, and streaming platforms. The panel discussion will include a 30-minute moderated Q&A. 

Live captioning / CART services provided. 

Tickets for this event are $19, or get access to all ten events in DOC NYC PRO’s winter season by registering for the Winter 2021 Season Pass.

All registrants may participate in the live session, and will also receive access to the recorded event, a written transcript, and a copy of the slide presentation after the livestream. Tickets are non-refundable. 

If you have questions about registration, please email ticketing@docnyc.net. For questions about accommodations and accessibility, including requests for live ASL interpretation, please email accessibility@docnyc.net. 

This event was recorded live on Thursday, February 11, 2021.

Co-presented by FWD-Doc. Join DOC NYC PRO for a 90-minute panel about increasing access to the documentary field for D/deaf and disabled filmmakers and audiences. In a conversation moderated by filmmaker and FWD-Doc Founding Member Alysa Nahmias, panelists discuss a range of best practices, from enhancing accommodations in cinemas and festivals, to optimizing access to online industry events, to navigating options for captioning and audio-description of films. Guests include Cheryl Green (New Day Films), Andraéa LaVant (Crip Camp), Michele Spitz (Woman of Her Word), and Amanda Upson (FWD-Doc). The panel discussion will include a 30-minute moderated Q&A.

Live ASL interpretation and live captioning / CART services provided. 

Tickets for this event are $19, or get access to all ten events in DOC NYC PRO’s winter season by registering for the Winter 2021 Season Pass.

All registrants may participate in the live session, and will also receive access to the recorded event, a written transcript, and a copy of the slide presentation after the livestream. Tickets are non-refundable. 

If you have questions about registration, please email ticketing@docnyc.net. For questions about accommodations and accessibility, please email accessibility@docnyc.net. 

This event was recorded live on Thursday, February 4, 2021.

Join DOC NYC PRO for a 90-minute panel about perfecting the documentary interview. Guests include Judith Helfand (Love & Stuff); Jeff Orlowski (The Social Dilemma); and Lauren Stowell (Tiger Woods: America’s Son). In a conversation moderated by DOC NYC’s Opal H. Bennett, panelists will discuss their approaches to inviting interviewees, making film participants comfortable in diverse interview settings; setting an interview tone and format; and approaches to interview cinematography. The panel discussion will include a 30-minute moderated Q&A. 

Tickets for this event are $19, or get access to all ten events in DOC NYC PRO’s winter season by registering for the Winter 2021 Season Pass.

All registrants may participate in the live session, and will also receive access to the recorded event, a written transcript, and a copy of the slide presentation after the livestream. Tickets are non-refundable. 

If you have questions about registration, please email ticketing@docnyc.net. For questions about accommodations and accessibility, including requests for live ASL interpretation, please email accessibility@docnyc.net. 

Please note: Jehane Noujaim, originally announced as a panelist, is no longer able to take part in the event.

This event was recorded live on Wednesday, January 27, 2021.

Join DOC NYC PRO for a 90-minute panel about producing–and bringing to market–documentary features and series during the Covid-19 pandemic. Guests include Ophelia Harutyunyan (Totally Under Control), Smriti Mundhra, (St. Louis Superman, Indian Matchmaking) and Nanfu Wang (In The Same Breath, One-Child Nation). Panelists will reflect on the challenges they faced–and innovations they tried–as they shot, produced, edited and brought projects to market in the last year. We’ll cover gear, remote directing and editing hacks, health and safety precautions, and ethical considerations. The panel discussion will include a 30-minute moderated Q&A.

Tickets for this event are $19, or get access to all ten events in DOC NYC PRO’s winter season by registering for the Winter 2021 Season Pass.

All registrants may participate in the live session, and will also receive access to the recorded event, a written transcript, and a copy of the slide presentation after the livestream. Tickets are non-refundable. 

If you have questions about registration, please email ticketing@docnyc.net. For questions about accommodations and accessibility, including requests for live ASL interpretation, please email accessibility@docnyc.net. 

This event was recorded live on Tuesday, January 19, 2021.

Join DOC NYC PRO for a 90-minute panel on the making of the 2020 Magnolia Pictures and Topic Studios release The Fight, which chronicles the work of the American Civil Liberties Union in the Trump era. Panelists include producer Kerry Washington (Scandal), directors Elyse Steinberg, Josh Kriegman, and Eli Despres (the trio behind Couples Therapy and Weiner), and Director of ACLU‘s Voting Rights Project Dale Ho, whose work to protect the franchise is one of the film’s main threads. The event is moderated by DOC NYC Artistic Director Thom Powers.

The film team will discuss how the protests against the Muslim ban galvanized them to tell the story of the ACLU, how they secured rare access and navigated four complex storylines, and the ways the events captured in their film can help outline a path forward to protect voting and other rights still under threat post-Trump. The Fight was hailed as a “high-stakes thriller” by Indiewire and selected for the DOC NYC Short List. The panel discussion will include a 30-minute moderated Q&A.

This event was recorded live on Thursday, January 21, 2021.

Join DOC NYC PRO for a 90-minute panel about the art of vérité cinematography for documentary film. Guests include director, Jennifer Maytorena Taylor (For the Love of Rutland, New Muslim Cool); director Hao Wu (76 Days, All In My Family); and producer and cinematographer Chris Renteria (St. Louis Superman, Whose Streets?). Panelists will discuss their approaches to vérite cinematography; how they earn access to and trust from film participants; their techniques for capturing intimacy and character, even in chaotic or unpredictable filming environments; and the cameras and gear they use. The panel discussion will include a 30-minute moderated Q&A.

Tickets for this event are $19, or get access to all ten events in DOC NYC PRO’s winter season by registering for the Winter 2021 Season Pass.

All registrants may participate in the live session, and will also receive access to the recorded event, a written transcript, and a copy of the slide presentation after the livestream. Tickets are non-refundable. 

If you have questions about registration, please email ticketing@docnyc.net. For questions about accommodations and accessibility, including requests for live ASL interpretation, please email accessibility@docnyc.net. 

This event was recorded live on Thursday, January 14, 2021.

Join DOC NYC PRO for a 90-minute panel about the evolving film festival landscape. Guests include Camden International Film Festival Programmer Jeanelle Augustin, True/False Film Fest Programmer Amir George; and the Executive Director of the Philadelphia Latino Film Festival, Marángeli Mejía Rabell. In a dialogue that will reflect on last year’s industry-wide shift to online festivals and anticipate what’s ahead for 2021, panelists will discuss festival curation, engaging audiences for online premieres, and the viability of hybrid models that may combine online fests with cautious in-person events in the coming months. The panel discussion will include a 30-minute moderated Q&A.

Tickets for this event are $19, or get access to all ten events in DOC NYC PRO’s winter season by registering for the Winter 2021 Season Pass.

All registrants may participate in the live session, and will also receive access to the recorded event, a written transcript, and a copy of the slide presentation after the livestream. Tickets are non-refundable. 

If you have questions about registration, please email ticketing@docnyc.net. For questions about accommodations and accessibility, including requests for live ASL interpretation, please email accessibility@docnyc.net. 

This event was recorded live on Wednesday, October 21, 2020.

Join DOC NYC PRO for a 90-minute session exploring the interplay between podcasting and documentary film, including guests who have successfully pivoted between film producing and podcast producing. The panel discussion will feature both producers and podcast platform execs, and will include a 30-minute moderated Q&A.

Guests include Imani Mixon and Paige Wood (Just Cities Narrative Shift Project), who talk about the dual hats they wear as both audio and film producers. They’re joined by independent audio producer Reva Goldberg (Amended, Mothers of Invention) and ESPN’s Senior Editorial Producer for 30 for 30 Podcasts Julia Lowrie Henderson (Bikram, The Sterling Affairs), who discuss navigating freelancer roles as well as staff roles inside major podcasting and radio outlets. The conversation is moderated by Stitcher’s VP of Business Development, Natalie Mooallem, who herself transitioned from a role in the film industry to become a podcasting exec.

Tickets are $15; all who register prior to the live event will receive access to the livestream; all registrants also receive access to the recorded session, a written transcript and a copy of the slide presentation. Tickets are non-refundable. If you have questions about registration, please email caitlin@docnyc.net.

To purchase a pass to DOC NYC PRO’s entire Summer/Fall 2020 line-up, register here; passes are $150 and include access to recordings and transcripts for all past events. 

For questions about accommodations and accessibility, please email accessibility@docnyc.net. 

This event was recorded live on Wednesday, October 14, 2020.

Join DOC NYC PRO for a daylong online workshop on legal issues in documentary, featuring attorneys and independent filmmakers considering myriad ethical and legal questions as they guide their projects toward distribution. The daylong course will also include an interactive Q&A breakout session and social hour.  

11-11:45 am ET

Session One: Navigating Risk: Legal, Ethical and Public Relations Challenges in Doc Filmmaking

In session one, DOC NYC returning veteran attorney Marc H. Simon, and his colleagues Daniel Benge and Daniel Spencer from Fox Rothschild LLP, host a virtual roundtable, featuring acclaimed filmmakers who discuss navigating an array of risks that documentary filmmakers face when producing and bringing a project to market. The spitfire discussion will focus on numerous issues, including filming in hostile environments; addressing subjects who seek compensation for participation; the challenges of collaborating with celebrity executive producers, handling PR crises, and the dangers inherent in exposing bad institutions and actors. Featured filmmakers include Kirby Dick (On The Record, The Hunting Ground), Kristin Lazure (The Devil We Know, Fed Up); Jana Edelbaum (Us Kids); and Brian Knappenberger (The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez).

 

Co-presented by:

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12-12:45 pm ET

Session Two: Who Tells the Story? Ethics in Documentary Production

In session two, attorneys Nicole Page and Michelle Lamardo from law firm Reavis Page Jump LLP moderate a conversation about authorship, positionality, ethics and the law with directors Lyric Cabral ((T)ERROR) and Geeta Gandbhir (Why We Hate). How do directors navigate ethical questions about who can or should tell a particular story? And how do those creative decisions intersect with legal concerns? How can attorneys provide guidance to directors facing decisions about how to compile their teams? And when selecting subjects, how should directors think about documentation, consent forms and releases, and what constitutes legal best practice in this arena? This session focuses on the work of two directors, but offers broad lessons for any independent filmmaker forming a creative team.

Co-presented by:

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1-1:45 pm ET

Session Three: Fair Use is Not a Verb, and YouTube is Not Public Domain

In our final panel session, attorneys Nancy Wolff and Novika Ishar from law firm Cowan, DeBaets, Abrahams & Sheppard LLP discuss best practices for sourcing material for use in documentaries. How can filmmakers ensure their process for rights clearances is legally sound? How should creators interpret “fair use” laws regarding found, archival, and news footage? And what exactly is in the public domain–or not? 

Co-presented by:

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Tickets are $40; all who register prior to the live event will receive access to the livestream; all registrants also receive access to the recorded session, a written transcript and a copy of the slide presentation. Tickets are non-refundable. If you have questions about registration, please email caitlin@docnyc.net.

To purchase a pass to DOC NYC PRO’s entire Summer/Fall 2020 line-up, register here; passes are $150 and include access to recordings and transcripts for all past events. 

For questions about accommodations and accessibility, please email accessibility@docnyc.net.