- Years After a Festival Run, 'U.N. Me' Filmmakers Take a DIY Path to a Theatrical Release
U.N. Me, the first film from director/producers Ami Horowitz and Matt Groff, had a modest festival run starting in 2009. Now, almost three years later, they've raised the money to release the film themselves.
- Why Ewing & Grady Are Choosing to Self-Distribute 'Detropia'
The filmmaking team behind The Boys of Baraka, Jesus Camp and 12th & Delaware tells Doc Soup Man why they're self-distributing their new documentary, the lyrical Detropia.
- What DIY Film Distributors Can Learn from the Launch of the Joffrey Documentary
Sheri Candler and Jon Reiss offered tips for getting a documentary to a niche group of viewers who might not be found through a traditional film distribution channel.
- POV & Firelight Media Summit: Sustaining a Career as a Public Media Maker
Firelight Media's Shoshone Johnson recaps a day of practical advice for documentary film producers, held at POV's office on Friday, February 17, 2012.
- Kickstarter Campaign Secrets from Record-Breaking Documentary Director Jennifer Fox
Jennifer Fox raised a record-breaking $150,000 on Kickstarter - the most raised for a finished film and the most per donor. Watch the interview with Fox to find out how she did it.
- 12 Small-Town Documentary Film Festivals for 2012
A roundup of the nation's best small-town film festivals (with populations less than 100,000) for escaping the crowds, paparazzi and hype.
- Holiday Crowd-Fundraising Tips from 7 Documentary Insiders
The holiday season is no holiday for documentary producers looking to raise funds, but some documentarians say it's as good a time as any.
- Good Storytelling Takes Time
The news and documentary forms are complementary, but as guest blogger Heather McIntosh explains, popular online news is failing to lay a foundation for deeper inquiry.
- The Elusive 'General' Audience
In a second post in a series on finding an audience for your documentary, Edward J. Delaney looks at how an emphasis on your film's storyline can help you grow your audience beyond a small core of fans.
- Cultivating Micro-Audiences
Edward J. Delaney explains how to use the Pyramid of Audience Interest to define and expand your doc's niche audience.
- How Digital Subscriptions Are Altering Our Relationships with Media
With independent distributors entering the digital subscription market, guest blogger Heather McIntosh considers questions of access, curation and ownership that emerge from consumers discarding their DVD collections for Netflix membership.
- Dynamo, Distrify & Distribber: Documentarians Test New Tools for Direct Distribution Online
The filmmakers behind the documentaries Until the Light Takes Us and Wake Up share their experiences with DIY video-on-demand.
- The Critics: Documentary Distributors' Best Friends
Do you know who a documentary distributor’s best friend is? The film critic, that’s who. Take a look at 2010’s ten best reviewed films of the year at rottentomatoes.com: Marwencol Waste Land GasLand Toy Story 3 How to Train Your Dragon Exit Through the Gift Shop The Social Network Inside Job Mugabe and the White […]
- Doc Soup: What Does SnagFilms Mean for the Future of Documentary Distribution?
Last week, there was a big splash in the small pool that is the Internet documentary film community. A new site called Snagfilms was launched by former AOL vice chairman Ted Leonsis, ex-AOL chief Steve Case and venture capitalist Miles Gilburne. Heavy hitters, indeed. The site allows people like you and me to watch docs […]
- Doc Soup: On Docs, Distribution and the Cinematic Experience
Last week, two docs from 2007, What Would Jesus Buy? and Darfur Now were released on DVD. They both disappointed at the box office. I think I know why. I don’t like to knock a doc when it’s down, but when I noticed that they were both hitting DVD shelves, I thought there’s something worth […]
- For Filmmakers: What Does POV Look For in a Film?
One of the questions we’re asked most often here at POV is: “What do you look for in a POV film anyway?” Every year, more than 1,000 films compete for 12-15 slots on the POV broadcast schedule, so what’s a documentary filmmaker to do if she wants to fill one of those coveted slots? As […]