Documentary Edge Forum Programme
Auckland 1–3 March 2010 | Updated 25 Feb 2010
Block WA, Auckland University of Technology, 55 Wellesley St.
Documentary Edge Forum Schedule
Panels and Sessions Overview
Pitching Master-Class/ Pitching Your Way To Success
Lead by Pat Ferns (Ferns Productions Canada)
The Pitching Master-class is designed to allow the selected teams for the Doc Pitch to have the
benefit of learning the finer points and the tricks of pitching. The Pitching Your Way to Success
session will allow registrants for the Forum to also learn the finer points and the tricks of
pitching.
Proposal Writing
Led by Leanne Pooley (Spacific Films Limited)
This is a workshop on proposal writing. It is important that any concept or idea be realized on
paper. Proposals need to be tempered in such a way that it is compelling and informative
without being an over-kill or too wordy. What do you need to have in a proposal?
China Day; Documentary Filmmaking In China And Co Productions
Facilitated by Wendy Levy (BAVC) with the support of Fulbright NZ
Speakers; Marc Boothe (B3 Media, UK) with the support of British Council NZ, Peter Worrall (3d Limited, NZ), Glenn Usmar (NZ On Air)
China is the world’s fastest growing economy and in recent years, has become a major force in
film and TV production. Modern documentary film-making is emerging and this session
provides us information about the industry and opportunities for international collaboration.
Crossing Over-360 Degree Content Creation and Delivery
Facilitated by Wendy Levy BAVC
Speakers; Marc Boother (B3 Media, UK), Peter Worrall (3d Limited, NZ), Glenn Usmar (NZ On Air)
For those registering for the Forum but not involved in DOC Lab, this session will discuss the
explosive growth of cross media. Boundaries and borders are fast disappearing as one form of
media intermixes with another, and then another, and so on; creating new prototypes of
entertainment media. Film meets gaming meets virtual worlds meets mobile videos meets
podcasts meets audience participatory media meets social networking.... and the list goes on.
With fast evolving audience tastes and demands along-side innovation and technology, new opportunities for new prototypes in story-telling, interaction, collaboration and co-productions are arising. Added to this, there is the global village which we live in, the fusion of communities and cultures as well as our society’s need for immediacy, relevance and participation. Content creators need to embrace cross-media and 360 degree platforms.
The session will also report back to the Forum on the Lab and the development of the various projects accepted into the
Lab.
Wendy Levy attends the forum through the support of Fulbright New Zealand.
To DIY or Not to DIY?
Facilitated by Ewa Bigio (Smiley Film Sales Limited)
Speakers: James Franklin (Pixeco, UK), Arani Cuthbert (Diva Productions Limited), Pietra Brettkelly
Filmmakers are increasingly looking for new ways to get their films seen. Often this includes
looking at distributing their own films, selling DVDs and arranging for exhibition. However,
there are also other new forms of distribution which can also be used. Many filmmakers have
found that the web is not the magic pill it's promised to be, so what are the success stories
doing differently? But does doing it yourself mean you will not do it with sales agent and
distributors or are we looking a hybrid forms of collaboration. This panel cuts through the hype
and reveals the true cost of self-distribution. By exploring the latest business models and digital
tools available this panel ask the fundamental question, is self-distribution for you?
Campaigns & Communities: A Practical Guide to Building a Community Around Your Doc
Led by James Franklin (Pixeco, UK)
Just how do documentary filmmakers start creating a community around the subject of their
film and why on earth would they want to? Are there any real benefits and what pitfalls should
filmmakers avoid? What are the real costs in time and money and is it all worth it? This panel
answers these questions along with a step-by-step guide to finding, sharing and engaging with
your future audience as well as exploring what can you expect in terms of results.
The Future of Documentary
Facilitated by Pat Ferns
Speakers: Roger Horrocks, Dr Peter Zimmerman, Marc Boothe
What is the future of documentary production? Is the form of documentary changing? What
does the market want? Are we meeting the market? What are the new forms of documentary?
Cinematic? TV? Cross-platform? And how are these documentaries made?
Marc Boothe attends the forum through the support of The British Council New Zealand.
What is NZ Content?
Facilitated by Julia Overton (Screen Australia)
Speakers: NZFC, NZ On Air, John Barnett, Annie Goldson, Sue Woodfield (TV3)
To access funding for documentaries, both the NZOA and the NZ Film Commission require NZ
content. But what does this mean? What will qualify as NZ content? What about international
stories made by NZ creatives?
What is a Cinematic Documentary?
Facilitated by Julia Overton (Screen Australia)
Speakers: Marilyn Milgrom (NZ Film Commission), John Barnett (South Pacific Pictures), Gaylene Preston, Hans Robert Eisenhauer (ZDF/Arte Germany)
We all know when we a cinematic film when we watch one but what does it mean? When does
a film become cinematic? Is the story? The production quality of the film or a combination of
both? We often talk about wanting to make a cinematic documentary or we claim that
documentaries can be cinematic. And what is cinematic is the key that unlocks funding,
distribution and sales. Recent NZ Film Commission policy makes it important for us to
understand how this is interpreted.
Hybrid Forms: New Forms in Documentary Film
Led by Dr. Peter Zimmerman (Germany) with the support of the Goethe Institut
With the increasingly closer interconnection of film, television and new media and the
development of video and digitalisation, new changes related to the documentary filmmaking
took place. Many filmmakers tried out a large number of hybrid film techniques and forms that
deliberately ignored the traditional rules and boundaries between genres. These include
autobiographical portrait films and video diaries made use of the new, easy-to-operate video
cameras to penetrate into the subjects’ private lives, which up to then had remained
inaccessible; recreations and docu-dramas combined documentary footage with theatrical re-
enactments to expose political scandals and reconstructed historical events with the methods
used in directing and staging fictional films. Docu Soaps became the favourite genre of TV
entertainment. In addition to the various attempts to apply narrative and dramaturgical
methods used in directing fictional films and television dramas in the making of documentary
films, a great number of experiments were done with self-reflective, satirical, parodistic and
poetic forms like essay-type films and documentaries critical of the media ; satirical
documentaries with a parody of their own documentary and journalistic conventions in the
genre, fake documentaries, which only feigned the appearance of a documentary but in reality
were staged, tried to confuse the audience with deception and truth, fictitious and authentic
material, in order to call into question the genre’s claim to presenting the truth, internet
documentaries in which individual authors use webcams to make a show of their private lives
online on the Internet or produce films to be distributed over the Internet. The digitalisation of
film production and the use of the Internet as a medium of distribution are also indications of a
development that suggests a further radical change in the documentary method.
Made for TV
Facilitated by Roger Horrocks
Speakers: Haunui Royal (MTS), Glenn Usmar, Fiona Lawson Baker (Al Jazeera), Pat Ferns, Hans Robert Eisenhauer
Far too often in the rush to create documentaries for cinema and festivals, we neglect the
mainstay of many filmmakers i.e. documentaries which are made specifically for television.
These days, it is rare for one genre to exist in isolation and often filmmakers are making multi-
cuts to enable delivery to television and other platforms. This session looks at the genre with
commissioners and filmmakers.
Recreating Reality – Docu-Dramas and Re-Creations
Facilitated by Geraldene Peters
Speakers: Annie Goldson, Laurent Antonczak, Kirsty MacDonald
Filmmakers are sometimes confronted by the challenges of not being able to find the right
archival footage or not being able to record the right interview or find the subjects in question.
Perhaps the material may only be maybe oral history. In such cases, the filmmaker may need to
recreate the moment. Recreations, docu-drama, animations are a few options available to the
filmmakers. But where is the line between dramatization and documentary? What are the
challenges and choices facing the documentary filmmaker?
Camcorder Revolution-Video Activists, Politically Committed Documentaries and International Public
Led Dr Peter Zimmerman (Germany)
Politically committed documentaries and the work of videoactivists, opposing not only the
establishment but also the Film and TV media industry, have been attracting international
attention over the last years. Handicams have become ‘the eyes of the world when no one else
is watching’. This has accounted for not only by new forms of protest of environmental and
anti-globalization movements, anti-war campaigns and the resistance against worldwide
restrictions of democratic rights in the wake of anti-terror laws, but also by the emergence of
new digital media ranging from the world wide web to camcorder technologies which help to
report social problems and political conflicts. Critical and sometimes subversive handicam
documentaries have evolved worldwide and are influential especially in countries with a strong
censorship from Latin America and Africa to Russia and China covering everything prohibited
by censorship – from the exploitation of workers in sweat shops by international companies
and the suppression of ethnic minorities to drug abuse and prostitution. As they have no
chance to be shown in the cinemas and television of their own countries, they often find a
public forum at film festivals and western TV stations.
Doc Pitch
Selected teams take this opportunity to present their projects in the hope of securing interest in their project from a panel of commissioners, sales agents, broadcasters, distributors and production companies.
Date a Doco
Speed dating documentary style. You get 5 minutes with each person. Its your opportunity to introduce yourself, your company, your project and anything else you wish to another person at the Forum. It’s the perfect opportunity to make a friend, find a producer, meet a commissioner, sell your film, and find a mentor. These are among many associations that can come about from getting involved this session.
