HOT DOCS INSIDE OUT – DAYS 9 & 10: Chasing the money at the Toronto Documentary Forum
Okay now I’m on the plane trying to squeeze my ancient 17” laptop open just enough to continue writing. The seat in front of me is reclined and my elbows are sticking out the sides.
A behind the scenes look at the business of doc film is what the TDF is all about and, despite my insistence that I love the art of film, the TDF could very possibly be the highlight of this Doc U Hot Docs experience for me. I learned more about pitching and the subtle and not so subtle conversations up on stage and from watching how others pitched their projects to commissioning editors than at any of the other seminars or summits I’ve been to. These are the documentaries that are currently in production, and will be seen perhaps in 2011 in festivals and television.
Hot Docs is a market festival meaning that the industry comes here to make deals, find films, and fill slots in their programming. (In contrast, a festival like DOXA only shows films – there are no summits, seminars, or pitch sessions that business people gather round to make deals.) The TDF at Hot Docs is the main event. It is first class. Held this year in the Royal Conservatory of Music, three rows of tables in a crescent shape surround a single table with the producer and director of the project being studied. A trailer or a demo for project plays above and the audience (observers) watch as the rights for the carefully prepared pitches are then bid on (or not) by broadcast executives from around the globe as they fill their slots for the year.
One of those executives is the curator for none other than Oprah Winfrey’s new documentary film club – which, similar to her book club, will be one feature film per month beginning in January 2011. She was the one I had my Rendezvous meeting with – to talk about my new film project. Besides just having the chance to pitch to a person of her stature at this stage of my career, she actually showed some genuine interest, and left the door open to stay in touch as the film reaches its finishing stages.
That meeting and the TDF are the business of documentary. The films we are making need to fit the slots that are available and the audiences of the broadcaster. In order to make the film something that Oprah’s audience will want, I would need to modify my original vision, especially the length. Is this a trap? Ekhart Tolle didn’t write a New Earth to suit the requirements of Oprah’s Book Club and to please the demographics and tastes of the readers, at least I hope he didn’t. Of course, I’m no Ekhart Tolle either. I think the best thing to do will be to follow my instinct to tell the story as I see and feel it – and if this resonates with Oprah’s audience, well that’s obviously a great big plus. In order to survive here, in film, catering to the requirements of the market will be necessary – let’s not be naïve. But I don’t want to get lost in it, or be dictated by it. If I do, I will be chasing the money again.
