HOT DOCS INSIDE OUT – DAY 11: Last Day
Farewell My Friends - Doc U at Hot Docs 2010
Okay… In Vancouver now and finally trying to close the week of Hot Docs blogging. I’ve had a couple glasses of wine and I’m still sleep-deprived from the week, but here goes.
This morning (Friday morning) our last Doc U session was with Robin Smith of Kinosmith, the distribution company of docs such as Rip: A Remix Manifesto and Up The Yangtze (the latter which put Kinosmith on the map). I really appreciated the frankness of Robin. He did not hold back from his opinions of the NFB and the CBC, and his opinions were mixed, shall we say. He provided one example that I won’t get into the details over but let’s just say that the commercial launch of the DVD of one of his films was in competition with the free streaming version on nfb.ca. Kinosmith asked the NFB for a temporary removal of the film but it was not granted. It’s tough to compete with free but I am also reminded that, as the NFB is a publicly funded producer, we the taxpayers have already paid for the right to watch the film. Tough call. I’m sure there are many details and insights I am missing here, but the bottom line is that I really liked and respected Robin Smith and his honesty. I also appreciate the NFB for sticking to their guns. I hope, over time, I still admire and respect each the same as I do today.
The final hurrah
That was the last session of Doc U for 2010. I have to say that the experience was the best I’ve had in my new career (besides the experience I had shooting Surviving In The Cracks). I made lots of new friends, contacts with big time distributors, saw lots of great films and had a little too much fun at the parties.
Later that evening I went to the awards ceremony and the festival wrap up party with my new friends made at Doc U. Only one of the films I saw this week was nominated for best-of awards (Arsy Versy), which indicated that, despite my best efforts, I still didn’t see that many ‘critically-acclaimed’ films. That’s fine – especially since judging a film as the “best-of” is a tricky thing to do… judges may be experienced (or not) but they still have their subjective tastes… the only legitimate award is the democratically decided Audience Award, but even then, these can be biased too depending on the audience, and how well the filmmaker was able to populate the screenings with the films supporters (this is more of a problem at the smaller festivals anyhow). That controversy aside, the highlight of the awards was seeing Nimisha Mukerji, fellow NFB Cookin’ Creative participant and co-director of 65_Red_Roses win the Don Haig award. Way to go Nimisha!
Anyhow, I ended the experience on a high note… partook in some festivities that night but left the party early to get some sleep in time for my flight back to Van. Sad to leave but happy to be home. Back in Van now and still feeling quite short on sleep… so off I go…
HOT DOCS INSIDE OUT – DAY 8: What the [bleep] is new media?
The festival is over. I am now sitting on the floor, plugged into the only power outlet near my gate at the Pearson airport, catching up with my blogging before the 5 hour flight home to Vancouver. The last few days I’ve taken a break from writing but let me assure you that there has been plenty going on. Exhausted by all of the screenings, summits, seminars classes, pitches and meetings – something had to give. So I apologize to you, my three readers, for letting the blog slide. In the next few posts are a summary of the highlights and lowlights from the rest of the week at Hot Docs 2010.
On Tuesday – Day 8 – I went to the NFB Coffee Talk: Digital Content Strategy. The two-man panel of Rob McLaughlin and Hughes Sweeny began by framing the discussion with this: demographics are changing, the democratization of media is here (whether it’s here to stay is another thing), and technology is the catalyst for the new canvas called new media. The last time there was a change like this was in the 1950′s. I, along with the standing-room only crowd, hung on every word as they shared their expert opinions on where this industry is going. Something that I am hearing over and over again is that television is dead, film is dead, and that, to my great dismay, the linear documentary is dead. That’s a little disconcerting of course, so everyone who happens to do that for a living is listening to anyone who will give them some semblance of hope as they gaze into their crystal ball to predict the future. I am a little skeptical of anyone who claims to know what the future looks like, and what I got from this talk was the same thing I already know: nobody knows what new media, cross-platform, cross media, 360, or whatever you call it, is – because it hasn’t happened yet. The canvas is blank. The ‘model’ doesn’t exist. And, as funding for linear stories dries up, the recently announced pool of twenty-eight million dollars called the New Canadian Media Fund will be hotly fought over for projects that may pioneer this new ‘model’ for the future of our industry.
Only one year into this industry, I am being challenged to adapt to the changes in the industry. I am tech savvy. I am business savvy too. I believe I have all of the skills I need to succeed in the “new media” world. But I have chased the money all of my life and my move into this field was to create linear stories. I don’t think the linear documentary is dead. What I am hearing sounds a lot like what was being said at the dawn of colour film – that black and white photography was dead. Half a century later, it’s still here, and as beautiful as ever. The linear documentary is similarly not dead. The craft of creating a story with a beginning, a middle, and an end will remain.
Days 9 & 10 in my next post.
