In 2015, a number of very high profile blockbuster documentaries or docbusters showed cinema managers and audiences that it is possible to lure patrons to the cinema in large numbers to experience non-fiction feature length films.

The rise and rise of cinema on demand as a way to de-risk the decision to screen documentaries in the cinema has also meant that many more films have a shot at drawing audiences (in large numbers) to the cinema.

This session looks at the financial model of cinema on demand and what it takes, in general, to mount a successful theatrical release using crowd-sourced audiences and discuss in particular what it took to make two films – Graceful Girls and Black Hole –two of 2015’s docbusters.

Speakers: David Doepel (Managing Director Leap Frog Films and TUGG Australia &

NZ), Olivia Peniston-Bird (Producer, Writer and Director of Graceful Girls) and Joao

Dujon Pereira (Producer, Writer and Director of Black Hole)

Host: Roy Ackerman (Pulse Films UK)