Sheffield DocFest Podcast

Selling your film on the international market is difficult enough without having to spend an additional £3-8k to reversion it because the music and archive isn’t cleared for world wide all media. Our panel brings leading international distributor Zodiak Rights and Getty Archive together to walk you through the process of acquiring a film and getting it ready for international sales.

Producers who are looking to exploit their films beyond the borders of UK broadcasters will benefit greatly from a session that shows how to shoot for the world wide market. 

Award winning film maker and director of the ground-breaking 'Up' series, Michael Apted talks about his career in both documentary making and feature films. 

How are audiences engaging with content on different distribution platforms? What makes them approach one over another? And where does that leave ‘traditional’ television? This session explores the realities of what brings audiences in, what keeps them hooked, and what has them turning to a different screen, as well as the difference that content genre makes. This expert panel of leading commissioners, audience analysts and producers will share their unique and wide-ranging insights into how their projects have been consumed and how this is shaping the direction of content production to come.

The factual TV sector has many entrepreneurial producers but there are very few creative producers in the UK and further afield who produce feature length docs with worldwide ambitions. Lots of filmmakers produce their own work - is this through choice or because they can't find someone to collaborate with? Is it due to a skills gap or a lack of interest in becoming a producer? Is there a lack of knowledge about what producers actually do (apart from trying to raise money!) and how people might get training and mentorship to learn. 

Audio docs have become a breeding ground for amazing stories delivered in unique ways and has developed in to an area in which creators can explore and experiment. Through the output of Radio 4 and wealth of content from indies and NPR, documentaries are flourishing on radio, online and through podcasts and The Alternative World of Radio Docs aims to celebrate the best and most creative audio docs and question where the form will go in the future. 

Controller of BBC Two, Janice Hadlow in conversation with Sue Perkins on Janice's work in documentary over the years and the phenomenal changes she has brought to the BBC Two schedule. Overseeing some of the BBC’s biggest successes of recent years, and turning factual and documentary series into the stuff of water-cooler conversations and top trends on Twitter, Janice has overseen the rise of a new kind of factual programming, including Gareth Malone's Military Wives, Stargazing Live with Brian Cox, The Great British Bake Off and many more. Come and see clips and hear how these programmes came about.

John Peel’s Record Collection is one of the most important and amazing in the World and has remained virtually untouched since the day he died.  On May 1st a project began to create an online museum of John’s collection. Each week John’s wife Sheila introduces the first 100 albums in each category from A-Z together with band interviews, John’s  handwritten notes,  album artwork  and home movies.  Hear how this came about from those who made it happen together with a local Sheffield band who John helped to launch.  Help them find ways to ensure that this unique project is completed.

Looking for a little good news? Key European commissioning editors will share their latest news, present their current documentary editorial line, indicating any update or changes that would have a direct effect on their commissions - content-wise or other. Providing information on what they are looking for for the next 12 months and beyond, through clip examples of recent successes or simply of films that best convey their editorial line, they will offer realistic but positive news to the market. 

In today’s complex distribution landscape, the possibilities for releasing documentaries can go far beyond a single broadcast window. Join a panel of leading distributors to explore how we can work together to make the most out of our movies, including DVD, online, mobile formats, theatrical, and grassroots distribution. How is the new multi-platform, globalized media-scape impacting our potential reach? In a networked age, what is the changing role of the filmmaker, and those on the distribution end? How do we negotiate rights with all these new formats? And just how well is my movie going to play on an iPhone?