With a lineup boasting Albert Maysles, Nick Broomfield, Morgan Spurlock, Molly Dineen, Bruce Parry, Adam Curtis, Danfung Dennis and more commissioners, exec producers and distributors than you could shake a begging bowl at, it’s easy to see why this year’s Sheffield Documentary Festival (which took place earlier this month) attracted over 2000 delegates from across the globe. Staged at venues across Sheffield’s city centre, it was a heady mix of film festival, programme market, seminars, masterclasses, roundtable discussions, pitching sessions and educational opportunities, that offered something to everyone who is or aspires to be part of the documentary world.
The festival kicked off on Wednesday 8th June with two parallel tracks. ‘Doc Day 101’ did exactly what it said on the tin, offering beginners wanting to break into documentary the perfect opportunity to learn first hand from experienced professionals such as Nicola Lees, author of Greenlit: Developing Factual/Reality TV Ideas From Concept to Pitch whose web site TV Mole is the number one destination for all things documentary. Meanwhile ‘Crossover Summit’ provided an opportunity for experienced delegates to discuss the changes in commissioning and production being brought about by cross-platform convergence.
The highlight of the day was the UK premiere of Morgan Spurlock’s new documentary The Greatest Movie Ever Sold. Its premise is brilliant – a documentary about product placement funded entirely by…product placement (to the tune of $1.5 million). Whilst the film is certainly entertaining, the big question is did Spurlock succeed in his aim of exposing the advertising industry, or did he become a victim of it? Many delegates seemed to think the latter…and judging by some of the comments made by Spurlock at the Q&A afterwards, so did he. Perhaps if some of the narrative that emerged during this Q&A and his masterclass later in the week, had been included in the film, audience reactions would have differed somewhat. Still, his film has inspired me to make a documentary entitled ‘The Greatest Morgan Spurlock Ever Sold’, in which I try to buy Morgan Spurlock for $1.5 million.
Thursday (and the two days that followed it) shifted up several gears, offering, at points, as many as seven industry sessions and six public screenings, simultaneously. My day commenced with Audio Network‘s seminar about clearing music rights, featuring Andrew Baker of Rights TV. Having previously held positions as Senior VP for Legal and Business Affairs and Head of Business Affairs, at ITV Network Centre and Granada Entertainment USA, Andrew has a wealth of knowledge in this area and did an excellent job of demystifying what, for many, is a legal minefield.
At the ‘Popular Factual’ commissioning panel, it was nothing short of remarkable to see British TV Commissioning Editors actually saying what they are currently looking for…which may very well be a first… and whilst some of the panellists at the ‘Specialist Factual’ panel that followed weren’t quite as forthcoming, they did give good clues.
Later on in the day, BBC3’s new controller, Zai Bennett, whilst ‘in conversation’, gave further clues. When asked for his feelings about the success of the show that introduced the Vajazzle to the masses, ‘The Only Way is Essex‘ (which he commissioned whilst at ITV), he also gave my quote of the festival “I never know whether to feel proud or have a shower!” I’d suggest having a shower…with the cast…
Simultaneously, the Documentary Filmmakers Group was holding a day of events that culminated in a pitching session at which six aspiring producers competed to received a development package worth £10K. Fernanda Rossi‘s presentation on how to make a trailer was impressive, as was the mini masterclass on how to write a proposal. The day ended with a £10K win for a faultless pitch about a Downs Syndrome theatre group putting on a production of Hamlet…and the night ended with the Doc Fest party at a roller disco (sic).
On Friday morning the ‘We’re All Factual Entertainment Now’ session debated the increasingly blurred line between ‘Factual’ and ‘Factual Entertainment’. Broadcasters’ growing hunger for talent lead documentaries, a theme that had emerged during the previous day’s commissioning panels, was discussed at length, as was the question of whether filmmakers should embrace or fight the rise of ‘Fact-Ent’?
Somewhat surprisingly, the best panel of the day turned out to be ‘Working With The Germans’, during which the refreshingly open and pro-active panellists from German broadcasters, production companies and film funding bodies, essentially said we have a pot of money that’s yours for the taking if you want to work with us and here’s how you can… When asked what the brits could offer in return, one of the panellists responded “Humour! Humour! Humour!” No one mentioned the war.
Later on, it was fascinating to listen to Bruce Parry discuss his transformation from gung-ho ex-Royal Marine with video camera to anthropologist cum environmentalist. There was a chilling and controversial moment when footage was screened showing him making first contact with cannibals who, as it transpired with the benefit of subsequent translation, were on the verge of killing and eating him. After three days of Doc Fest food, I knew how the cannibals felt. However, fortunately for Parry, I had left my bow and arrow at the Hotel, as it didn’t quite fit into my delegates bag.
The day’s honours went, quite literally, to legendary documentary maker Albert Maysles, who was presented a Lifetime Achievement Award at a ‘dinner’ in his honour. I left shortly after the DJ started playing Grease, which I assumed was a comment on the food (and such small portions…). For me though, the most admirable thing about Maysles, is not his impressive career, but the fact that at 84, he was out partying until 4am at the Brit Doc Bar.
Saturday’s Crowdfunding day turned out to be so incredibly useful and well put together by Charlie Phillips, that I ended missing two appearances by Danfung Dennis and a Masterclass with Steve James! Still, it was a sacrifice worth making to be told exactly how to succeed at crowdfunding by Yancey Strickler (co-founder of Kickstarter), Adam Chapnick (Distribber, IndieGoGo) and a collection of filmmakers who had successfully funded their documentaries through these platforms and been rewarded with Doc Fest screenings.
The day’s industry sessions were rounded off with ‘How to Make a Buck on the Net’, which delivered on its title by offering a detailed look at the ins, outs and financial minutiae of internet distribution. Afterwards, it was on to a packed Lyceum Theatre for the Albert Maysles Masterclass, the most amusing moment of which, for me, was watching Nick Broomfield being removed for being a fire hazard, in the way that only Nick Broomfield could…. Then, a little later that evening I ended up sat around a table in the lobby of The Mercure Hotel, having drinks with Nick Broomfield, Molly Dineen, Dick Fontaine and Colin Young (founder of The National Film School), in the way that only I could…
When I saw Nick, the following afternoon, after The Sheffield Doc Fest Awards Ceremony, at which he received an extremely well deserved ‘Inspiration Award’ from comedian Jeremy Hardy, he greeted me with a warm handshake and said “enchanté.” It’s not often that I’m rendered speechless and having been, I couldn’t think of anyone I would rather be rendered speechless by.
Following this brief encounter, Nick Broomfield, at his Masterclass, talked about finding ways to wind up Eugene Terreblanche, donning OTT Alaskan winter wear to interview Sarah Palin and having to be on guard whilst filming Heidi Fleiss’ boyfriend, Ivan Nagy, as Nagy had trained with Colin Young. Revealing some of his working methodology, Nick discussed how he likes to see things playing out in real time, as it is often the build up, not the outcome, that’s important. He also explained that often he knows very little about his subject before filming starts and advised his audience to avoid going in with preconceptions or a script.
At the final Masterclass of the day and of the Festival, BAFTA Award winning filmmaker, Molly Dineen, took these sentiments even further, describing her BBC documentary Heart of The Angel as being just characters, no story. Discussing her dislike of some of the conventions that others regard as de rigueur, Molly explained how, when making The Lie of the Land, she had to go all the way to Cornwall to find a farmer sufficiently uncontaminated by media exposure, to be able to talk direct to camera, instead of off to the left of it. Asked about the making of Geri, which followed Geri Halliwell immediately after her departure from The Spice Girls, Molly Dineen spoke candidly about how their initially difficult relationship became a friendship and how “If you want emotional depth, you have to protect your subjects.” However, it was Molly’s comments about the overuse of music, the poor ergonomics of modern cameras and how the Aaton was “perfect” that brought a warm smile to my face.
With the panels & masterclasses finished, I went to see Knuckle, in which Director, Ian Palmer, spent a decade following two inter-related families of Irish travellers, whose ongoing bare knuckle fights have failed to settle a family feud, that has been running for so long, it’s roots are lost to the ravages of time. The two main fighters from one of the families were present at the Q&A afterwards and I took the opportunity to ask them if they wanted a fight?
OK, that’s not true, what I actually asked was whether, given the obvious futility of the fights and the duo’s diametrically opposed viewpoints on the wisdom of them (one was now completely anti, swearing he would never fight again, whilst the other was very much pro), they could imagine another way to resolve the feud? Much to everyone’s surprise, especially the other family members present, the pro fighter declared, for the first time ever, that he was starting to question the logic of the fights.
With the knowledge that my work here was done, I headed off to the final party, before hitting my bed at around 4am. Fortunately, the bed in question was über comfortable and the hotel in which it was situated, The Rutland, is one of the quietest at which I have ever stayed, so, having averaged three hours sleep a night, for five nights, I was finally able to catch up on my Zzzs.
The Sheffield Documentary Festival is an outstanding event, not just because of its stellar lineup of guests and films, but because it is one of the friendliest and most accessible events I have attended. I put this partly down to the fact that it is run by people who are genuinely passionate about documentary and partly down to something in the Sheffield water. Whatever the case, anyone who is working in the field of documentaries or has ambitions to be, should put next years Sheffield Doc Fest in their diaries now.
© 2011 – 2015, Paul D. All rights reserved.
