AIDC Podcasts

Talking about Documentary

Documentary

Masterclass with the creative team behind podcast Trace

Despite the global success of podcasts like Serial, the team behind Trace didn’t set out to emulate other popular true crime podcasts. Trace had a different ambition, chiefly to find justice and truth for the sons of Maria James, who was murdered nearly 38 years ago.

In this masterclass, the journalist, producer and sound designer will break down how they created ABC’s first ‘true crime’ podcast; from distilling a 16 month investigation in to a story structure, creating a soundscape that would captivate listeners, maximising ABC’s cross platform reach to harness new leads, through to the team’s journalistic intent at the heart of the creative storytelling.

Retracing Crafting a Story in Audio Documentary AIDC 2018

Editing Masterclass with Erin Casper

In this exclusive masterclass, Erin will share her personal approach to editing by thinking about the construction of each film as a language of its own, spoken cinematically through an editor’s hands.

Drawing on excerpts from her award-winning films such as Our School, American Promise, The Last Season and The New Black, this masterclass will explore her creative process, writing with images and crafting cinematic language in non-fiction films.

The Art of Cutting it Fine AIDC 2018

Robert Fernandez has been producing award-winning documentaries and commercials for over 25 years - yet he still loves getting his hands dirty on budget spreadsheets 'I love the numbers'. Working with Errol Morris since The Fog of War, Fernandez recently delivered their biggest project to-date: the Netflix series Wormwood. With no precedent for its hybrid format or production model, it took 1.5 years to develop and finance with Netflix, and 2.5 years to shoot. Fernandez is the master producer behind a master director, and the man that 'did the numbers' to produce the opus Wormwood, replete with a feature shoot's worth of drama and 10-camera interview setups.

AIDC 2018: Errol Morris' Wormwood ... like producing 3 films at once

How do we build stronger alliances and create impact campaigns that engage audiences on issues, to create lasting change?

The phenomenal rise of documentary impact campaigns in recent years, following the success of Good Pitch Australia and the growing field of expertise, means we now have a global community of impact producers and a rich library of case studies to learn from. There is also a plethora of online tools and organisations offering expertise in delivering impact campaigns. So what have we learned and where are we going? What is the best impact approach for your project and budget?

Through unpacking several environmental sustainability themed case studies, our panellists from very different corners of the industry demonstrate the wide variety of ways to achieve genuine social impact.

AIDC 2018: The Evolution of Impact

In an ever-changing media landscape, and with audiences savvy and cynical about advertising, brands are looking for more subtle ways to draw their customers in. Enter the documentary filmmaker. Does this offer an exciting new source of finance for documentary or is it a sell out? Is it still possible to make authentic stories within this form? Who has creative control in this environment? Why do brands give money to filmmakers and what do they want in return?

This session brings together a world-class panel of award-winning filmmakers, producers and broadcasters to share their first-hand experiences making documentary content for brands and the mechanics of building successful partnerships to do so. They will explore how brand funded content works, why they do it, how it is different to working within traditional funding pathways, and what the deals look like. Between them, our panel has made everything from online content to television to feature films, financed by brands. They will share the realities, the pitfalls and the opportunities of this new financial option in our documentary producing toolbox.

AIDC 2018: Brand + Filmmaker = Story

COLLECTIVE INTELLIGENCE
Meet the producer and creative director at the heart of one of the world's most enduring and celebrated documentary collectives.

For over 50 years, Gordon Quinn and Kartemquin Films have been at the forefront of documentary making in the US, not only embracing but also epitomising collaborative practices, championing new voices, and leading the way in the fight for independent media. All of these resonate with current discussions, both locally and globally around democracy and social justice, as well as AIDC 2020’s theme of collective intelligence.

Join Gordon in conversation as he discusses the essential role of documentary in a fair and just society through some of his key works from Inquiring Nuns and Last Pullman Car to Hoop Dreams, The Trials of Muhammad Ali, Minding the Gap and 63Boycott. Talking through his 50-plus years of experience, Gordon will expand on how to sustain documentary making amidst constant assaults on truth, and finding new ways to regenerate the form and industry. He’ll also discuss the expanding role of the producer in nurturing new talent and promoting and enabling diverse voices to tap into hyper-local stories that also reverberate with global audiences. This session promises to be both thought-provoking and inspiring.

AIDC2020 - Masters of Producing: Gordon Quinn of Kartemquin Films

COLLECTIVE INTELLIGENCE
Is Australian press freedom an endangered species? What can be done to prevent the media being portrayed as the enemy of the people?

Australia has some of the most draconian anti-media laws of all Western countries. Police raids on journalists, national security laws that criminalise journalistic activities, attacks on whistleblowers, archaic defamation laws and restricted access to information have stifled the ability of journalists to hold power to account.

Investigative journalism is under threat globally and increasingly in countries where democracies have historically prevailed. At a time when attacks on press freedom around the world are on the rise, the risks faced by news, journalism and documentary are very real. But what can be done to stem the growing culture of secrecy and counter the epidemic of fake news, disinformation and manipulation that is eroding public discourse and democracy?

Join a distinguished panel of news, documentary and investigative journalists including ABC News’ Gaven Morris, filmmaker Yaara Bou Melhem and University of Queensland’s Professor Peter Greste to discuss the threat posed to press freedom. This session is a timely discussion of why public interest journalism should be protected and how the industry can help educate the public about their right to know before Australian journalists are labelled the enemy of the people.

AIDC2020 - The War on Press Freedom (and What to do About It)

CRAFT
Meet the key people behind hit ABC shows that have delivered real world impact, and find out what’s next in 2020.

Commissioning distinctive TV that has a real-world impact on Australians and their communities is a major goal of ABC’s Factual and Documentary teams. The ABC has been leading the way with this form of programming through acclaimed series such as Old People’s Home for 4 Year Old’s, Employable Me, Don’t Stop The Music, Love On The Spectrum and War On Waste. In 2020, the ABC is presenting two major climate-themed series with Fight for Planet A: The Climate Challenge exploring how we can all help reduce both our individual and collective carbon emissions and Big Weather (and how to survive it) offering insight and practical advice on how to survive and thrive in a time of increasing extreme weather events. We will also see Shaun Micallef return to our screens as he delves into the nation’s relationship with alcohol, with Shaun Micallef’s On The Sauce.

All of these shows demonstrate the importance of content that not only informs and entertains but has the power to connect the nation and drive real-world awareness and change.

In this session you will hear insights from key people on these shows, both in front of and behind the camera as well as the ABC’s Impact Producer. All have been pivotal in developing and delivering TV with a social purpose that resonates with audiences across all platforms.

This session features Craig Reucassel, Debbie Cuell, Karina Holden and Teri Calder and will be moderated by Stephen Oliver.

AIDC2020 - Real World Impact: TV with Social Purpose

CRAFT
Leading factual producers reveal how they tackled projects of scale … and scale doesn’t always mean big budget. 

Leading factual producers discuss and demystify the oft-used term ‘scale’.
From giant crews, fixed rigs and far-flung locations, to leading a tiny team shooting across a long timeframe – scale calls for precise decision making in the development process and in designing your production model.
 
What are the different production approaches that can be scaled to get the most out of the story and budget? Do you go big, long, lean, broad or deep to best access your story? How can you invert your production approach on the same story material?
 
Debbie Cuell, Jocelyn Little and Ben Ulm’s careers embody the full spectrum of scale, from big blue-chip to lean ob-doc. They will dissect making recent and upcoming series Ed Stafford: First Man Out, Old People’s Home for 4 Year-Olds, One Born Every Minute, Who Gets to Stay in Australia and Wild City. 
 
Moderator Sarah Thornton (Network Ten) springboards this conversation from a Network commissioning perspective. Scale used to mean big budget but what does it mean in the current factual market?

AIDC2020 - Niche to Broad, Big to Lean: Concepts of Scale in Factual

CRAFT
Director Jen Peedom discusses her story-focused approach to documentary writing, from pre-production through to editing.



What does it mean to ‘write’ a documentary?

For BAFTA-nominated filmmaker Jennifer Peedom (Sherpa, Mountain), writing — and re-writing — defines each step of the filmmaking process. Emphasising the difference between covering an issue and telling an emotional story, this session will explore lessons borrowed from drama storytelling in shaping Jen’s compelling on-screen characters and journeys: encompassing thoughtful planning in research and pre-production, course-correction through principal shooting and interviews, and an openness to challenging feedback throughout editing.

Further points of discussion for this session include the differences between writing historical and unfolding stories, writing observational documentaries (when the outcome of a situation is unknown at the outset), and incorporating additional editorial tools (such as graphics and cards) at the editing stage for clarity.

AIDC2020 - Upskill: Writing Documentary, Shaping Story with Jen Peedom

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AIDC 2018: The Evolution of Impact

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