Navigating the Possibilities of the Digital World

The documentary form stands at a crossroads.  As news divisions across the media landscape reduce their investment in investigative journalism, the mantle—and responsibility—to tell these important stories falls on the shoulders of documentary filmmakers.  Given the recent unprecedented box-office successes for some documentaries, public demand for documentary storytelling seems to be strong—yet many extraordinary documentaries encounter a very crowded marketplace, and trouble engaging large audiences.

New interactive technologies are making it easier than ever to not only distribute documentaries, but build communities around them. However, the new digital landscape begs a new set of questions: With a seemingly endless variety of new platforms introduced everyday, how do you find the right vehicle to reach the ideal audience for your film?  How do you navigate the choices for rights deals?  What are some of the new partnerships forming between the public and commercial media worlds?  And what are the revenue models that can sustain the future of this fragile ecosystem?

The Paley Center for Media and ITVS recently brought members of the community together to explore the potential of new technology and digital distribution platforms to increase audiences for—and catalyze action around—socially significant media. In a series of forums held in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco this year, we gathered funders, public media representatives, independent producers and filmmakers, and commercial distributors to highlight new opportunities in the digital marketplace, and discuss the challenges around rights and revenue encountered in this new frontier.

To expand the reach of these conversations, we are pleased to present highlights from some of the presentations and panel discussions in this series.

Funding for this series of forums has been generously provided by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Surdna Foundation, and the Otto Haas Charitable Trust