Thinking back over this past year, I started to ponder those who had made our community a better place. Whether they supported films and filmmakers, launched new initiatives or just spoke plainly, these folks are creating and sustaining a universe wherein those of us who make and watch nonfiction can benefit.
Here's to the nonfiction heroes of 2008 (in alphabetical order):
Heather Croall
Heather works as hard as anyone in the festival world and has (nearly) singlehandedly pulled Sheffield into the top ranks of international doc fests. And when BritDoc was on the ropes, she found ways to pull some of the best of BritDoc into her own festival.
Matt Dentler
Matt ended his stint at SXSW having made that festival a premiere showcase for diverse nonfiction. In his new role at Cinetic Rights Management, he's taking his patented promo skills and devoting them to getting docs (new and old) seen online.
Anthony Falzone
At Standford's Center for Internet and Society, Falzone has led efforts to expand fair use rights in documentary film. His work representing the producers of EXPELLED against suits by Yoko Ono and EMI led to major victories for all filmmakers.
Ari Folman
Folman persisted in getting WALTZ WITH BASHIR made, as funder after funder questioned the sense of using animation to tell his story. Now that the film is an acclaimed smash, he's using his bully pulpit to declare his boredom with the documentary rulebook.
Nancy Gerstman and Emily Russo
The co-presidents of Zeitgeist Films have become the go-to boutique distributor for top-quality, need-individual-attention documentaries. As others fell around them, they celebrated two decades in indie distribution and kept going.
Toby Leonard and Paul Sturtz
Leonard, of Nashville's Belcourt Theatre, and Sturtz of Columbia, MO's Ragtag Cinemacafe, worked to coordinate Margaret Brown's art house tour for ORDER OF MYTHS via the Sundance Institute Art House Project, hopefully the beginning of a new distribution option for filmmakers.
Ted Leonsis
We're still not sure what to make of SnagFilms (or the whole online distribution of documentary) but Leonsis' decision to invest heavily in doc-centric initiatives, whether they be Snag or the films that he produces, was a bright sign of support when others got skittish.
Adam Yauch
The filmmaker/activist/Beastie launched Oscilloscope Laboratories, a NYC-based multi-media concern that promptly jumped in the nonfiction market. Their choices were deverse yet not overtly commercial, creating a new outlet for challenging nonfiction fare.
Dude, very sweet, thank you. I think you forgot one important person: AJ Schnack.
Posted by: Dentler | January 06, 2009 at 08:52 PM