Realscreen on location: Wall to Wall's Alex Graham

Wall to Wall, a Shed Media Group company, has had great success with its genealogy series Who Do You Think You Are in the UK and various other territories. The prodco's CEO, Alex Graham, spoke with realscreen about revamping the series for an American audience and why NBC took a big risk when it greenlit the program. continue

Watching the world in Austin

The SXSW 2010 festival starts tomorrow in Austin, Texas, with its film component featuring a large assortment of doc screenings and panels geared towards non-fiction filmmakers. Conference co-ordinator and SXGlobal programmer Jim Kolmar spoke with realscreen about seeking out docs for the international program and giving audiences the unexpected. continue

NERDs launch new UK indie

Former Tiger Aspect executive producer, Jago Lee, and former Raw Television head of development, John Farrar are teaming up to found a new UK indie prodco, New Entertainment Research and Design (NERD). continue

Hot Docs announces TDF roster

The Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Film Festival has announced the line-up for this year's Toronto Documentary Forum (TDF), which will take place May 5 and 6. continue

Tribeca unveils doc line-up and new initiatives

The Tribeca Film Festival released its documentary selection yesterday, revealing 12 titles that cover a range of topics from spirituality, through to the Rwandan genocide and falcon smuggling. The news follows Tribeca Enterprises' announcements of its distribution initiative Tribeca Film and a comprehensive online venture, the Tribeca Virtual Film Festival. continue

Distributor Profile: Mongrel Media

Toronto-based film distributor Mongrel Media has been bringing fiction and non-fiction theatrical fare to Canadian audiences for the past 16 years. Tom Alexander, Mongrel's director of theatrical releasing, talks to realscreen about why doc-lovers should make the effort to see non-fiction on the big screen, and what sorts of projects Mongrel is looking to snap up. continue

Planet Green to launch Verge and 24-hour schedule

As announced during its TCA presentation in January, Planet Green is now gearing up to introduce a 24-hour schedule and launch Verge, its new primetime programming block. continue

Three things you didn't know about...

Adrian Bracken is founder of Spanish indie Marbella Productions. Marbella is currently in the process of completing a historical documentary on the life of Brendan Bracken, Winston Churchill's right-hand man (and perhaps a distant relation of the filmmaker). Bracken took a few moments to share three things with realscreen that the industry might not generally know about him. continue

Tony DiSanto: keeping MTV ahead of the curve

While MTV is moving further into scripted territory, Tony DiSanto, its president of programming and development, says reality is still key. Here he shares some tips for hitting the right note for the channel with realscreen. continue

Realscreen on location: Louie Psihoyos discusses "The Cove" and what's next

Last night, director Louie Psihoyos and producer Fisher Stevens won the Best Documentary Oscar for their acclaimed film The Cove at the 82nd Annual Academy Awards. Though Psihoyos didn't get a chance to say anything from the stage at the ceremony, he did speak with realscreen during the Realscreen Summit about the effect The Cove has had in Taiji, Japan and the reasons he went into documentary filmmaking. continue

Progress is top priority at Participant Media

It's been a busy 2010 already for Los Angeles-based Participant Media, with the release of four documentaries at the Sundance Film Festival and an Oscar nomination for its acclaimed Food, Inc. Courtney Sexton, Participant's director of documentary production, discusses the company's reaction to the nomination, the social change inspired by Food, Inc., and the plans for moving forward. continue

Oscar picks from the blogosphere

Just before Oscar weekend we put the call out to a couple of documentary bloggers for their takes on the Academy Award's doc categories. Here, Jay Cheel from The Documentary Blog and The D-Word's Doug Block tell realscreen which docs they'd like to see win on Sunday night, and which ones they think will win. continue

From the latest issue of realscreen: Three-minute magic

Doc-maker Morgan Spurlock has moved from super-size to snack-size with online short film portal Cinelan. Realscreen spoke with Spurlock and Cinelan CEO David Laks about the key to creating three minute docs for the web. continue

Three things you didn't know about...

Danika Porter is marketing manager at Beyond Distribution. Born and now based in Australia, Porter has worked around the world, starting her career in television at the prodco WagTV in London. Porter shared three things with realscreen that the industry wouldn't generally know about her. continue

CBC's factual philosophy

It's been nearly four years since Julie Bristow, executive director of factual entertainment at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), helped to launch the department. Bristow spoke with realscreen about what works for the public broadcaster and the challenges of budgeting for factual programs. continue

Going "Undercover" pays off for Studio Lambert

CBS took a gamble on the new reality show Undercover Boss by giving it a prime spot for its premiere - right after the Super Bowl. That gamble paid off, with 38.6 million viewers, and has translated into a continued strong presence on Sunday nights. The show's creator, Studio Lambert CEO Stephen Lambert, talks to realscreen about the differences between the show's UK and U.S. versions, and about his jam-packed slate. continue

Banking on celebrity

Stella Stolper tapped into the niche celebreality market when it was in its infancy; first by helping to launch the genre as VH1's senior vice president of celebrity talent development, then by co-founding Ish Entertainment with Michael Hirschorn. Now focusing on her new Reveille-backed company Wikked Entertainment, Stolper tells realscreen what makes a celeb a good fit for Wikked, and for reality programming. continue

Producer/distributor profile: Canamedia

Canamedia is a Toronto-based producer/distributor that has been in the business for over 30 years. Lee Harris, North American sales and acquisitions, and Andrea Stokes, the international sales manager, tell realscreen about where the company's heading, what it's looking to acquire for distribution and what it's bringing to MIPTV. continue

International factual execs sign on for jury duty at MIPDoc Co-production Challenge

Execs from AETN International, the BBC, CBC, ITVS and RAI will be on hand in Cannes to judge entrants to the sixth annual MIPDoc Co-production Challenge, presented by realscreen and Reed MIDEM. continue

AIDC 2010 kicks off

Running from February 23 to 26, the Australian International Documentary Conference aims to gather the global doc community in Adelaide for discussion, networking and the launch of the First Factual Films Festival. continue