Wow. Thank you for re-sharing this post. I really appreciate your observations Ted. I feel seen and less alone with the puzzled and wtf feelings I'm having coming out of pitches and festivals as of late. I've recently stopped taking on roles field producing and directing documentary projects that I fundamentally don't agree with. Ones th…
Wow. Thank you for re-sharing this post. I really appreciate your observations Ted. I feel seen and less alone with the puzzled and wtf feelings I'm having coming out of pitches and festivals as of late. I've recently stopped taking on roles field producing and directing documentary projects that I fundamentally don't agree with. Ones that can get completed quickly, but not very well or honestly in some cases. I have also just recently been spit out by the revolving door of (mostly free) development work. The project died because the company would have required us to do EVEN more unpaid work without any indication that there was a potential for future success or even a sale. They gave us the choice to dissolve the option deal. I've always appreciated that there is a lot of up front work, uncertainty, periods without revenue... but even still it's all feeling pretty dysfunctional right now. I might also be done with the type of producing I've done for the past six years. And I am going to try to continue making documentaries. So Ted, I'm dying to know... what are you doing instead? What can people with development, research, writing, interviewing, scouting and directing skills do instead? I'm thinking about it, and trying things. Trying to avoid going back to newsrooms, which are also hurting. Appreciate hearing from you and the community.
Wow. Thank you for re-sharing this post. I really appreciate your observations Ted. I feel seen and less alone with the puzzled and wtf feelings I'm having coming out of pitches and festivals as of late. I've recently stopped taking on roles field producing and directing documentary projects that I fundamentally don't agree with. Ones that can get completed quickly, but not very well or honestly in some cases. I have also just recently been spit out by the revolving door of (mostly free) development work. The project died because the company would have required us to do EVEN more unpaid work without any indication that there was a potential for future success or even a sale. They gave us the choice to dissolve the option deal. I've always appreciated that there is a lot of up front work, uncertainty, periods without revenue... but even still it's all feeling pretty dysfunctional right now. I might also be done with the type of producing I've done for the past six years. And I am going to try to continue making documentaries. So Ted, I'm dying to know... what are you doing instead? What can people with development, research, writing, interviewing, scouting and directing skills do instead? I'm thinking about it, and trying things. Trying to avoid going back to newsrooms, which are also hurting. Appreciate hearing from you and the community.