This is the first in a series of writings about the first twenty years of Academy Award winning documentaries. 1941 1941 was the first year the Academy recognized the documentary with its own category for Oscar. Dutch born documentarian Joris Ivens wrote “I am so very glad that at last we are recognized by the […]

Tonight at the Academy of Arts and Sciences Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood starts the Oscar’s Docs screening series. For the next 13 Mondays (minus Halloween) I’ll be attending The First Twenty Years of Academy Award Winning Documentaries 1941-1960. As far as I know there are still tickets available for $5. Visit Oscars.org for more […]

Just got an email from the Independent Film Channel that they’re showing 2 new docs this weekend. (I just plugged them into the TiVo). WMD: WEAPONS OF MASS DECEPTION about the media and their coverage or lack thereof of 9/11 and The Spaghetti West, an IFC original documentary about the spaghetti westerns of the 1960s. […]

I just finished watching Ross McElwee‘s Bright Leaves. His docs are like nobody else’s. Seemingly haphazard yet perfectly constructed (try to put that quote on your poster). It’s available on DVD. And while you’re at it you might as well rent Sherman’s March too.

Josh Tickell, a documentary filmmaker and friend of mine, knows how to make biodiesel (as seen in his short film The Veggie Van Voyage). He’s also from Louisiana. So…he hopped in his Veggie Van and is helping by working with biodiesel suppliers in the Mid West as well as generator companies to bring a convoy […]

Back when I was predicting Ruben Studdard would be the next American Idol I got TiVo. Let’s say April 2003. It’s no joke, and no commercial either, to say that TiVo has revolutionized the way I watch TV. I read about a program and plug it into the TiVo. I don’t have to remember what […]

You can watch CNN and read all the papers in the world. But about three entries into this I started to cry. If this isn’t a documentary I don’t know what is. http://mgno.com/ Go to the calendar and click on Saturday, August 27th, 2005 and just go on from there. I just read the whole […]

AFI screening time is almost over. The bag of tapes I have may be the last. This makes me a little sad. This is my 4th summer spent indoors watching documentaries for AFI Fest. Every year I say I won’t do it again next year. But the fact is I really enjoy it. I enjoy […]

Reel Paradise is a documentary about John Pierson. After becoming disenchanted with the independent film world he picks up his family and moves them to a remote village in Fiji called Taveuni. The natives have no electricity, no running water and little to do for entertainment. The Pierson crew opens the downtrodden 180 Meridian Cinema […]

I was on a panel last weekend for the LA Intensive, a sort of summer camp for students who want to break into the entertainment industry put together by the American Pavilion. One of the questions a student asked was about what books to read or own to learn more about the industry. Patrick Gorman, […]