I probably shouldn’t write at night…
It’s just passed midnight and I am making time to write (there must be an easier way…) another update rundown for docs.
The Emmys were last night. I didn’t watch ‘em, but, while I was eating a Fatburger for dinner at 11:30 I read the LA Times coverage (again, there must be another way…). Non-fiction is represented there, but is anyone else wondering why there are so many awards for TV?! They have to break it into 3 different categories (daytime, nighttime and LA) and then they can’t put everything in the broadcast and all anyone remembers is that the original Charlie’s Angels were there. Anyway, (lots of ranting and parentheticals make it difficult to write at night) the non-fiction programs were actually celebrated on August 19th. Before I digress, here’s a list of the nominated and award winning programs. And a link to more with my pal Eric Moe at About.com.
Exceptional Merit In Nonfiction Filmmaking (multiple winners possible)
Baghdad ER – HBO – WINNER
Combat Diary: The Marines Of Lima Company – A&E
P.O.V. – In The Realms Of The Unreal – PBS
Three Days In September – Showtime
American Experience – Two Days In October – PBS – WINNER
Outstanding Directing For Nonfiction Programming
All Aboard! Rosie’s Family Cruise – HBO
 Shari Cookson
American Masters – John Ford/John Wayne: The Filmmaker And The Legend – PBS
 Sam Pollard
American Masters – Bob Dylan: No Direction Home – PBS
 Martin Scorsese
Baghdad ER – HBO – WINNER
 Jon Alpert & Matthew O’Neill
Children Of Beslan • HBO
 Ewa Ewart & Leslie Woodhead
Outstanding Nonfiction Series
American Masters – PBS
Biography – A&E
Deadliest Catch – Discovery Channel
Inside The Actors Studio – Bravo
10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America – The History Channel – WINNER
Outstanding Writing For Nonfiction Programming
American Masters – Ernest Hemingway: Rivers To The Sea – PBS
 DeWitt Sage
American Masters – John Ford/John Wayne: The Filmmaker And The Legend – PBS
 Ken Bowser
How William Shatner Changed The World – The History Channel
 Alan Handel & Julian Jones
Penn & Teller: Bullshit – Prostitution – Showtime
 Penn Jillette, Teller, Cliff Schoenberg, Jon Hotchkiss, Michael Goudeau, & Star Price
Stardust: The Bette Davis Story – TCM – WINNER
 Peter Jones, Writer
Outstanding Cinematography For Nonfiction Programming – Single-Camera Productions
All Aboard! Rosie’s Family Cruise – HBO
Baghdad ER – HBO – WINNER
Children Of Beslan – HBO
I Have Tourette’s But Tourette’s Doesn’t Have Me – HBO
Rome: Engineering An Empire – The History Channel
Outstanding Picture Editing For Nonfiction Programming
(Small team entries – Primarily Single-Camera Productions)
AFI’s 100 Years… 100 Movie Quotes – CBS
American Masters – John Ford/John Wayne: The Filmmaker And The Legend – PBS
American Masters – Bob Dylan: No Direction Home – PBS
Baghdad ER – HBO
Penn & Teller: Bullshit – Prostitution – Showtime
Rome: Engineering An Empire – The History Channel – WINNER
Outstanding Sound Editing For Nonfiction Programming
(Single Or Multi-Camera)
The Amazing Race – Here Comes The Bedouin! – CBS – WINNER
American Masters – Bob Dylan: No Direction Home – PBS
Baghdad ER – HBO
Survivor – Big Trek, Big Trouble, Big Surprise – CBS
American Experience – Two Days In October – PBS
Outstanding Sound Mixing For Nonfiction Programming
(Single Or Multi-Camera)
The Amazing Race – Here Comes The Bedouin! – CBS
American Masters – Bob Dylan: No Direction Home – PBS
Baghdad ER – HBO – WINNER
Deadliest Catch – The Clock’s Ticking – Discovery Channel
Survivor – Big Trek, Big Trouble, Big Surprise – CBS
Outstanding Nonfiction Special
All Aboard! Rosie’s Family Cruise – HBO
How William Shatner Changed The World – The History Channel
Inside 9/11 – National Geographic Channel
Rome: Engineering An Empire – The History Channel – WINNER
Stardust: The Bette Davis Story – TCM
Toronto IFF will have their schedule up Tuesday. Looking forward to that so I can strategically plan my screenings. I’ll be there Sep 12-16.
We can’t forget the Sundance deadline is fast approaching. So get your rough cut to a fine cut, make the best movie possible and pop that puppy in the mail. The official submission deadline for doc features is September 11th. More info here.
Did you qualify your film for Oscar? Go through that pesky checklist and deliver everything to the Academy by September 1st. Or thinking about it for next year? Check out the rules here.
AFI Fest. I know, I know, it’s in November. But, I’m still watching tapes (started in April)! This is has been one of the craziest years for me to watch bags and bags of screeners. There’s no time and I still want to give every film the time and opportunity it deserves. But it’s almost that time where the fat starts to fall away and the program begins to take shape. It’s an exiting thing!
DocuWeek. I did go to IDA’s DocuWeek last week and checked out a few exceptional docs (An Unreasonable Man, This Film is Not Yet Rated and Deliver Us From Evil) and met some really super people as well. Pics and reviews to follow soon (I hope).
That’s all I got for today…that and many piles of papers surrounding me.