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READ MORE: Oscar Documentary Shortlist of 15 Revealed
It’s awards season time, that time of year when the media and filmgoers are focused on “prestige” films, and filmmakers and distributors are spending big money and campaigning hard for bragging rights. The documentary world is not immune to Oscar fever, even though the box office boost for docs is significantly less than their narrative counterparts. Awards attention can mean more people see your film and you’ll have a better chance of continuing to making films, though it is also far from a guarantee of future success.
Unfortunately, too many non-fiction films are getting sucked into award season hype and are being lured to foolishly spending money they don’t have.
To be clear, the whole awards system is screwed up. We ask filmmakers to pay to attend award shows where they are nominees. In fact, many of the precursors not only cost money to submit but can cost ten times as much if you’re nominated. If you’re being honored, the bare minimum we can do is not charge you. Now a larger company or bigger docs can absorb these costs, but for any film that’s not “Amy,” this kind of out of control spending creates a vicious cycle in which all but the small core group of awards voters lose.
If filmmakers can raise that kind of capital, why on earth would they not put it into grassroots engagement or adding markets? For a cost of a single screening to reach voters each of the films could have four walled [rented out theaters] in 1-4 markets across the country. For the 50 docs with even the slightest shot I am willing to give the benefit of the doubt, but looking at other indicators from past years, only about 30 ever had reason to seriously campaign. In fact, using IDA, Cinema Eye, prior nominee status and winning at Sundance, Tribeca or TIFF as an indicator I was able to reduce this year’s crop of 124 docs to a possible list of 33. All 15 shortlisted films were on this list.
Yet, this also allows the bulk of the docs to focus on what matters, which is reaching an audience. I love winning awards as much as the next person, but if filmmakers will not listen to reason and if our industry continues to exploit them, why not eliminate a lot of the ability for them to fall into the trap in the first place?
It’s about where you premiere, your subject matter, and who you know. Sort of like the larger industry. Now onward to Sundance 2016.
An earlier version of this post originally appeared on The Film Collaborative blog.
READ MORE: 2016 Oscar Predictions – Best Documentary Feature
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