Documentary Campus Masterschool – Call for Entries 2010. Deadline: 2nd October 2009

Documentary Campus Masterschool 2010 is a ten-month long masterclass in which you can get one-to-one and group training sessions (four over the ten months) to help you develop your documentary idea so you can secure international interest and funding. The school allows all kinds of nonfiction genres, from docuseries to one-offs and cross-media projects. Past [...]

Westdoc Twitter

If you weren’t able to make it to Santa Monica to attend the Westdoc conference, you can keep up with what’s going on in real time – who’s commissioning what, and how to pitch -  via twitter. Just follow the #westdoc thread.

The Best Selling Factual TV Shows in the World (That You’ve Probably Never Heard Of)

These days it’s not enough to come up with a factual TV show that gets commissioned by one TV channel – in order to make money you’ll need to be able to sell it around the world too. And that means knowing what will sell in the global market.

As a rule of thumb, in order for documentaries to be successful around the world they need to stay away from parochial, local subjects and concentrate on themes that people can identify with wherever they are in the world: March of the Penguins (survival against the odds); Touching the Void (friendship/human spirit); Blue Planet (the wonder of nature); The Apprentice (the American dream/ rivalry).

Formats also need to deal with universal themes, but they can be tweaked to suit the local market.

You’ll no doubt be familiar with the likes of Who Want’s to Be a Millionaire? (sold to 100+ territories), Idol (40+ territories), Dancing with the Stars (30+ territories) and Wife Swap (20+ territories). But, according to major distributors, there are a lot of best selling shows that might not be so familiar.

Click through the headline for a list of some of the top sellers.
(Photo by: JasonRogersFooDogGiraffeBee)

Sheffield Doc/Fest MeetMarket Open for Submissions

Do you have a documentary film or series that you’d like to pitch to 100+ interested international buyers? Sheffield Doc/Fest’s MeetMarket is your chance. You can submit your project online up until 4th September 2009 and it’s free to apply. Click through to find out how. (Photo courtesy of Sheffield Doc/Fest)

Watch TV US Progs on First on Mars

Where: First on Mars is a new site that allows you to legally watch more than 10,000 US TV shows online – it’s a free, slick, and fast site that you can search by show, channel or your mood (like Pandora or Last.FM). Browse and save your favourite shows from channels such as: ABC, History [...]

Interview: Virginia Mouseler of The Wit

Meet Virginia Mouseler, founder of The Wit – a research company that publishes weekly and monthly reports about all the new TV shows around the world. Explore the database of 80,000 TV programmes from around the world; search using keywords, country, genre or production company; and watch full length videos of any TV show online. Sign up for a weekly email report with news of new pilots and projects, and a monthly report on new shows aired in 35 countries.

Channel Crunch

Channels contemplate closure

TV Industry Magazines You Should Read if You Are Serious About Pitching your Factual TV Idea

A saleable programme idea captures the zeitgeist or fills a commissioner’s need and you’ll only be able to give them what they need if you know what they’re looking for.