Equity & Inclusion

The Equity and Inclusion subcommittee leads the development and implementation of strategies and practices that promote equity, diversity, and inclusion within the Documentary Producers Alliance and the broader documentary filmmaking industry. This commitment is pursued while ensuring alignment with the overarching philosophy, strategies of the DPA’s board, leadership, and membership. The subcommittee serves as an integral part of the organization, actively responding to the needs and aspirations of the membership, and positioning producers as pivotal figures in shaping an industry that is equitable, inclusive, and reflective of diverse voices and stories.

PTE “Producing Toward Equity”

The “Producing Toward Equity” (PTE) subcommittee educates audiences in both dismantling inequitable producing practices and rebuilding ones that are fairer and just. PTE takes the form of workshops that offer participants an opportunity to engage with the DPA’s existing best practices resources — Film Financing, Crediting, and Labor Practices — with a focus on addressing sustainable and equitable business practices in a field where unpaid labor and structural inequality are pervasive norms.

The workshop material, learning environment, and connections made between participants provide producers of all experience levels with educational opportunities that may otherwise be unavailable or difficult to find, in areas often unaddressed in formal undergraduate/graduate programs and on-the-job training.

Contract Guidelines

The Labor subcommittee worked for many years on the DPA's most recent guidelines, Negotiating Contracts for Independent Documentary Producers. Ultimately, that subcommittee was folded into the Contract Guidelines subcommittee to work on the layout, design, and rollout of the document. Currently, this group meets to work on outreach and impact to bring the document to classrooms, film festivals, conferences, and affinity groups.

Crediting

The Crediting subcommittee is responsible for developing and promoting the DPA's best practices and advocacy for crediting and recognition on behalf of documentary producers, ensuring these efforts align with the organization's governing philosophy, board strategies, and the overall needs and desires of its members.

Ethics

Ethics Resource Library

Our Ethics Resource Library (ERL) is a free, comprehensive searchable tool designed to support filmmakers by providing resources to help set industry standards for ethical filmmaking practices.

This is a living library that continues to evolve with our rapidly changing industry. The discussions around inclusivity and representation, for example, have changed dramatically over the last decade, and our library represents this living conversation with resources spanning earlier decades to the present day.

The ERL is open to filmmakers of all experience levels, navigating all stages of production. We cover a wide-ranging swath of topics and questions including: accessibility, authorship (who's telling your story and why), labor, representation, inclusion, interviewing victims, diversity, distribution, diversity, consent, safety on set, etc.

Film Festival

The Film Festival subcommittee advocates for equity among filmmakers beginning at the festival level - while bringing value to our festival partners through advocacy, education and career development opportunities. The subcommittee is also the liaison and oversight for festival based DPA events nationwide.

The subcommittee is charged with supporting the organization's membership and its board at the festival level. This includes:

• Advocating for producers as equal partners to directors at festivals including PR / Awards / Travel etc.
• Liaising with international and regional festivals on behalf of the DPA to add value to festivals
• Liaising with regional subcommittees to plan events at appropriate festivals
• resources required to carry out the mission
• fundraising involvement
• demonstration of good stewardship

Waterfall

The Waterfall subcommittee developed film-financing guidelines (Guidelines for the Documentary Waterfall) over the course of several years. Following the document's release, the subcommittee presented its content at workshops and ensured its adoption as a standard in the documentary industry. This subcommittee is currently dormant.

Finance & Fundraising

The role of the subcommittee is to ensure that the organization's development program is in concert with its strategic direction and needs. The subcommittee is the mechanism by which board members and other volunteers are involved in the fundraising process.

The subcommittee is charged with supporting the organization and its board on all fundraising planning and initiatives. This includes:

• constant attention to the strength of the mission and case for support
• organizational accountability: reporting, compliance, security
• supporters’ involvement with the DPA
• resources required to carry out the mission
• research and plans for soliciting necessary private and public funds
• fundraising involvement
• demonstration of good stewardship

Communications

The Communications subcommittee ensures that the DPA has a dedicated, consistent, and experienced group of members who collaborate to review, disseminate, and help originate relevant DPA written and visual materials both internally and externally. Ultimately, the committee will assess and promote a streamlined communications process, ensuring that the DPA effectively conveys its mission, values, and goals to various stakeholders, including volunteers, donors, beneficiaries, and the general public through effective communications, thus maintaining a consistent and compelling message and brand identity.

Governance

The governance subcommittee is charged with supporting the organization and the Board on all governance principles, policies, and practices. They work to ensure that the DPA's policies and bylaws are in concert with its strategic direction and needs.

This includes:

• Developing policies required to run the organization effectively, ethically, under non-profit law, and the mission, vision, and values of the DPA
• Keeping the board informed of current best practices in non-profit governance
• Reviewing non-profit governance trends for their applicability to the DPA
• Reviewing and updating the DPA’s governance principles and practices
• Advising those responsible for appointing directors to the Board on the skills, qualities, and professional or educational experiences necessary to be effective Board members

Membership

The subcommittee is charged with supporting new and current members of the organization. This includes working to define and refine the qualifications of DPA members including considering the inclusion and equity we aspire to industry-wide, monitoring the membership experience to empower and engage new and existing members, and managing the membership application and onboarding process.

Regional

The Regional Midwest subcommittee provides a gathering space for regional DPA members to share information, create local programming, and serve as a conduit between the board and membership. Each regional rep has been tasked with meeting the needs of their regional members where they’re at (this looks very different for the NYC region than the Northwest region).

Collectively, the Regional subcommittee identifies the following ways to engage and serve its members and the DPA in general:

• Build DPA awareness with local industry
• Activate members regionally
• Build Regional awareness with national/international industry orgs
• Create regional programming that furthers the work of DPA initiatives (e.g. Waterfall teach-ins, producer panels, etc.)
• Grow DPA membership to become a more diverse and inclusive org
• Provide peer support within the regions (e.g. virtual workshops, feedback sessions, etc.)
• Facilitate cross-regional collaboration on events (e.g. virtual happy-hour meetups, informational sessions or workshops hosted by one region, etc.)
• Create regional databases of DPA-approved crew and local resources
• Monitor board-level activity and communicate any relevant info to the Regional reps
• Encourage members to find ways to serve on other DPA committees

Research & Data

The purpose of the Research and Data subcommittee is to support data as vital to the DPA’s mission and advocacy. The subcommittee will implement or collaborate on research, data collection, and analysis to impact decisions, policies, and advocacy by the DPA. The research conducted by the Research and Data subcommittee will be used to help the organization make data-informed decisions about its leadership, membership, and goals. When possible, research will be released to the broader documentary film community so that it can positively impact producers across the industry.

Union Research

The Union Research subcommittee was formed to research union and labor organizing possibilities for the DPA membership. This includes but is not limited to, the following options: DPA membership forming a union, DPA membership joining an existing union, or facilitating individual members' choosing their suitable union option. The subcommittee will educate the membership about its findings and facilitate the process.

The goal is to increase collective bargaining strength to create more sustainability for documentary film producers. This will fulfill the DPA goal of advocating for practices that ensure producing careers are sustainable and that producers can work without fear of financial insecurity or mental and physical hardship.