Artificial Intelligence (AI), Archival

Guidelines/ Framework

Generative AI (GenAI) is rapidly transforming the media ecosystem and the world at large, reshaping our culture and our conversations. While there is great potential in this technology, there are also risks. The survival of the documentary industry, in all of its power and promise to help us understand and interpret our history and our present, is contingent on maintaining a truthful and transparent relationship with viewers. Committed to this ideal, the Archival Producers Alliance – in conversation with hundreds of professionals in the industry – developed a set of Best Practices for guiding the use of this emerging technology in documentary film.

Care & Safety, Consent, Children\Minors, Distribution, Compensation, Impact, Participants

List

A list of questions for those approached to be in a documentary, meant to be a starting point for a dialogue that will continue throughout the filmmaking process. The questions encourage transparency at every stage, so that one can make an informed decision about being filmed. The list is meant to be used creatively, and is not meant to discourage anyone from participating. The aim is to have both the person/ participant and the filmmaker leave the discussion feeling informed and empowered. A glossary of commonly used terms throughout the list is included.

Accessibility

Opinion, Guidelines/ Framework

Set Hernandez, director of the 2023 documentary, unseen, shares some lessons on accessibility he learned throughout the filmmaking process. unseen uses experimental cinematography to bring audiences an audio-centric experience.

Privacy, Transparency, Care & Safety, Compensation, Participants, Journalism, Accountability

Video, Case study

There are no set rules in documentary filmmaking, only decisions about where to draw the line. Pioneer documentarian and Kartemquin Films cofounder Gordon Quinn explores examples from films such as "Hoop Dreams," "Prisoner of Her Past," and "The Interrupters" to illustrate how the documentary process relies upon a constant negotiation of power relationships among the story, subject, and viewer. In an interactive session mixing video with audience discussion, Quinn will cover ethical issues ranging from how to protect subjects' privacy while intimately exposing their lives, to filmmakers' responsibility to make their method and intent transparent to the audience. He will talk about what is often kept quiet, such as if—and how—subjects should be compensated. Quinn argues that, despite similarities between their codes of ethics, there are crucial differences between documentary and journalism that stem from factors such as trust and empathy. He also addresses pertinent intellectual property issues in the digital age, specifically the importance of ethics when exercising Fair Use. University of Chicago film scholar Jacqueline Stewart will join Quinn for the discussion.

Representation, Race, Consent, Crew, Care & Safety, Participants, Compensation

Guidelines/ Framework, Report

Filmmakers, creatives, artists, and other entertainment industry professionals have an opportunity to bring visibility to the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples (MMIP) crisis. For too long, depictions of MMIP in television and film have shown high levels of violence that center the death of Indigenous people rather than the lives they lived before. This guide comes from countless reviews of MMIP content and includes guidance from leading Native creatives and subject matter experts on the best practices around MMIP storytelling. This guide includes a glossary with terminology and definitions, case studies, and additional resources.

Business Ethics, International

List

The Producer Support Guide is a one-stop shop to discover opportunities available to producers that advance career aspirations and expand community. Some of these opportunities include but are not limited to fellowships, grants and labs.

International, Care & Safety, Crew

Report

Documentary filmmakers face a unique set of challenges in their work which negatively affect their mental health and overall well-being. This report explores the major themes from a series of twenty-one focus groups with documentary filmmakers in Canada, the US, and the UK. The report delves into the profound impact of the documentary film industry on filmmakers, examining the broader cultural aspects, working conditions, and personal consequences associated with this dynamic field. It also discusses identity specific themes highlighted in focus groups which included: women and non-binary filmmakers, LGBTQIA2S+ filmmakers; BIPOC filmmakers; and filmmakers with disabilities. Each section also contains a brief discussion of participant suggestions on how to create a brighter future. This research will inform DocuMentality’s ongoing work to improve wellbeing in the documentary film industry.

Accountability, Authorship, Film Festivals, Race, Religion, Representation, Systemic Issues

Open Letter

This letter by Muslim, and Middle Eastern, North African and South Asian (MENASA) filmmakers has been written in response to the Sundance Film Festival’s decision to program the film “Jihad Rehab” at the 2022 festival. The film, which is focused on former Guantanamo Bay prisoners detained by a Saudi Arabian rehab facility, instigated a divisive response in the weeks leading up to its premiere and in the aftermath.

International, Business Ethics

Guidelines/ Framework

This document details the standard A-Z industry production budget for a documentary and breaks it down into phases of production. A glossary of terms is included for easy reference.

Representation, Diversity/ Inclusion, Race

Organization

IllumiNative is an unapologetically ambitious and innovative Native women-led organization, grounded in core Native values and community, and guided by research. Their mission is to build power for Native peoples by amplifying contemporary Native voices, stories, and issues to advance justice, equity, and self-determination.

Diversity/ Inclusion, Representation, Race

Organization

The Indigenous Screen Office (ISO) is an independent national advocacy and funding organization serving First Nations, Inuit and Métis creators of screen content in Canada. The ISO’s mandate is to foster and support narrative sovereignty and cultural revitalization by increasing Indigenous storytelling on screens and promoting Indigenous values and participation across the sector. ISO policies and activities are grounded in and informed by Indigenous knowledge(s), which means respecting Indigenous ways of knowing, seeing, doing, acting, and listening. We acknowledge, and strive to uphold the principles of respect, reciprocity, responsibility, and relevance in our working relationships.

Care & Safety, Crew, Participants

Organization

DocuMentality’s aim is to create dialogue and collaborative change to the key mental health and well-being challenges currently facing the documentary community: filmmakers, crew and participants. One of the key functions of the DocuMentality initiative is to conduct and share research related to mental health in the documentary field.

Participants, Care & Safety

Organization

The mission of the Documentary Participant Empowerment Alliance (DPEA) is to bring vital resources to all those who have appeared in or are considering appearing in documentary films. These resources include legal, mental health, counseling, mediation, and mentorship opportunities. They also aim to educate documentary and “based-on-true-life” filmmakers in how to ethically engage with their film participants and characters.

Compensation, Crew, Business Ethics

Survey

The Pay Transparency Project (PTP) is a community-driven database that offers nonfiction video professionals timely insight into constantly evolving hiring trends and pay parity practices. Additionally, it serves as a tracking tool for structural industry shifts and recommendations. This grassroots initiative grew out of an urgent desire by our collective communities to move the documentary and nonfiction video fields towards greater equity, justice, inclusion, and transparency. PTP is intended to benefit all professional nonfiction video storytellers, from early-career individuals to industry veterans who may be transitioning from full-time employment to freelance work. Staff department heads and hiring executives looking to formalize and strengthen standards across the field are also encouraged to contribute and use PTP, to promote a more equitable and sustainable industry for all.

Accessibility, International, Post Production, Production, Pre-Production, Diversity/ Inclusion

Guidelines/ Framework, Toolkit

Vastly supported in the EU and UN, this Guide encourages close collaboration between filmmakers and translators/ media access experts to create more accessible films that do not compromise any artistic/ aesthetic vision. The Guide includes information on: - Dubbing - Subtitling - Sign language interpretation - Audio descriptions - Translation The Guide also includes a comprehensive list of efforts broken into different production phases as well as budgetary implications for a standard accessible filmmaking package (amounts are in Euros).

Crew, Compensation, Transparency, Accountability

Guidelines/ Framework

This Code of Fair Practices aims to establish basic parameters to be applied to VOD Services’ contracts when commissioning feature films, TV series, and other audiovisual works (“originals”) from independent production companies. The Code encourages: - Fair pay and economic participation for producers - Producers' contribution and participation in future derivative works - Transparency and accountability - Public benefits and fiscal incentives

Gender, Race, Representation, Diversity/ Inclusion

Report

The purpose of this study was to examine the gender identity, racial/ethnicity, and age of leads/co leads across the 100 top-grossing films from 2007 to 2023. The findings show decreases in inclusion for women and women of color. Despite posturing, the legacy studios have dealt little or reversed course on inclusion in popular films. It is time for experts to guide their decision making rather than rely on internal mechanisms for change.

Artificial Intelligence (AI), Archival

Report

With this report, Variety Intelligence Platform gives a clear-eyed view of the current state of the industry’s exploration and use of gen AI in aspects of the production process including concept art, storyboarding, VFX and content localization. It further examines the advancement and potential of video generation models that have gripped the industry, including OpenAI’s Sora and Google DeepMind’s Veo, which were announced in the first half of 2024. Yet to understand how the tech is actively being used today also requires an understanding of its limitations and challenges. VIP+ digs into the specific factors holding back gen AI implementation as tools used to make the highest production-value content. Ethical use is now central and critical to gen AI decision making for media and entertainment companies, and it is the final focus area of this report. Research for this special report partly draws from 28 independent interviews conducted on background from February to May 2024 with leaders at generative AI tech and service providers, those in VFX and content localization networks, film and TV concept and storyboard artists, independent filmmakers experimenting with generative AI, ethical technologists and lawyers specializing in entertainment and cybersecurity.

Accountability, Systemic Issues

Video

Filmmakers and stakeholders tackling structural and values-related challenges in the documentary ecosystem report back to the field on their work at the IDA's Getting Real 2020. In this video, you'll hear from the Ethics & Accountability Working group, Beyond Inclusion, and Distribution Advocates.

Diversity/ Inclusion, Race, Representation

Organization

The Shine Network Institute (TSNI) strives to empower Indigenous women, gender-diverse, and Two-Spirit people to thrive. With a focus on the screen-based media sector, they are committed to dismantling systemic and structural barriers that have kept Indigenous women, gender-diverse, and Two-Spirit people from thriving within the sector. Through training, mentorship and advocacy TSNI strives to provide the most effective pathways to success that offer sustainable and lasting outcomes. Indigenous women, gender-diverse, and Two-Spirit people are the most under-represented voice in the Canadian screen-based media sector. They want to eradicate this reality by providing Indigenous women, gender-diverse, and Two-Spirit people with the tools, resources and training that lead to opportunity, advancement and radical transformation of the Canadian film and television landscape.

International, Consent, Children\Minors, Journalism, Care & Safety, Politics, War, Religion, Financing, Accountability, Privacy, Archival

Guidelines/ Framework

The Editorial Guidelines are the BBC's values and standards. They apply to all their content, wherever and however it is received. The guidelines include topics such as: - Accuracy - Impartiality - Harm and Offence - Fairness to Contributors and Consent - Privacy - Crime and Anti-social Behavior - Children and Young People - Politics, Public Policy and Polls - War, Terror and Emergencies - Religious Content - Re-use, Reversioning and Permanent Availability - Independence from External Interests - Conflicts of Interest - External Relationships and Financing - Competitions, Votes and Interactivity - The Law

Diversity/ Inclusion, Representation, Race

Organization

Kin Theory is an Indigenous media maker database designed to showcase and uplift Indigenous media creators while creating community and opportunity for industry connections. The overall goal of Kin Theory is to connect Indigenous media makers with each other, with diverse non-Indigenous media makers, and with industry partners for networking, hiring, mentoring, funding, and more. Kin Theory is an initiative of Nia Tero, a global nonprofit based in Seattle, Washington, USA that works in solidarity with Indigenous Peoples who sustain thriving territories and cultures to strengthen guardianship of Earth and all beings. The Kin Theory website welcomes Indigenous media makers (and those who want to partner with or hire them) into the Kin Theory family. Kin Theory shares resources and opportunities with the Kin Theory community and uplifts other global majority media maker databases and networks through email communication. In addition to creating a space for community and opportunity online, the Kin Theory team produces a robust series of in-person and virtual events featuring partners within and outside of the film industry. The goal of these events is to build awareness around Indigenous representation in media, center Indigenous and BIPOC solidarity, celebrate climate storytelling, empower land guardians, and hold space for accomplishments and future dreaming.

International, Authorship, Accountability, Care & Safety, Consent, Diversity/ Inclusion, Investors, Participants, Representation, Race, Production

Guidelines/ Framework

Commissioned by the imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival and prepared by Marcia Nickerson with support from Communications MDR, this highly-anticipated guide provides cultural principles, key findings from a national consultation process, and best practices for filmmakers, production companies, and funders when depicting Indigenous content on screen, and how communities can be collaborative partners. This guide was made possible through the support of: Canada Media Fund, the National Film Board of Canada, Ontario Creates, Telefilm Canada, Creative BC and the Inspirit Foundation.

Accessibility, Film Festivals

Survey, Video

FWD-Doc in partnership with Film Event Accessibility Working Group with the support of Film Festival Alliance, and in association with 1IN4 Coalition have launched the Film Event Accessibility Scorecard. Film event attendees are invited to share their experience by filling out the scorecard, which takes 15-20 minutes to complete. Film event organizers are invited to enroll their festival or event, and receive scoreboard responses associated with their event. The results will be utilized to improve the film events experience and create a more inclusive field, accessible for all.

Care & Safety, Consent, Compensation, Participants, Systemic Issues

Report

This report shares Peace is Loud’s findings about the state of participant care throughout the documentary field, as well as possibilities for its future. It doesn’t aim to fully unpack the complexity of documentary participant care, but instead, provides an overview of some of the issues filmmakers are grappling with and posits questions for further consideration. Some of the issues touched upon include consent, compensation, and industry support for participant care. The report includes a list of the organizations leading field-wide interventions to support participant care, as well as organizations that have a broader overall mission like advancing ethics, accountable filmmaking, or mental health support and by doing so, indirectly support participant care.

Systemic Issues, Race, Gender, Impact, Audience, Diversity/ Inclusion

Opinion

This opinion piece addresses the dominance of the white male critic, its harmful impact, and the need for more cultural critics and critics of color. The authors state, "those who have for decades been given the biggest platforms to interpret culture are white men. This means that the spaces in media where national mythologies are articulated, debated and affirmed are still largely segregated. The conversation about our collective imagination has the same blind spots as our political discourse"... "Art reviews matter because they can define aesthetic movements or dismiss them". The authors reference the 2019 Whitney Biennial, the reception of "Green Book", and their initiative, Critical Minded, meant to amplify the work of critics of color.

Care & Safety, Consent, Participants, Investors

Guidelines/ Framework

When filmmaker Jennifer Tiexiera directed the documentary series Unveiled: Surviving La Luz del Mundo, she used a consent calendar: a system she designed to ensure the series’ participants could make decisions around their participation at every stage of the process. This resource examines this consent calendar, why it was effective and meaningful, and how other filmmakers, distributors, and industry might use this model for their projects too. Please note: the consent calendar is not a one-size-fits-all solution, and it should be molded accordingly per project.

Post Production, Crew

Guidelines/ Framework

This Guide is meant to help producers, directors, and distributors plan a realistic documentary schedule, ensuring the most efficient and cost-effective edit while maximizing the creative contributions of the edit team. It is not meant to replace union guidelines (most documentaries are small, non-union productions).

International, Impact

Organization

The Global Impact Producers Alliance (GIPA) is a community-led network, nurturing impact producers and amplifying their work. The purpose of GIPA is for members to access and exchange resources, share successful strategy ideas and partnerships, so that collectively we can bring well-crafted and powerful social issue media to core audiences through impact campaigns that make a difference.

Reality TV\Unscripted, Participants, Care & Safety

Organization

The UCAN Foundation is a network of reality TV participants and mental health and legal experts dedicated to supporting cast members. Their goal is to provide cast members with resources such as contract review and legal support to make informed decisions, understand the reality of productions, and seek help in a safe and supportive environment.

Credits, Crew

Guidelines/ Framework

The goal of this guide is to standardize the crediting landscape for documentary films. The DPA’s intention is that these crediting standards will clarify the criteria for various producer roles—serving film investors, donors, supporters, and filmmakers alike in credit discussions and negotiations—and that they will be adopted widely. Importantly, the recommendations in this guide are crafted as best practices rather than rules, recognizing that some situations may warrant filmmakers and their partners to deviate from them. In such circumstances, we encourage filmmakers and their partners to use these standards as a starting point, with the specificities of a project dictating where, when, and how exceptions are applied.

Authorship, Race, Representation, Systemic Issues

Article

As the Standing Rock protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline went from bad to worse to hopeful to tentative, dozens of documentarians descended on the Sioux reservation. And while it’s no longer uncommon for major news events to attract multiple filmmakers, the issue is who gets to tell the story and who gets resources to tell that story, especially when Native Americans lack mainstream opportunities in Hollywood. This article includes statements from Native American filmmakers on the subject.

Systemic Issues

Video, Panel discussion

The challenges of the pandemic, the uprising for racial justice, and an economic recession have made inequities more clear and the status quo is not sustainable. And yet, we face tremendous opportunities for documentaries in the streaming media age. This panel will discuss research as a tool for reparative action in our documentary field, and refer to the Center for Media & Social Impact’s the State of the Documentary Field 2020 study, the Ford Foundation’s Beyond Inclusion, and more informal membership scans. Moderated by Chi-Hui Yang of Ford Foundation’s Just Films, with researchers Caty Borum Chattoo and Sahar Driver, and activists Sonya Childress and Lisa Valencia-Svensson.

Care & Safety, Participants, Authorship, Consent, Privacy

Opinion, Guidelines/ Framework

A trauma specialist and survivor reflects on the way the media (journalists and filmmakers alike) works with trauma survivors, and includes their own experience with the media. They suggest a code of conduct that journalists and filmmakers should follow.

Journalism, Care & Safety, Accountability, Transparency

Guidelines/ Framework

This framework outlines the SPJ's four principles as the foundation of ethical journalism and encourages their use in its practice by all people in all media. The four principles include: - "Seek Truth and Report It" - "Minimize Harm" - "Act Independently" - "Be Accountable and Transparent"

Care & Safety, Consent, Participants, Compensation, Accessibility, Impact, International

Report, Toolkit

In 2024, Peace is Loud and DocuMentality partnered on a research initiative to understand how the experience of being in a documentary film affects participant’s health and well-being. The research was conducted through three focus groups conducted with 22 documentary film participants from around the world in early 2024. The report is broken up into 2 parts. Part 1 documents participants’ experiences from the creation through the distribution of a film (it is divided into phases of production). Part 2 offers reflections on ways that filmmakers can support participants including 8 strategies for participant care, reflection questions and additional resources.

Authorship, Race, Systemic Issues, Representation

Article

When HBO Sports announced upcoming docuseries “Tiger,” controversy followed. The problem didn’t lie in the sometimes-tabloid story of champion golfer Tiger Woods, but in its telling: The directors are two white men, Matthew Heineman and Matthew Hamachek, who previously collaborated on the Oscar-nominated “Cartel Land,” on which Hamachek served as editor. HBO dropped the production’s introductory press release in the middle of a summer marked by the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd, nationwide protests, and Black Lives Matter. A community of Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) documentary filmmakers responded to “Tiger” as one more film in a series that never seems to end: a story of Black people told by white men.

True Crime, Care & Safety, Participants, Consent, Privacy, International

Guidelines/ Framework

A set of guidelines on victim protection established by the Association of True Crime Producers. Despite members of their association recognizing and adhering to Ofcom guidelines, the Association wishes to ensure that they also adhere to their mutually adopted guidelines.