Speaker Series - Documentary Realities: Patterns & Predictors of Success

​After launching the distribution of our research findings as the opening session at Sundance’s Impact Lounge, the DPA’s Research & Data Chair Jonathan Goodman Levitt will share them online in this internal presentation exclusively for DPA members:

​For a decade, the Documentary Producers Alliance has highlighted one of the field’s biggest challenges: a lack of transparency. Now, with new research findings drawn from a wide-ranging study of over 300 established documentary filmmakers, the data reveals stark industry realities for the first time. How much money are Producers and Director/Producers making? How do their identities, achievements, and choices relate to their success? What factors have a different impact than we often assume?

​​This session replaces speculation with evidence-based insights about the careers of working documentary filmmakers and the inequalities involved. It opens a conversation about how improving data collection and analysis practices is crucial for driving better industry decision-making, in service of building a more equitable documentary field.