August Antidote: Inside the Best Films This Year
Where to Watch 2023's Emmy-Nominated Docs; Behind the Scenes of this Season's Big Shows; New Development Initiative Announced; August Deadlines
Happy Thursday, friends, Welcome to the doldrums of August.
Outside, we’ve never been so hot. Inside the industry, negotiators have “never seen it this bad.” We need to take the edge off.
The News & Doc Emmy nominations couldn’t come at a better time. After you finish your picket line shift (h/t Leila Barghouty), lean back with your friends’ best work.
Who made what? And where can you watch? Let’s dive in.
— Jean Ellen & Kasia
Co-Founders, Portrait
Roll of Honor
Premieres, Press, Awards, and Standout Member Work This Week
Behind the Scenes of…
"Survival of the The Thickest.” The show is now in the top 10 on Netflix and getting great reviews. We loved this member shout out: “Cinematographer Dagmar Weaver-Madsen deserves much credit for making this show pop in a way that very few series understand.”
“The Crowded Room.” We loved the AVID timelines that editor Chris Rand shared this week on Portrait. With the finale now up on Apple TV+, all 10 episodes of the Tom Holland thrilled are now ready to binge.
“Joy Ride.” Don’t forget to sign up for DP Paul Yee’s craft talk with Christine Ng this Tuesday! Comment on Christine’s post if you’re going!
WHERE TO WATCH: The News & Doc Nominee Emmy Round Up AKA Cure for Summer Blues
On Netflix
Civil: Ben Crump. Roger Ross Williams, Tracy Jarrett, Isabel Castro.
Earthstorm. Nick Kraus, Shepherd Ahlers, Daniel Hollis, Jerry Risius.
How to Change Your Mind. Julie Gratz, Jessie Deeter, Carmen Delaney.
I Am Vanessa Guillen. Nell Constantinople, Isabel Castro, Christy Wegener, Andrea Berman, Nausheen Dadabhoy.
Is That Black Enough For You?!? Stephen Bailey, Justin Ervin.
Meltdown: Three Mile Island. Bill Wheeler, Matthew Rosenthal, Stuart Sender.
Principles of Pleasure. Thalia Mavros, Emily McCann Lesser, Olivia Becker, Emily Collins, Victoria Arslani, Nijah Brown, Sara Spink, Tash Dupker, Martha Halliday, Eric Larson.
On Other Streaming Platforms
The Flagmakers. Sharon Liese. Nat Geo / Disney+.
Flight/Risk. Celia Aniskovich, Gabriella Garcia-Pardo, Ray Whitehouse. Amazon Prime.
The Janes. Emma Pildes, Rachel Bozich. HBO / Max.
Lowndes County and the Road to Black Power. Geeta Gandbhir, Linzee Troubh. Peacock.
Retrograde. Jacopo Campaiola, Joedan Okun, Charlotte Zonis, Ruella Rouf. Nat Geo / Disney+.
The Sentence of Michael Thompson. Justin Lacob, Alex Pilkington. Peacock.
Welcome to Wrexham. Mohamed El Manasterly. Hulu.
Wuhan Wuhan. Diane Quon, Yung Chang, Evita Zhou, Elizabeth Liang, Dora Wu, Emily Ge Wagner, Will Zang, Zimo Huang. Apple TV+.
And Don’t Miss These Great News Features and Documentary Shorts.
Battle for Bakhmut. Zach Caldwell, Ben Solomon. And congrats to Jika Gonzalez and the extended Vice crew for 30 nominations!
Independent Lens: Apart. Tim Metzger. PBS.
In Real Life: The New Death. Joe Van Eeckhout, Hailey Gavin. Scripps/Newsy.
Nuisance Bear. Alex Pritz, Will Miller, Jack Weisman, Gabriela Osio Vanden, Sam Holling, David Rose. The New Yorker / Documist. Youtube.
Taking on Taylor Swift. Caresse Haaser, Taylor Su , Jackie Moreno, Courtney Wells, Padriac Driscoll. CNN Flash Docs. And congrats to everyone at CNN for 45 nominations!
Congratulations to all who are nominated. Did we miss your film? Let us know!
Window of Opportunity
Weekly Jobs, Grants, Labs, Intensives, Workshops, and More
From Soheil Rezayazdi at Gotham: “We’re accepting applications for the Documentary Development Initiative now thru Aug 21. Fellows get $50k, mentorship & more.” DM Soheil for details.
Closing Soon: July/August Deadlines
Chopard X BTTL Action Grant (8/5 deadline)
IDA Documentary Awards (8/8 deadline)
iTVS Open Call (8/11 deadline)
New Orleans Film Society South Pitch (8/11 deadline)
The Gotham: Owning It Personal Brand Accountability Challenge (8/18 deadline)
Film Independent Screenwriting Lab (non-member: 8/28; member: 9/11)
Sundance Graton Fellowship (8/28 deadline)
Bloomberg Green Docs (9/1 deadline)
Berlinale Talents Summit (9/4 deadline)
Nostos Screenwriting Retreat (9/15 deadline)
The Athena List (9/15 deadline)
Jobs/Gigs Roundup
Chief Executive Officer, NowThis News.
Vice President, Social Media (National Geographic), The Walt Disney Company.
Supervising Producer, CNN, The Situation Room, Warner Bros. Discovery.
Senior Producer, MSNBC Social Strategy, NBCUniversal.
Multi-Platform Video Producer/Editor - NBC Sports Bay Area, NBCUniversal.
Manager, Content and Videographer, Miami HEAT.
Editorial Producer, CNN Tonight, Warner Bros. Discovery.
Digital Audio Video Content Producer/Editor, Audacy, Inc.
End Credits: Post of the Week
Thanks to Sophia Myszkowski for her stills from “Glitch” — and shout out to director Salima Koroma, producer Olivia Snyder-Spak, and DP Barbie Leung.
We love a behind-the-scenes post — and so do you! They consistently get the strongest engagement. We aren’t surprised.
Until next week, friends. See you on the app.