I love the words “factual content” to describe the shows we produce at Kensington. It’s a no-nonsense phrase for documentary programming that seeks to tell real-life social, political, scientific, cultural, and investigative stories, using many different styles and techniques.
The French Film Fest
Our TV series Museum Secrets fits this term nicely. The show had three successful seasons and has garnered a host of dedicated fans around the world – people who love their history lessons rooted in fact, served with a side of intrigue, and delivered with creativity and humour.
These days, it’s particularly hard for factual content producers to get their shows picked up. Sensational format and reality shows bring in ratings and although the people being documented are real, the storytelling often feels highly manipulated and designed to shock or mock.
Events like Sunny Side of the Doc make producing and selling factual content a little bit…brighter. Sunny Side of the Doc is an international marketplace dedicated to factual content where participants gather to sell or buy projects and to find partners.
Now in its 25th year of the festival, Sunny Side CEO Yves Jeanneau says, “What counts most for me is the stories that have been told thanks to international co-productions. Without them, the directors would not have had the means they needed to make them and the relevant distribution model.”
Kensington’s executive producer Robert Lang will be travelling to the beautiful port city of La Rochelle, France for this year’s market taking place June 23 – 26. He will be there pitching two documentary productions currently in the works with German and French co-producers Films à Cinq and Berlin Producers, along with several other series and one-off projects currently in development.
Because he has agreed to send updates from the festival, we can pretend we are there too – c’est magnifique!
NEXT WEEK:
Updates from our executive producer/festival reporter at Sunny Side 2014 in France…