The Documentary Summit

The Documentary Summit is led by Los Angeles based filmmaker and author of THE DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKERS HANDBOOK, Andrew Zinnes.

He will be joined by a group of distinguished industry guest speakers covering all aspects of documentary filmmaking in 2013 and beyond.

Al Morrow: Producer at Met Film Production

Al is an award winning producer and Head of Documentary at Met Film Production. Her latest film The Great Hip Hop Hoax (BBC Scotland, BBC Storyville, Creative Scotland) premiered at SXSW and will be released in UK cinemas in July.  Her feature documentary, Village At The End of the World directed by BAFTA Award Winner Sarah Gavron is currently enjoying a theatrical release through Dogwoof. Previous films include Jerry Rothwell's Town of Runners (Britdoc C4 Fund, Arte, RTHK)which premiered at Tribeca and was released theatrically in the UK through Dogwoof and the Grierson nominated films, Donor Unknown (More 4, VPRO, Arte) directed by Jerry Rothwell and Men Who Swim (BBC Storyville, ZDF/Arte, SVT) directed by Dylan Williams. 

Jerry Rothwell: Documentary Filmmaker
Jerry’s work includes Donor Unknown (More 4/Arte/CBC/PBS/VPRO) about a sperm donor and his many offspring, Heavy Load (IFC/ITVS/BBC), about a group of people with learning disabilities who form a punk band and Deep Water (Pathe/FilmFour/UK Film Council) about Donald Crowhurst’s ill-fated round the world yacht race. His latest film Town of Runners (PBS/Arte/RHK/ITVS) was released theatrically premiered at Tribeca Film Festival.

Kimberley Anwen Warner, Head of Acquisitions and Digital Distribution, MercuryMedia
In addition to heading up acquisitions for Mercury, Kimberley manages the company’s digital distribution arm to ensure that each film reaches its full potential in this important new market. Former Head of Acquisitions for Journeyman Pictures, Kimberley has development-produced over ten multi-broadcast docs and also plays a key role in Mercury’s development slate.

Craig McCall : Director and Producer
Craig's latest film as a director & producer was the critically acclaimed documentary CAMERAMAN: The Life & Work of Jack Cardiff. It premièred at Cannes and has subsequently been screened at over 40 film festivals and sold worldwide. As an ExecutiveProducer he recently completed 'Me & Me Dad' on film director John Boorman and 'Natan'. All his films have been made outside the broadcast system.

Edward Caffrey : Head of Documentary Acquisitions & Sales | Journeyman Pictures
Edward joined factual distributor Journeyman Pictures in 2010 as an acquisitions executive. In January 2012 he also took over management of the sales department. He is always on the prowl for great new documentaries and new clients to sell them to. He also likes to practice his Spanish with the friendly buyers in his main sales territories; Spain and Latin America.

Rachel Seifert: Filmmaker
Rachel is an award-winning producer and has recently directed the feature-length film COCAINE UNWRAPPED, a documentary which travels the route of cocaine telling the stories of coca farmers in Bolivia and Colombia, women drug mules in Ecuador, dealers on the streets of Mexico, law enforcement officials on the streets of Baltimore, and users in the West. She is currently a reporter at Channel 4 News.

Chris Atkins: Director and Producer

Chris' first doc, the polemical and entertaining theatrical feature Taking Liberties, is about the loss of civil liberties in the UK. In June 2007 the film was released theatrically and was one of the highest-grossing documentaries of 2007. Chris was nominated for a BAFTA – The Carl Foreman Award for best writer, director or producer in their first feature film. He has since produced a slew of controversial documentaries for both cinema and TV.

Andy Heathcote: Filmmaker

In 2006 Andy Heathcote founded Trufflepig Films with Heike Bachelier to self fund and make their own documentary feature films. Their first feature THE LOST WORLD OF MR HARDY was successfully DIY released in UK cinemas in 2008. THE MOO MAN is their second outing and it world premiered in competition at Sundance 2013 and is currently screening around the world on the festival circuit. It will be released in UK cinemas on 12th July.

Sarah Mosses: Partnerships Manager, BRITDOC Foundation
Sarah began working with the Foundation during the BRITDOC Film Festival 2006-2008 and continued as a distribution consultant for The Yes Men Fix The World and Erasing David. Sarah was also involved with launching the Yes Men and Shooting People branded channels for the Babelgum online platform and previously acted as a consultant for Working Films UK. She now manages BRITDOC Films distribution department.

Afarin Eghbal, New Director
Afarin moved to London as a baby with her family following the 1979 Iranian Revolution. Her NFTS graduation film, ‘Abuelas’ – an animated-doc about the plight of the Argentine “Grandmothers of May Square” - screened at over 120 film-festivals and received 55 awards, including a BAFTA Nomination in 2012. Afarin is currently in pre-production on her first live-action feature film, which will be shot in the spring of 2013.

Guy Natanel, New Director

After six years of running his own art-house cinema in Colorado, Natanel sold his theatre to pursue a career as a filmmaker. He completed his degree with distinction and was commissioned for his first feature-length project, Carrying the Light, immediately after graduation. In both past and current film productions, Natanel engages with questions of identity, memory, conflict, belonging, home and exile.

Kim Longinotto - Documentary Filmmaker
Kim is a multi award filmmaker who has worked with independent production companies as well as major broadcasters. As an observational filmmaker, she usually excludes certain documentary techniques such as advanced planning, scripting, staging, narration, lighting, reenactment and interviewing. Her unobtrusiveness gives the subject on camera a certain voice and presence that may not have emerged with another documentary.

Tariq Sayfoo, RT Cooper Solicitors
Tariqs focus is on intellectual property and commercial law. He has a breadth of experience in media and entertainment, data protection, intellectual property and corporate and commercial matters, in particular: marketing authorisations; collaboration agreements; producers agreements; recording contracts; due diligence; commercial contracts (including tendering for service contracts); data sharing agreements; and privacy policies.