Jim Cathcart

Senior Account Director, TV, Film, Documentaries This was the first time I attended SXSW without the Austin Convention Center serving as the central hub, as it’s currently closed for expansion and redevelopment. Many attendees wondered how this would impact the overall experience, but in my view, the organizers did an excellent job activating spaces across downtown Austin as showcase venues, panel rooms, and networking hubs. They also introduced dedicated “clubhouses” for each programming...

My experience attending this Fall’s DOC NYC Pro conference and the DOC NYC FEST was nothing short of motivational. In a year where documentary filmmakers have been confronted with financial and distribution challenges (i.e. the gutting of Federal funding, platform mergers etc.), as well as uncertainty around the evolving market for non-fiction work (diminishing audience attention spans, changes in taste), it’s the creators who band together in this community, stay the course, and make things...