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Feature Article #1

Cine Las Americas: Septiembres

Carles Bosch, Oscar nominated director of Balseros, takes the stage after the premiere of Septiembres. To audience members who wonder where else the film might be seen, Bosch responds, there is no US distributor and he is not optimistic.

Agnes Varnum | April 17th, 2008 | Continued

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Feature Article #2

SXSW 08: In a Dream

I’m not sure I’ve ever had a day at a festival like I had yesterday. Truly amazing. I watched Margaret Brown’s excellent work, then In a Dream by Jeremiah Zagar, a beautiful new film that took home the Emerging Visions Audience Award here at .

Agnes Varnum | March 14th, 2008 | Continued

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Feature Article #3

SXSW 08: The Order of Myths

Margaret Brown’s The Order of Myths, is one of those rare docs that churned up my thoughts and emotions, really getting me thinking about all kinds of issues relating to race and the American cultural landscape. Besides the great cinematography and lavish soundtrack, the film never belies complexity and is all the better for its confusion.

Agnes Varnum | March 13th, 2008 | Continued

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Feature Article #4

SXSW 08: Beautiful Losers

If you enjoy watching creativity at work on shows like Project Runway or doing your own or craft, Beautiful Losers is the movie for you here at this year’s . Combining animation, fantastic score and subjects who live to create, the film is a kind of roadmap for following your own bliss.

Agnes Varnum | March 10th, 2008 | Continued

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Feature Article #5

Subsidized Theatrical Distro for Docs?

Our esteemed leader, by virtual of being a celebrity and a millionaire, , has decided to rescue documentary. Thank goodness he is going to throw his considerable weight onto theater chains and demand they show docs on Monday nights on one screen. Whew.

Agnes Varnum | February 24th, 2008 | Continued

About this Site

doc it out began as the personal/professional blog of Agnes Varnum, a freelance writer and film programmer. The primary focus is documentary films, distribution of documentary and independent film and the intersection between new media tools and indie filmmaking, but also includes anything else that Agnes finds worthy of mention.

If you are interested in a of your film or DVD, want to suggest an or wish to contribute to or advertise on this blog, please send pertinent information using the Contact page. All submissions become property of doc it out, and there will be no promise of inclusion on the site.

“Agnes Varnum provides a lighthearted yet highly informed approach to covering the documentary scene on her blog, and offers plenty of links and resources for filmmakers to boot - from tips on getting distribution to making money online with your movies.”--Jonny Leahan, .com

More about Agnes:

av_thumb.jpgThe last few years have seen me working on a variety of projects, but the through-line is a passion for independent film, technology and finding ways to connect audiences with great work.

My latest incarnation is as the communications manager for the Austin Film Society in , TX. AFS is a membership organization that produces series and premiere screenings, and provides youth media education and artists’ services for Texas filmmakers, and my role is to get the word out about our great programs. I also contribute to a variety of publications including Renew Media’s Resources blog, indieWIRE and Documentary. Past positions include marketing and publicity associate for First Run/Icarus Films and associate director for the Center for Social Media at American University.

Other related projects include programming and managing Spotlight on Documentaries at the IFP Market (2006); outreach coordinator for the Documentary Filmmakers’ Statement of Best Practices in Fair Use, a project of AU’s Center for Social Media and the Program on Intellectual Property and the Public Interest (2005-2006); coordinating panels for the Newport International Film Festival (2006) as well as sitting on the programming committee in 2006 and 2007; keepin’ it real as an AFI Fest theater manager (2006); SILVERDOCS programming committee (2004, 2005).

This blog has taken up a lot of time but has resulted in a number of fabulous new friends which I wouldn’t have made otherwise, as well as giving me a reason to stay on top of things in this crazy field of work. I continue to do a variety of freelance writing and film programming jobs, which I will post about as they come up.

If I have spare time, I enjoy scuba diving, reading and travel. I have a few ‘fabric arts’ projects in various stages of completion - keep an eye out for pics of completed work, hopefully soon.

I want to know God’s thoughts, the rest are details.
A. Einstein

I will not die an unlived life.
I will not live in fear
of falling or catching fire.
I choose to inhabit my days,
to allow my living to open me,
to make me less afraid,
more accessible,
to loosen my heart
until it becomes a wing,
a torch, a promise.
I choose to risk my significance;
to live so that which came to me as seed
goes to the next as blossom
and that which came to me as blossom,
goes on as fruit.
Fully Alive by
Dawna Markova

Other Recent Articles

Finalist #3

May 2nd, 2008 • Agnes Varnum • 0 comments • Related Posts • Tags

My new buddy Garret alerted me to a short he helped out with that is a finalist in an IFC.com contest. Watch “Like So Many Things… Unsaid” and vote for it if you like it; it’s coming in second place right now, so help a brotha out. (Tried embedding but the player is too wide for the column… must… click… through… ugh, I know it’s tough.)

iW: Arts Engine Celebrates 10 Years

May 2nd, 2008 • Agnes Varnum • 0 comments • Related Posts • Tags

Ten years can either be a blip or an eternity depending on your perspective. The year 1997 saw President Bill Clinton inaugurated for his second term, James Cameron’s “Titantic” was the top movie and a book about a young wizard named Harry Potter first hit shelves. It was before the Internet stock bust and “information superhighway” was still a promise. The world of documentary in the U.S. was one of foundation funding, public television broadcast and educational distribution with precious few docs breaking into any kind of commercial success. It was in that entrenched world that then-new filmmakers Katy Chevigny and Julia Pimsleur felt like they had little opportunity. Read the article & catch screenings of Arts Engine productions at The Paley Center in NYC this weekend>>

Quick Feet, Soft Hands

April 29th, 2008 • Agnes Varnum • 3 comments • Related Posts • Tags

Reason #21 to be sad about not living on the East Coast any longer: Our fabulous Self-Reliant Filmmaker Paul Harrill’s new short, Quick Feet, Soft Hands, will be showing at the Maryland Film Festival after its Nashville premiere. It stars indie up-and-coming-Queen Greta Gerwig as “a young woman whose hopes of moving up are tied to Jim, a minor league baseball player. As Jim falls deeper into a batting slump, the couple must cope with the day-to-day realities of being young and poor. And they must confront the prospect that they may never make it to the big leagues.”

Best of luck to Paul and team, and if you are in the area or headed to the fest, check it out yo.


Quick Feet, Soft Hands - Trailer from Paul Harrill on Vimeo.

Much Ado About Nothing, or Not?

April 28th, 2008 • Agnes Varnum • 2 comments • Related Posts • Tags

Over the years, I’ve heard a variety of documentary conversations. One of the issues that always comes up is paying subjects and the topic is still very much alive, as evidenced by a recent NY Times article:

“I paid the ‘bad apples’ because they asked to be paid, and they would not have been interviewed otherwise,” [Errol Morris] said in a statement. In a brief interview after the screening of the film at the Tribeca Film Festival in Midtown Manhattan on Thursday night, Mr. Morris would not say which of the soldiers he paid, or how much. Read the entire article>>

The discusses the long-held belief by journalists that paying subjects can alter the story they tell. And while no one writes or says that documentary is journalism, by discussing that standard in journalism  in context of a film like Errol Morris’ Standard Operating Procedure, there is definitely a linking of the two traditions. But documentary isn’t journalism, even if ancillary products like books and articles are produced in conjunction with the film.

A filmmaker can spend anywhere from hours to years intruding on the lives of subjects. Frequently, the filmmaker is an economically advantaged person sporting expensive equipment, flights to and from the subjects home, and probably a paid crew. It’s difficult for people outside of the industry to understand that the majority of docs don’t make money. Errol Morris and few select others aside, even those that appear on television or in theaters often make back about as much as they did to produce. Even so, most filmmakers understand the disparity in their relationship with subjects and will walk this line about paying subjects by sometimes offering assistance in one form or another. Some are hardliners, while others, like Morris, believe the ends of telling their stories justify the means.

Leftover Matzah?

April 20th, 2008 • Agnes Varnum • 2 comments • Related Posts • Tags

Shot by the lovely Jesse Epstein. Enjoy!

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