doc it out

Feature Article #1

HotDocs 09: Waterlife

Please, please, please see this movie!

Agnes Varnum | May 6th, 2009 | Continued

Feature Article #2

My 2-Year Meme: Once

I haven’t had many great loves in my life but I have had a few minor loves. And while usually I don’t talk much about my personal life here, as seems to happen for those of us who watch movies for a living, my life has crossed into the world of fiction through a story called Once by John Carney.

Agnes Varnum | April 4th, 2009 | Continued

Feature Article #3

A Geek’s Guide to SXSW Film

There are many websites and blog posts out pre-SXSW to help you figure out the behemoth event, but since I have a panel on the subject, I want to add my own to the mix. Check out all of the geeky Film goodness – check back as updates are coming in all the time.

Agnes Varnum | February 27th, 2009 | Continued

Feature Article #4

Sundance 09: Dirt! The Movie

Those who read this blog know that I tend to shy away from talking about films if I don’t like them. The reason being simply that there are so many I do love to cover. There are things I liked and some things I didn’t like about Dirt! The Movie from the Documentary Competition, but I think that the good makes this a film worth watching.

Agnes Varnum | January 20th, 2009 | Continued

Feature Article #5

I.O.U.S.A.

There is a scene in Patrick Creadon’s I.O.U.S.A. where a team of financial experts, who have gone on a bi-partisan speaking tour to alert Americans to the dire financial straits our country is in, are ignored by local media.

Agnes Varnum | November 17th, 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 review of your film or DVD, want to suggest an article 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, indieWIRE.com

More about Agnes:

The 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 Austin, 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