TRADITIONAL DOCUMENTARIES

ken burns films are on PBS usually, they are history documentaries
-TEACHING TOOLS for "history lessons"
-interviews with scholars
-Stills - interviews overlayed with voice overs  "ACADEMIC"

HBO today

Narrative storyline - telling the story "as it is, then" as opposed to reading of facts about a history lesson
Human effect of history -HBO gets very specialized about effects and human toll
Contemporary Issues- nothing about the civil war, these are personal issues
Niche Issues-  very specific stuff - Methadone addicts  "JOURNALISTIC"
more cinematic
more controversial

HBO Docs - $$$$$$ (REAL SEX)
Shocking 
Tittilating
expressive
"slice of life"???? - what life can be like in a taxi cat, or in the brothels

HBO likes documentaries to be HOT and not boring.  They often will play a role in production of a controversial documentary in order to make sure the director doesn’t stray far from his original premise.

HBO and PBS are now the top backers of nonfiction films.  5 of the 16 documentaries are Sundance were financed by HBO.  More docs are being paid for up-front.  

Michael Renov's  Four Tendencies of the Documentary:
1. to record, reveal, or preserve
2. to persuade or promote
3. to analyze or interrogate
4. to express

GROUP PROJECT

-If these walls could talk
-4 emmy nominations
-3 golden globe nomations
-won an award for editing, got positive press for HBO
-got medicore ratings from others

the laramie project  reactions of the public to Mathew Shepard going on a murder spree  in a small town.
critics had small problems with it, howeer it was a fairly successful movie.

The Tuskegee Airmen (1995)(TV)
Directed by Robert Markowitz
Laurence Fishburne won awards for his appearanes

The Emmy's - editing, casting, sound editing