A Black List for Docs

Often, if you are paying attention, the Oscars send a strong message. Not always about art, and not always intentionally.

In 2013, Ted Hope invited me to contribute a guest essay to his HopeForFilm blog, during a moment when independent filmmakers were first beginning to confront the collapse of traditional distribution models and the promise—still largely theoretical—of direct audience relationships.

More than a decade later, many of the same questions remain unresolved. T…