Emmy-Nominated Documentarians Discuss Early Beginnings, Subject Bonds and Lifelong Passion for Filmmaking
variety.comJack Dunn Morgan Neville, the director of “Steve! (Martin): A Documentary in Two Pieces,” always loved movies and writing as a child, but when he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, he was unsure what to do with his interests.
He thought “writing seemed serious” and “movies were too frivolous” to get into show business, but once he started his first documentary, “Shotgun Freeway: Drives Through Lost L.A.,” he knew he found his lifelong passion. “I remember sending my parents a note two weeks into starting my first documentary saying, ‘This is what I’m going to do for the rest of my life,'” Neville said. “I instantly knew that documentary was all these different things I liked, the storytelling, the writing, the research, the interviewing, all of it.” As part of Variety’s Virtual FYC TV Fest, Neville joined Andrew Jarecki, director, executive producer and writer of “The Jinx – Part Two,” Mary Robertson and Emma Schwartz, directors and executive producers of “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV” and Justin Wilkes, president of Imagine Entertainment and producer of “Jim Henson Idea Man” for a Documentary Panel Discussion.
Senior TV features editor Emily Longeretta moderated the conversation. Documentaries come in all shapes and sizes in the age of streaming.
Whether it be a five-part limited series like “Quiet on Set,” or a two-part feature like “Steve!,” documentarians have more control than ever in how to organize their films.
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