AboutMickey Grant Expertise How to produce, direct, write,edit, and market documentaries
This would include which camera is best for a particular project and aspects of how to approach story telling of your documentary. Also, it is becoming even more critical to have a buyer at a major network such as the BBC (they are called Programme Editors there) to interact with during your production. It's really important to know the market and the major players to know who you are.
Experience Over 30 years of working on various aspects of documentaries with my primary function today of shooting and directing them.
You can find out a great deal about my films and background at my website at www.creativehat.com
Also, several of my films are on Google Video and can be found by going there and typing Mickey Grant in search. They include my latest film, INJECTION which is 80 minutes and shot on HDV. Also, THE CU CHI TUNNELS, which previously was distributed by BBC Worldwide and has played on major broadcssters in over 50 countries.
Organizations In the past I've been a member of many organizations such as NABET union but don't find it necessary in today's market place.
Publications About.com
Education/Credentials BFA from SMU in 1971 in Film
Masters in film from UNT in 1986
Awards and Honors Gold Award, Best Feature Length Documentary, Houston International Film Festival
Golden Star Halo Award, Southern California Motion Picture Council
Honorable Mention (twice), Chicago Film Festival
Second Place, Sinking Creek Film Festival
Question QUESTION: I would like to cite passages from a few books in the documentary itself, in the same way Ken Burns does in his work. Of course, I certainly plan on listing the author and title of the work from where these passages are from at the same time the text is onscreen.
Would I also need to get permission from the author him/herself and/or the publisher before I can show these passages onscreen? Where can I find the release form for this in order to get permission to show that section in the final feature? I appreciate your help.
ANSWER: Often I have subjects on-camera who quote people, literature, etc. I rarely do films with voice overs. I assume that the same rules apply. If your film consisted entirely of a quote of a literary work, then I believe you would need to get rights to it. I'm going to need to do some more research. It's a good question. I'm not an entertainment lawyer and I'd suggest that no matter what my answer is that you verify it with a copyright lawyer.
Be aware that long quotes on the screen are not visual... this is a visual medium. If you visit my film INJECTION which is on Google Video, you will see a newspaper story from the Washington Post. I recreated the paper and zoomed into the story. On camera I was paraphrasing the story.
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QUESTION: It would be a short quote, and the documentary would not consist entirely of quotes. The way you describe the way you cited the Washington Post article is similar to the way I would cite it in the feature. Did you have to get permission from the newspaper or reporter before you could include this in your project?
Answer I didn't need their permission. There is a word for this type of right and I can't think of it now. Email me at my email at Mickeyfilm@aol.com and I'll try to find it tomorrow. I'm doing a lot of late night editing on my new film I shot in Albania... go to www.transalbania.com.
