The WGA strikes have shut down productions across the US and there are more strikes looming with SAG-AFTRA and the Directors Guild. Even before the strikes started, networks and streaming services were shrinking slates in cost-cutting measures. As a result of all this, post production professionals are facing a shortage of work opportunities.

Is it possible for post people who have been relying on the steady flow of scripted productions to now pivot to unscripted? What are the pathways? Where do the skills for documentaries and scripted features overlap? Where do they differ? Is there enough work to go around?

Speakers:

LIZ YALE MARSH - Executive Producer, Documentaries + Premium Series

Liz Yale Marsh is an Emmy-winning documentary film and television producer under an exclusive overall deal with Universal Television Alternative Studio to spearhead documentaries and premium series for the studio. Liz recently produced the feature documentary Little Richard: I Am Everything directed by Lisa Cortes and Executive Produced by Dee Rees and Rolling Stone, which premiered opening night of the 2023 Sundance Film Festival and was released theatrically by Magnolia Pictures. The film will be released by CNN Films and HBOMax in summer 2023. She co-created and serves as Executive Producer on the critically acclaimed true crime anthology series It Couldn’t Happen Here, now in production on its third season on Sundance Channel/ AMC+. Previous work includes Co-Executive Producing the 3-part series Manifesto of a Serial Killer for Oxygen, Executive Producing the History Channel documentary History’s Greatest Mysteries: The Death of Bruce, and serving as Co-Executive Producer on the award-winning 4-part Lifetime documentary Surviving Jeffrey Epstein, and The Preppy Murder, a 5-part documentary for Sundance/ AMC, both series directed by Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg. Liz served as Co-Executive Producer on the feature documentary film The Panama Papers, directed by Alex Winter, which premiered in the US at the Hamptons International Film Festival and internationally at IDFA. She was the creator and Co-Executive Producer of NBC’s Emmy-winning series GIVE. Liz was formerly the Head of Documentaries & Premium Series for production company Bungalow Media + Entertainment, where her additional credits include Spring Broke (directed by Alison Ellwood) and the series 36 Hours with the New York Times. Liz spent five years at Radical Media, where she worked on Joe Berlinger’s Paradise Lost III, and the series Iconoclasts and Oprah Presents: Masterclass. Liz is a Founding Board member of UNICEF’s Next Generation and is the Founder of the WestFlix Film Festival in Los Angeles.

JAMIE KIRKPATRICK - Film Editor

Editor Jamie Kirkpatrick has been at the forefront of New York’s independent film scene for over twenty years. His diverse filmography includes such notable titles as Lost in Translation, Dave Chappelle’s Block Party, The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete (which had a special screening at the Obama White House), My Friend Dahmer and John Leguizamo’s recent, critically-acclaimed, directorial debut Critical Thinking. Recent editing credits include John Leguizamo's directorial debut Critical Thinking, the Western Old Henry, the cinematic musical Beau and the highly anticipated comedic crime drama Providence. As someone who has occasionally edited non-scripted shows, he has been a vocal advocate for hiring non-scripted Editors and Assistants to work on scripted projects. His enthusiasm for cinematic storytelling is matched only by his dedication to the craft of film editing, his encyclopedic knowledge of the works of Krzysztof Kieslowski and his well-documented weakness for a good doughnut. He has also worked extensively in network television and commercials and has directed two award-winning short films; The Regular and Squeeze.

Moderator:

MIKE NOBLE - Producer/Editor/Writer

Mike Noble started his career in documentaries, film and television in Washington, DC, where he was editor and associate producer on a number of documentaries, including the Emmy-winning “Korean War Stories with Walter Cronkite.” He worked at Discovery Communications and served as supervising editor for a number of series across multiple networks and was also a post supervisor at Discovery’s production center. He is now a freelance producer/editor/writer based in NYC and has recently edited episodes of “Murder in the Heartland”, “The Price of Glee”, and the acclaimed crime documentary, “Fruitcake Fraud.” His latest work can be seen on “Murder at Carter County Mines,” currently streaming on Discovery+.