The entertainment industry can be a legal minefield.  And while the legal issues that face documentary filmmakers may not be unique, documentarians — who typically work on shoestring budgets, rely heavily on preexisting copyrighted materials, and often say things that moneyed and powerful interests don’t want to hear — are uniquely [...]

John Cazale is probably the most famously unfamous actor in the history of cinema.
Fans of the actor, who is most recognized for portraying Fredo in “The Godfather” and its sequel, know his work and love him — yet practically nothing is known about the man.
“His greatest ability was making the actors and filmmakers around him [...]

So there’s this buzz about a Joaquin Phoenix documentary directed by actor Casey Affleck.
At a packed screening room at the offices of William Morris Endeavor last week, buyers from Hollywood’s indie distribution companies were on hand to watch Casey Affleck’s documentary I’m Still Here: The Lost Year of Joaquin Phoenix. Affleck is married to Phoenix’s sister, [...]

When Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, the richest man in the United States, came to the Sundance Film Festival here this week, it wasn’t movies on his mind, it was education — your kids’ education.
A new documentary, “Waiting For Superman,” by director Davis Guggenheim (”An Inconvenient Truth“) looks at what Gates and Guggenheim say is a U.S. public school system [...]

On June 25, just hours after Michael Jackson died, Tim Patterson drove from his home in the Santa Clarita Valley to downtown Los Angeles with $60-million worth of film footage in his trunk. 
As he sped down Interstate 5 in his green Lexus convertible, Patterson carried virtually all of the 140 hours of rehearsal footage from [...]

An Open Letter to the Terminator Owners. From a Very Important Hollywood Mogul:
Dear Sirs/Ma’ams,
I am Joss Whedon, the mastermind behind Titan A.E., Parenthood (not the movie) (or the new series) (or the one where ‘hood’ was capitalized ’cause it was a pun), and myriad other legendary tales. I have heard through the ‘grapevine’ that the Terminatorfranchise is for sale, and I am prepared [...]

If anyone has profited from the free-enterprise system in the past 20 years, it’s Michael Moore. Since 1989, when his “Roger & Me” pioneered the docu-comedy form of nonfiction film, Moore’s movies, TV shows and best-selling books have given him an eight-figure net worth.
And in all of these, he is the improbable star: a heavyset [...]

Pop quiz: Which film has grossed more money? The hit Paul Rudd comedy “I Love You, Man” or the 47-minute-long documentary “Space Station 3D”?
Julia Roberts’ star vehicle “Duplicity” or the Humboldt squid’s big turn in “Deep Sea 3D”?
While movie studios struggle to create, produce and launch expensive movie franchises, humble nature and science films have [...]

Interviews with USC Professor Jeremy Kagan and MHZ Networks producer Glenn Luther about the challenges for modern documentary filmmakers.