Charting A Course for Impact Producing in Canada: 
Trends, Best Practices and Future Directions.

Following the second of seven recommendations outlined in our 2015 report Philanthropic Funding for Documentaries in Canada: Towards an Industry-wide Strategy, to “Develop Impact Producing Skills of Filmmakers.”

Charting A Course for Impact Producing in Canada (2017)

Making Documentaries with Impact (2017)

Abstract

In the past decade, the term “impact producing” has emerged to describe a new space in which filmmakers are mobilizing people, networks, and resources to create change. Impact producing is a very comprehensive way of grouping together and honing the many tasks that enter into the process of the making and marketing of a successful documentary. As this report demonstrates, it is a burgeoning field of skill development that upon closer scrutiny is incredibly rich in all of its possible permutations. Its development also comes at a propitious time when finding ways to make Canadian content stand out in the global digital environment has never been more essential.

Making Documentaries with Impact is a companion toolkit to Charting a Course for Impact Producing. The goal of the toolkit is to provide filmmakers, media artists, producers and distributors with information aimed at empowering them with knowledge and tools to understand, plan, communicate and measure the impact of their work. The tools and resources that have been selected for inclusion in this document are rooted in a large body of research drawn from respected funders, producers, outreach specialists, and impact measurement professionals.