Social questions nytimes6/26/2023 He appreciates the fact that “doing the work of journalism” is front and center in the show, and added that Herndon’s “practicing his craft” for the listening audience was what made the podcast unique. She prefers a video to be cinematic, and especially “humanistic and character-driven.” In other words, a “festival film.”īorelli then gave a brief rundown of The Run-Up, the Times’s political podcast hosted by Astead Herndon, which they brought back for a second season this year. This led Sung to ask the next question on my mind, “What makes a story an Op-Doc?” Kecher turned the query around, noting that she’s not looking for a “news” tone, and emphasizing that Op-Docs is not the same as their in-house content. And while Op-Docs is primarily acquisition-based, Kecher is also open to discussing projects in development. (Just the fact that it managed to keep me awake at the ungodly hour of 9:30AM-or 6:30AM for those of us still stuck on West Coast time-before I’d finished my complimentary morning coffee from the TIFF Bell Lightbox’s Luma lounge downstairs is really saying something.)īorelli began by helpfully deciphering his odd job description for those of us who don’t speak corporate (he’s responsible for everything from the actual digital production to audience engagement), adding that “not everything is a guaranteed hit even if you have a brand attached.” (Yes, even the Gray Lady has to work to stand out.) Kecher then explained that as Senior Commissioning Editor, she licenses 20-30 shorts per year from directors (“video guest essayists” in Op-Docs parlance), each running around 25 minutes or less (though some films can be up to 40). It featured the Times’s Deputy Audience Director for Audio Renan Borelli and Op-Docs Senior Commissioning Editor Christine Kecher, in conversation with Media Girlfriends co-founder (and deft moderator) Hannah Sung. Christine Kecher, Hannah Sung, Hot Docs 2023, New York Times OpDocs, podcasting, Renan BorelliĪn auspicious start to what turned out to be an insightful, audio-focused sidebar to the main cinematic event, “Podcasts and Op-Docs at The New York Times: Meet the Decision Makers” was the very first panel I caught during this year’s Hot Docs Podcast Festival Showcase, which spanned a whole two days across the “largest nonfiction fest in North America’s” 30th anniversary edition, April 27-May 7.
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