Greg Kelley​
- Executive Producer, IDEAS (Toronto) ​
​
[email protected]
● I TRY TO make radio documentaries that...
speak profoundly to the heart and head.
● My home program IDEAS tells stories that...
tap into contemporary thought, and shake up
our worldview.
● My favourite radio doc of all time is​
...​
... ​
a
piece on drugs from IDEAS in early 1990s about how we try to control consumers, when
we could be controlling the drugs. Cultures
around the world have mind altering
substances and rituals but the substances
aren't necessarily toxic or addictive. Why not
go that route? The contention is that altering
consciousness may be a mammalian drive. so let's do it right instead of trying to occlude it.
For film, [my favourite doc is] likely ​
Grizzly Man​
. Because it took me into an man's life and
the filmaker Herzog inherited the film stock; didn't shoot most of it.
● The doc I'm most proud to have produced is... ​
Enemies and Angels​
​
because it embodies the
idea that battlefield enemies can not only survive the depravities of warfare but transcend
them and their suffering to let their humanity shine through.
● When pitching to me, producers should always...​
be clean and polite.
● Three words that sum up my style as a doc editor are: ​
eclectic, exacting and fun.
Iris Yudai​
- Executive Producer, DNTO (Winnipeg) ​
iris@[email protected]
● I make radio documentaries that​
… I hope stick with the
listener for a good long time.
● DNTO is where Canadians get...​
personal about the
moments that compel us to see the world in a new way.
Our stories are honest, funny, provocative - and altogether
human.
● My favourite radio doc of all time is...​
Murder in the
​
Neighborhood​
by Karen Levine because it was intimate,
powerful, and thought-provoking.
● The doc I'm most proud to have produced is...​
Zen of
Cows 101 because it combined haiku and cow farts in a
hilarious and unforgettable way.
● When pitching to me, producers should always...​
give a
sh*t about the story they're pitching. Start your pitch with
the person. Do your research and be prepared to tell me
about the action, the moments and the motivation.
● Three words that sum up my style as a doc editor are​
....
I'll steal from Steve Wadhams here and say it in one word:
"midwife".
Karin Wells​
- Doc Producer, The Sunday Edition (Toronto) ​
​
[email protected]
● I make radio documentaries that…
make sense; explore an issue and/or
“tell a story” and I believe that phrase is
becoming a little hackneyed; attempt to
amuse, even the darkest subjects; don’t
shy away from complicated (a word we
never let our audience hear) issues;
don’t have all the answers and most of
all – that interest me.
○ I also believe there is a place for
WRITING! – in documentaries ,
not all of them. It takes a while
to learn.
○ And I believe in SOUND – on the
ground REAL sound, it may not
be perfectly recorded but it’s often what roots a person – could be you - to a place, be
it a foreign country, a kitchen, an office, a street.
● My home program, The Sunday Edition,...​does all of the above
● My favourite radio documentary of all time is ​
– no such thing, perceptions change. There are
pieces where images stick in my mind – and these are old documentaries – Mary O’Connell’s
piece out of Chicago’s underclass she wrote about following a nun up, up, up an unlit set of
stairs in a tenement building with only a candle for light; Elizabeth Gray’s piece re the
bulldozing of Palestinian houses on the west bank. She wrote of a woman standing looking at
the rubble that was her house and holding in her hand a bottle of chanel No. 5. The details
count.
● The documentary I am most proud to have produced is​
…impossible to answer, none of them
seem “right” when they’re finished. Pleasure and pride often come with having created a silk
purse (or at least a polyester purse) out of a sow’s ear. When it’s all handed to you on a
platter then you’re stuck with- a Wadhams phrase – “will I do justice to my tape”
● When pitching to me…​
I am not an editor most of the time when I am I like hearing about
stories that are provocative – or poignant, but not saccharine. THEN we figure out how to make
it happen. There is nearly always a way. Having said that - I want to know how you think –
quite specifically – this could work; characters – sound etc.
● Three words that sum up my style as a doc editor are...​
hard working – and expect same from
you; empathetic (!) – it’s never easy; respectful of your “style” – we might well disagree on
that, and style will always take a back seat to content.
Karen Levine​
- Doc Editor, The Sunday Edition (Toronto) k
​[email protected]
● I make radio documentaries that... ​
are aimed at heart
and the head, include surprise and food for thought, and
leave the listener a little wiser about the human
condition.
● My home program The Sunday Edition tells stories
that...​
do all that - in a wide range of shapes, lengths and
styles
● When pitching to me, producers should always...​
be
clear, excited, and thoughtful about why their story would
make good radio for this program (esp in relation to the
criteria described above)
●
Nicola
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Three words that sum up my style as a doc editor are...​
Tough (okay, a perfectionist),
nurturing, and passionate about stories.
Luksic​
- Doc Producer & Editor, IDEAS (Toronto) ​
​
[email protected]
I make documentaries that...​
speak to the complexity and
absurdity of the human condition. How is that for vague?
Basically give me a fascinating yarn and a sense of how this
resonates beyond just the story itself and voila.
My home program, Ideas, tells stories that...​
The stories on
Ideas tap into currents of contemporary thought through a wide
array of formats in order to inspire listeners to rethink their
world
My favourite radio doc of all time is... ​
Well, this one is pretty
much impossible to answer. I regularly hear things on the radio
or on podcast that make me think "WOW!!" More recently, off
the top of my head, I really enjoyed ​
a story that came out of
Invisibilia​
. It's loosely based around the question of how
expectations can shape and even limit our abilities. The
Batman story is beautifully produced, is visual, has a gripping
first person character AND it gets at some pretty deep questions.
The Doc I'm most proud to have produced is... A
​gain, pretty much impossible to answer.
Every documentary experience is different and each reaps different rewards. I experience
pride when a radio producer I'm working with is surprised by what they were able to discover
during the doc process. I also experience pride when I watch the ripple effect of a
documentary post-broadcast. One that hit both of those notes was with the first freelancer I
produced while working on Ideas. Brett Story was new to radio so the learning curve was steep
and satisfying for both of us. The doc is called A
​lone Inside​
. Strong first person characters,
strong analysis and solid historical context to help us understand how it's become part of the
penal system to lock people up indefinitely in a windowless cell with devastating
consequences. For a completely different tone of doc, I have a soft-spot for bringing life back
to long dead philosophers whose ideas resonate today. ​
Here's an example​
.
When pitching to me, producers should always... h
​ave a basic idea of what the show is
about. Easy to do. Just go to the website, listen to a handful of episodes and you'll get the
sense of it. Producers should also come with a story they want to pitch and why it would be a
good fit for the show and why they should be the one to produce the story. Don't worry about
having all your guests lined up. But basic research is helpful to start a conversation.
Three words that sum up my style as a doc editor are:​
collaborative, unconstrained, but
thorough.
Joan Webber​
- Doc Editor, The Current (Vancouver) j​
​
[email protected]
● I try to make radio documentaries that... ​
are original,
compelling yarns. Stories about people which say something
deeper about how we all live.
● My home program​
The Current​
, tells stories that... ​
are
original and thought provoking. Ideally they provide a
window on a world we've heard nothing about or they may
bring a unique perspective, or deeper meaning to, stories
which are currently in the headlines. And our docs should be
●
●
●
●
driven by people who have a story to tell. Narratives that speak to universals of love, hate,
fear, hope, and betrayal.
One of my favourite radio docs of all time is... ​
"​
Sniper​
" produced by Stephen Shwartz. It won
the Prix Italia for best documentary in 1993. I love it because it's such a heartbreaking and
intimate portrait of what happens to people in wartime. It's about snipers in Sarajevo during
the Bosnian War... people willing to shoot neighbours and former friends. You meet two 20
year olds - a young man and woman - who become snipers. They talk candidly about why they
choose to kill. It's a chilling story vividly told using rich and haunting sound. I highly recommend
it.
One of the docs I'm proud to have produced is...​
one I did many years ago about a nun who
was living, voluntarily, in a prison in Tijuana because.... for one - I simply love the story. The
tale of a rich divorcee with a big heart who decided to leave her comfortable life in LA to move
into a tiny cement cell in one of the most dangerous prisons in Mexico. She did this because she
believed everyone deserves love. But in doing so she left behind a young son who had to move
in with his father... It was a challenging story to tell - as it was about big universals such as
love, sacrifice, loneliness and heartache. But I must say I'm equally proud of any doc I produce
where I feel I've been able to help someone tell a story as best as they can.
When pitching to me, producers should...​
tell me what tale they want to tell NOT what topic.
(Think dust jacket descriptions)
Three words that sum up my style as a doc editor are:​
Enthusiastic. Experimental.
Thoughtful.
Mary O’Connell​
- Doc Producer & Editor, IDEAS (Toronto) ​
​
[email protected]
● I make radio documentaries that​
… stop a
listener in their tracks whether they're raking the
leaves, making soup or reading their email.
● My home program IDEAS tells stories that​
linger
in the listener's mind, long after the program
ends.
● My favourite radio doc of all time..​
(this week)
is "Following Redundancy" a Danish-Norwegian
docudrama.
● The doc I'm most proud to have produced is...
"​
Rethinking Depression​
" because it examined the
corporatization of mental illness, the ego driving
psychiatry's elite and the human tragedy of
depression.
● When pitching to me, producers should
always...​
be passionate, open and.... buy me
lunch :)
● Three words that sum up my style as a doc
editor are:​
passionate, funny and emotionally
supportive.
Steve Wadhams​
- Doc Producer & Editor, Living Out Loud (Toronto) ​
[email protected]
● I try to make radio documentaries that...
combine journalistic, dramatic and musical
values; highly visual "audio journeys" with
compelling scenes where both 'tape' and narrative
linking create a steady flow of sharp memorable
images.
● My home program, Living out Loud, aims to …
get to the 'big' issues via 'small' personal stories.
● My favourite radio doc of all time...​
is very hard
to pinpoint. So many docs have moved me and
helped me develop as a radio storyteller. If I had
to pick one I'd choose "Sun of the family" by
Denmark radio. It's about a young musician who
committed suicide. The story is told by his
parents, brother and girlfriend together with his
diary entries. I heard it over 20 years ago when I
was trying to expand my idea of what a radio doc
could be and this opened my eyes big time. It's so intimate and so powerful. Beautifully
recorded and produced.
● The doc I'm most proud to have produced is...​
hard to pick - but if I had to choose just one I
think it would be "​
The change in farming​
".
● When pitching to me, producers should always...​
keep in mind the first two items on this list.
● Three words that sum up my style as a doc editor are: ​
"let imagination flourish".