Why not turn documentaries into Hollywood hits?

Hollywood is always frantically searching for stories. Development people comb through piles of books and magazines; there’s a booming market in “life rights.” But one place that seems to have largely been overlooked is the world of documentary film. It’s true; some notable docs have been made into fiction films: the Maysles Brothers’ “Grey Gardens” was turned into a lauded HBO movie and Werner Herzog made “Rescue Dawn” out of his own doc “Little Dieter Needs to Fly.” But for the most part, this rich deposit of fantastic stories has gone un-mined.

Now, a documentary company called ro*co films has partnered with powerhouse Hollywood producers 1492 Pictures to create a more formal pipeline. I was really excited to moderate an industry panel on Monday, November 5th, 2012 at the American Film Market called “IDA: The Doc Remake” with Michael Barnathan, President of 1492 Pictures (Executive Producer on three “Harry Potter” movies and Producer of “The Help”) and Sue Turley, the President of ro*co films productions. Here’s a 15-minute excerpt from our fascinating conversation.