Doc Nest 2023

On June 6, 2023, Chicken & Egg Pictures hosted Doc Nest, an invitation-only, one-day event at the Ford Foundation Center for Social Justice in New York. Doc Nest aimed to connect industry leaders, investors and donors with filmmakers, and to highlight a dozen Chicken & Egg Pictures-supported films from around the world in various stages from development to post-production. It brought together twelve filmmaking teams from nine countries along with 87 industry leaders, donors and investors. 

The films highlighted in this convening touched upon issues related to criminal justice, gun violence in the US, threats to democracy, the war in Ukraine, gender parity, ecological justice, racial equity, and more. The highlighted films included a range of styles and artistic approaches from archival to vérité and investigative to personal, covering a range of perspectives, backgrounds and experiences. 

This intimate gathering forged relationships and provided potential supporters an inside look into projects seeking investments. The goals of the event were two-fold: 1) To provide filmmakers with more access to industry support and to raise funds for projects; and 2) To ignite honest conversations about the challenges and barriers in navigating relationships between funders and filmmakers in creating impactful documentary films. 

This all-day event formerly known as Next Gen Egg has evolved over time and was designed to deconstruct the inherent hierarchy underlining typical pitch events. This year, filmmakers were given a platform to discuss their films through moderated discussions around three themes–artistic approach, access and impact–inviting potential supporters into their process and to foster new partnerships. We paired two film projects in each discussion, inviting open conversation between filmmakers about the challenges and opportunities they face in the filmmaking process. 

Chicken & Egg Pictures provided a total of $60,000 to the twelve projects that were presented at Doc Nest. As of October 2023, the funding committed by other donors and investors who attended Doc Nest amounts to nearly $1 million across the dozen projects highlighted at the event. 

We want to thank the Clif Family Foundation for generously sponsoring Doc Nest and the Ford Foundation Just Films for being our host.

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