Reporter
Addie Morfoot has been covering the entertainment industry for nearly twenty years. Her work has appeared in Variety, The New York Times Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, and more.
For documentary filmmakers, awards are often framed as the ultimate prize — but the reality is far more complex. From eligibility requirements and campaign strategy to publicity, screenings, and industry relationships, the awards machinery can shape the life of a film long before nominations are announced.
This conversation takes a candid look at how filmmakers navigate that system: when it makes sense to go all in, when it doesn’t, what a campaign actually demands in terms of time, money, and energy, and how to think about awards not simply as a win-or-lose proposition, but as a series of strategic opportunities for visibility, momentum, and impact. A frank conversation about the good, the bad, and the practical realities of awards season.
Addie Morfoot has been covering the entertainment industry for nearly twenty years. Her work has appeared in Variety, The New York Times Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, and more.
Susan Norget is a publicist, marketing strategist, and awards consultant who has represented films at major international festivals and spearheaded publicity campaigns for hundreds of U.S. releases. Projects Susan has promoted have received 4 Academy Awards for Best Documentary Feature and 30 nominations, 85 Spirit Award wins and nominations, 55 IDA Award wins and nominations, and scores of top festival honors. Since 2020, Susan has also served in a producing capacity on several documentaries, including as producer of THE ART OF MAKING IT and executive producer of THE VIEWING BOOTH, BORN TO BE, and THE WHOLE WORLD IS A LIE.
Tom Oyer advises on awards strategy, voting systems, organizational structure, and field-building within the creative community. He previously served as Senior Vice President of Member Relations, Global Outreach, and Awards Administration at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, where he oversaw the Oscars rules and eligibility process, as well as the Animation, Documentary, Producers, and Short Films branches.
Over the course of 16 years at the Academy, Oyer led a number of major organizational initiatives, including the Academy’s A2020 membership diversity initiative and the modernization of voting processes and governance reforms. He also helped expand global member participation through the launch of the Academy Screening Room, the Academy’s digital viewing platform.
Dawn Porter is an acclaimed American documentary filmmaker and founder of Trilogy Films, known for her storytelling on social justice, history, and cultural icons. Her documentaries, including TRAPPED, JOHN LEWIS: GOOD TROUBLE, and THE LADY BIRD DIARIES, have aired on platforms including HBO, Netflix, Amazon, Apple, CNN, and PBS.
Her recent film LUTHER: NEVER TOO MUCH highlights the life and legacy of Luther Vandross. Produced with Sony Music Entertainment, Jamie Foxx’s Foxxhole, and Colin Firth’s Raindog Films, the film was released in theaters and premiered on CNN/MAX on January 1, 2025. Her recent work, THE SING SING CHRONICLES, won the Best Documentary Emmy at the 46th annual News & Documentary Emmy Awards.
A three-time Sundance Film Festival alum, Porter’s film GIDEON’S ARMY was nominated for an Emmy and an Independent Spirit Award and won the Ridenhour Prize and the American Bar Association’s Silver Gavel Award. TRAPPED also earned a Silver Gavel, along with a Peabody Award and the Sundance Special Jury Prize for Social Impact Filmmaking, while JOHN LEWIS: GOOD TROUBLE won the 2021 NAACP Image Award.
Her work has been widely recognized with honors including the Critics’ Choice Impact Award (2022) and Gracie Awards (2022, 2023). She was recently awarded the National Humanities Medal by Joe Biden, elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, and received the IDA Career Achievement Award.
Sabrina Schmidt Gordon is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and impact strategist from New York City. Since her Emmy-winning editing debut, she has emerged as a leading voice in documentary film as a producer, editor, director, and field-builder. A Women at Sundance Fellow, she is also a recipient of the Dear Producer Award, recognizing excellence in independent filmmaking, the Reel Sisters Trailblazer Award, joining previous honorees Issa Rae, Jessica Williams, and Julie Dash, and in 2017, Sabrina was invited to become a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Through her production company, Vespertine Films, Sabrina’s work employs provocative, nuanced storytelling that centers marginalized voices, illuminates diverse experiences, and pushes creative boundaries while exploring urgent social issues. She has produced numerous critically acclaimed films, including her current film SEEDS—winner of the 2025 Sundance Grand Jury Prize, and shortlisted for the 2026 Best Documentary Academy Award. Other Sundance titles include QUEST (2017, PBS), TO THE END (2022, Hulu), and the Emmy-winning VICTIM/SUSPECT (2023, Netflix). Her feature-directing debut was the Emmy-nominated BaddDDD SONIA SANCHEZ (2016, PBS), which she also co-produced and edited, and which won the ADIFF Best Director Award.