State of the Industry

Addie Morfoot has been covering the entertainment industry for the last 20 years. She currently serves as the lead documentary reporter for Variety’s DOCS section.

Josh Braun is the co-president of Submarine Entertainment, a hybrid sales, production, and distribution company. Mr. Braun recently produced the Hulu original documentary The Jewel Thief and the Sundance competition documentary Aum: The Cult at the End of the World and also recently executive produced This Is a Film About the Black Keys, the Emmy-nominated Netflix documentary series The Andy Warhol Diaries, the Emmy-nominated Netflix documentary Pamela, A Love Story, the Showtime docu-series The 12th Victim, the 2022 Sundance feature competition documentary Fire of Love, and the feature documentaries Circus of Books, Crip Camp, and Apollo 11. Other docu-series executive produced by Mr. Braun include Lenox Hill, Sons of Sam, Evil Genius, The Keepers, The Devil Next Door, and Wild Wild Country for which Mr. Braun won the Emmy for Best Documentary Series in 2018. Recent sales include Daughters, SugarCane, Fly, Elton John: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Sinead O’Conner Nothing Compares, Moonage Daydream, Hate to Love Nickelback, Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry, and Joan Baez I Am a Noise.

Carrie Lozano is an award-winning documentary filmmaker, journalist and media executive. She is currently President and CEO of ITVS, public media’s leading incubator and co-producer of independent film, and presenter of the series Independent Lens.

Prior to ITVS, she was director of the Sundance Institute’s Documentary Film and Artist Programs, which serves hundreds of filmmakers each year with funding, labs, fellowships and intensive artist support. She previously launched and directed the International Documentary Association’s Enterprise Documentary Fund, where she supported filmmakers with funds and professional development on projects at the intersection of documentary and journalism, including Welcome To Chechnya, A Thousand Cuts, Through the Night, Always In Season and One Child Nation.

Lozano was also a documentary executive at Al Jazeera America and a senior producer of the network’s investigative series Fault Lines, where her team garnered numerous honors including an Emmy, a Peabody, and several Headliner Awards.

Among other work, Lozano led BAVC Media’s MediaMaker Fellowship and was a lecturer in the Documentary Program at U.C. Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism. She produced the Academy Award-nominated documentary The Weather Underground, the live cinema piece Utopia In Four Movements, and produced, directed, and edited the Teddy Award nominee Reporter Zero. Her most recent film, the 2016 documentary The Ballad of Fred Hersch, is a portrait of one of today’s foremost jazz pianists. In addition to serving on ProPublica’s board of directors, Lozano serves on the advisory boards of U.C. Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism and PBS Frontline and is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Brian Newman, founder of Sub-Genre, is known as a pioneer in the film and media industry, consulting on film and media content strategy, distribution and marketing for some of the top brands in the world. Sub-Genre guides companies through the process of leveraging entertainment to showcase their values, have greater impact, and to stand out from the crowd. Current and former clients include: The Climate Pledge, Hilton, Indeed, John Deere, Lowe’s, Oatly, Patreon, REI, SmugMug, Stripe, Sundance, WeTransfer, and Yeti Coolers. Brian has served as CEO of the Tribeca Film Institute, produces independent films, and writes a popular weekly newsletter on film.

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 celebrated documentaries, including Trapped, John Lewis: Good Trouble, and The Lady Bird Diaries, air on platforms like HBO, Netflix, CNN, and PBS. Her recent work, 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, this intimate portrayal of the Grammy-winning artist was recently released in theaters and premiered on CNN/MAX on January 1, 2025.

Porter’s achievements are widely recognized. Trapped earned a Peabody Award and the Sundance Special Jury Prize for Social Impact Filmmaking, while John Lewis: Good Trouble won the 2021 NAACP Image Award. She received the Critics’ Choice Impact Award in 2022 and Gracie Awards in both 2022 and 2023. Recently, Porter was elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, awarded the National Humanities Medal by President Joe Biden, and received the IDA Career Achievement Award.

Porter’s 2024 MSNBC series, The Sing Sing Chronicles, offers unprecedented access to Sing Sing Correctional Facility, providing a raw look at justice and redemption. A former attorney, Porter holds degrees from Swarthmore College and Georgetown Law. Known for elevating marginalized voices and illuminating U.S. history’s lesser-known stories, she is a prominent figure in documentary filmmaking residing in New York City.