Noland Walker, Co-Curator, Independent Lens
Grace Anglin, Research & Evaluation Director, ITVS
Margie Ratliff, Founder & Managing Director, Documentary Participants Empowerment Alliance
Ever wondered what it’s really like to be in a documentary? Get the inside scoop from 195 documentary participants as we dive into what went well, what they’d change, and what they wish they knew before the cameras started rolling. In this hands-on role-playing workshop, filmmakers will step into the shoes of their participants, navigating those tricky conversations about the filming process, risks, distribution, and the impact of their stories. By the end, you’ll walk away with practical tools and insights to strengthen your filmmaking practice and better communicate with your participants, all while helping shape new ways to support filmmakers. Let’s make those tough discussions easier—and more impactful!
As Director of Research and Evaluation at ITVS, Grace Anglin partners with filmmakers and public media organizations to better understand how documentary films and community engagement deepen people’s understanding of themselves and one another. She employs mixed-methods evaluations to explore, communicate, and amplify the impact of independent storytelling and public media programming. In this role, she also served as Principal Investigator on the first large-scale study examining the relationship between documentary filmmakers and their participants.
Previously, as a Senior Researcher and Director at Mathematica, Grace spent over a decade leading evaluations of major health and social service initiatives — including what was, at that time, the largest U.S. program ever tested to improve primary care. She holds a master’s degree in public health from the University of Michigan.
Margie Ratliff (she/her) is the Managing Director of the Documentary Participants’ Empowerment Alliance (DPEA), which aims to bring vital resources to all those who have appeared in or are considering appearing in documentary films. She is also a producer of and key participant in the film Subject, in which she examines her participation in the 2018 Netflix true-crime documentary, The Staircase. After receiving her MFA from Columbia College Chicago in documentary filmmaking, she worked at The Gersh Agency, Imaginary Forces, and similar companies in Los Angeles. Margie is a globally based independent producer and director of documentary films, a marathon runner, and a passionate traveler of the world.
Noland Walker is a content consultant at ITVS. There, he helps drive content strategy, cultivates talent and projects, and oversees a portfolio of development and production projects while providing editorial and production support to a broader slate of ITVS films. He co-curates the award-winning Independent Lens series. Prior to this role, he was the vice-president of content at ITVS. Before becoming an executive, Noland was an Emmy and Peabody Award-winning filmmaker. He got his start on the landmark television series Eyes on the Prize. His rich, varied career spans Public Media, network sitcoms, and commercials, as well as independent film. Among the films he produced, wrote, or directed are Africans in America, Citizen King, Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple, and Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story.