Once you sell your drama or documentary and the money starts flowing in, who recoups first? The waterfall is the financial structure that contractually sets out the flow of revenues to investors, filmmakers and others with a financial interest in the project.

Join Josh Penn and Susan Margolin, producers and co-authors of the Documentary Producers Alliance (DPA) “Guidelines for the Documentary Waterfall,” as they walk you through the key takeaways from the DPA’s recently released guidelines. They’ll answer your questions about the new recommendations for establishing standards in investment financing while improving sustainability for documentary filmmakers. Josh will also break down the waterfall structure(s) for producers of dramatic/fiction features.

About the speakers

For over three decades, Susan Margolin has built a reputation as a pioneer of digital distribution and a dedicated supporter and creator of independent films. Margolin co-founded independent film and television distribution company New Video/Docurama Films in 1992, and ran the company until 2012 when she sold it to Cinedigm (CIDM Nasdaq) and became Co-President of Cinedigm Entertainment. In 2016, Margolin launched St. Marks Productions, a production and distribution services company. She recently produced Alexandra Codina’s feature documentary Paper Children, a YouTube Original program, and Nancy Buirski’s A Crime on the Bayou, which will premiere this fall. She also produced Buirski’s acclaimed feature documentary, The Rape of Recy Taylor, and served as Executive Producer on Judith Helfand’s upcoming Love and Stuff, Zeva Oelbaum and Sabine Krayenbühl’s Obsessed With Light and Cheryl Miller Houser and Cynthia Wade’s feature documentary Generation Startup. Margolin serves on the board of directors of Chicken & Egg Pictures, Manhattan Neighborhood Network and BAFTA NY (emerita). She is on the steering committee of both the Documentary Producers Alliance (DPA) and The Creative Resistance, and on the advisory boards of Hamptons DocFest and NYWIFT. She lives in New York City with her husband and two children.

Josh Penn is a producer with the Department of Motion Pictures. He produced Beasts of the Southern Wild, which won the Sundance Grand Jury Prize, the Cannes Caméra d’Or, and was nominated for four Academy Awards (including Best Picture). Additionally, Josh was nominated for Outstanding Producer at the 2013 Producer’s Guild Awards. He has also held producing roles on Monsters and Men (Sundance Special Jury Prize), PATTI CAKE$, Western (Sundance Special Jury Prize), The Great Invisible (SXSW Grand Jury Prize) and the live documentary A Thousand Thoughts, among others. Josh premiered three films at Sundance 2020: Wendy, Farewell Amor and Bloody Nose Empty Pockets. In 2018, Josh was accepted as a member of the Academy. Outside of his work in film, Josh was previously the Michigan New Media Director for President Obama’s 2008 campaign and a Senior Digital Program Manager for his 2012 reelection campaign.

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