More than a year into her role as commissioning editor at TVO Docs, Alexandra Roberts is focused on expanding its offerings both in terms of content and distribution.
Roberts (pictured left) tells Playback that the overall documentary commissioning strategy has remained consistent since she joined TVO Docs in July 2023, with an emphasis on point-of-view (POV) films, but they’re exploring different ways of sharing those films with audiences, experimenting with YouTube Shorts and 4K video.
They’re also expanding the types of content they’re commissioning, with an unscripted comedy series in development. And the documentary films they look at cover a range of topics, including arts, sports, science, natural history, history, current affairs and social issues.
Roberts leads a team that includes programmers Shane Smith and Aidan Denison; digital channel specialist Darcy MacQuarrie; and docs coordinator Abbi Sharvendiran.
TVO Docs typically has a slate of eight to 12 films for production and about four to five in development, although the budget, licensing fees and windowing depend on the individual film. By the end of 2024, TVO will have released upwards of 70 documentaries both commissioned and acquired across linear and digital platforms. About 30% of those titles are Canadian. In total hours, roughly 58% of annually aired content is certified Cancon.
Playback: What have been your priorities since joining TVO’s Docs team?
Alexandra Roberts: We have a long-standing tradition of supporting POV feature docs. That certainly won’t be changing anytime soon, because we really believe in that format. That said, all of the ways that we’re expanding and growing creatively are still very much in line with our identity as an educational broadcaster.
[That means] when we look at incoming pitches, we are always thinking about: What is the audience going to learn from this about the world around them or themselves? We want there to be concrete takeaways, but it shouldn’t feel like medicine.
We know that we exist in a world where audiences have everything they could ever want at their fingertips. That means that even though we’re a regional broadcaster, we’re still playing in a global sandbox when it comes to the competitive landscape. So we think not just about what that means for us creatively, but also what that means for us pragmatically.
We’re looking for more opportunities to collaborate on international coproductions, for example, as [they have] the dual benefit of enhancing a project’s budget while also enlisting a likeminded international partner to champion and amplify the story.
How many docs have you commissioned since you started?
We did 11 when I started that fiscal year. This next fiscal year, we’ll be doing about 10. We generally tend to do eight to 12 for production.
[The greenlights, under working titles, include] Saigon Story: Two Shootings in the Forest Kingdom, Kim Nguyen’s first doc in over a decade, spanning Vietnam, the U.S. and Canada, in partnership with the National Film Board of Canada and Noble Films. The Theft, by director Aisha Jamal with Ed Barreveld producing, traces a set of ancient, treasured artifacts stolen from Afghanistan that have, in some cases, ended up in the hands of Western museums. The Pitch, from director Michèle Hozer and producer Bryn Hughes, gives us a character-driven, inside look at the formation of the Northern Super League – the professional Canadian women’s soccer league.
The first two were greenlit directly for production and the last was greenlit for development in 2023, and subsequently for production in 2024.
How much do those docs represent your current strategy?
It’s all about arriving at a balance that makes sense. How can we make sure that those POV feature docs really stand out in the landscape [and] that filmmakers have articulated the audiovisual strategy of their project?
A really great example of that is Ali Weinstein’s Your Tomorrow, which is the first film that I commissioned. In many ways it was a no-brainer for TVO to support a project about Ontario Place, but one of the things that we loved about it is the fact that Ali came in with a really bold vision of how she wanted to tell that story. She wanted to make sure that it was a purely observational doc. That is a really specific creative choice to make, because it precludes you from being able to do things like include talking heads in your doc, or speak to your subjects in any way on camera. It presented a really fun creative challenge that also made sure that the film would have a distinct point of view.
We talk a lot about specificity on the Docs team. Personal stories are another great way of doing that [like with Kim Nguyen’s doc]. That said, we don’t always need filmmakers to tell stories about their own communities, but those are just some examples.
Are there any specific genres you’re more focused on?
The reality is that our remit is so broad when it comes to genre that it’s really about impact. On the flip side of that, we also notice that as a regional broadcaster, our industry-wide impact is actually disproportionate to our size, and we take that very seriously … because our specific focus is centred on a vulnerable sector in the industry – longform documentary – we’re aware that we have a large impact.
What advice would you give a director or producer looking to pitch your Docs team?
One of the great things about being an educational broadcaster is that people come to us with the stories that really matter to them. It’s less about articulating why climate change matters and needs to have a film made about it, but more, ‘Why does this climate change story matter?’
We’re open to having collaborative conversations, and we know that pitches are just a starting point, but we want to know that the creative is being driven by you. We want to come in as collaborators. We do that a lot, even in development. Putting four to five productions in development a year is not a lot at all. It enables us to take a very bespoke approach to our entire development slate.
Do you see TVO’s strategy evolving during your tenure?
I think the overall intention behind the strategy is, ‘How can we make sure that our content is resonating with audiences from a social impact perspective? How can we make sure that we’re reaching as many audiences as possible and what are the different ways we can do that?’ Maybe new platforms and new technology will continue to enable that as well.
We’re available across the country [online]. I think that is something that we’re going to continue to keep an eye on. How can we make sure that we’re really reaching audiences in new, dynamic and interesting ways?
Such as?
Our focus is on YouTube at the moment, in an effort to meet audiences where they are at. We’re experimenting with pulling different levers in that arena, from YouTube Shorts, which enables audiences to watch snackable clips from our programs on their phones, to publishing our docs in their original 4K fidelity, as we did with All Too Clear. [The 4K videos have garnered more than 159,000 views on the TVO Docs YouTube channel to date].
[All Too Clear] was commissioned by the previous docs team but editorially and creatively guided by myself and the new Docs team, [along with the] release strategy.
Images courtesy of TVO Docs
This story originally appeared in Playback’s Winter 2024 issue.