This installment of realscreen magazine’s annual Radarscreen global pitch guide profiles CBC Doc Zone‘s Michael Claydon, area executive producer for independent documentaries.

WHAT HE’S LOOKING FOR:

CBC’s one-hour general interest anthology series, Doc Zone, commissions 12-14 independent productions a year from Canadian producers. Claydon is looking for stories through which Canadian audiences can see themselves, on topics including relationships, families, technology and politics. In addition, the docs must provide genuine takeaway in terms of knowledge, original research or a new spin. Lastly, every project must answer the question, “Why is it important?”

WHAT DOESN’T WORK:

Niche programming and stories that deal with foreign affairs or history don’t fly for the strand, says Claydon. “If we see something that gives our audience a reason to turn off, we don’t want to do that,” he offers. ‘We’re the only terrestrial TV network in Canada that actually puts documentaries like this in primetime and as a result we see ourselves competing with all the other major networks so when we go up against them, we need to have stories and ideas that are inclusive, populist and broadly appealing.”

HOW TO PITCH:

The preferred approach is via www.cbc.ca/independentproducers/genres/doc_zone/. A one- or two-page outline of the documentary idea is all that is needed. If Claydon and his team are interested, they’ll contact the producer to talk further about the idea, with the potential request for a formal proposal. He also welcomes general proposals that may have been sent to a number of broadcasters, as long as they apply to Doc Zone.

Send general outlines via email to doczone@cbc.ca and if a formal proposal is submitted, producers are also asked to sign a release form.

WHERE TO FIND HIM:

Hot Docs, Banff, and a rotation of Canadian film fests. He also attends IDFA in Amsterdam to raise completion funds for documentaries that Doc Zone has initiated.

Also available are guides to U.S. networks (part one and part two), as well as international previews with Current TV UK’s Lina Prestwood, France 2’s Fabrice Puchault,RAI’s Lorenzo Hendel, ORF’s Andrew Solomon and CBS Reality’s Sam Rowden.

with files from Barry Walsh