Filmmakers Collaborative

06/02/2026

Haven’t listened to our most recent episode yet?

🎙️ In this clip from our latest Making Media Now episode, filmmaker Owen Dubeck explains how To Write Love On Her Arms. began as one friend’s attempt to help another through a mental health crisis—and unexpectedly grew into a global movement. Owen Dubeck Films Optimist

📝 At a time when topics like depression, self-harm, and suicidal thoughts were rarely discussed openly, TWLOHA became a symbol of hope, honesty, and connection.

🌎 Twenty years later, that movement continues to help people find support, resources, and a reminder that they are not alone.

🎧 Full episode available now: https://fcmakingmedia.podbean.com/e/to-write-love-on-her-arms-a-message-a-movement-and-nowa-documentary/

06/02/2026

"...Hours after Scott Pelley made headlines for speaking out against firings and other changes at 60 Minutes, the show’s former executive producer offered words of praise for the correspondent.

Bill Owens told a New York Press Club event that Pelley 'can smell fraud a mile away.'

Owens, receiving the New York Press Club’s Gabe Pressman Truth to Power Award, said that Pelley 'stood up the way that I did a year ago and I couldn’t be prouder of him, and I know all the people at 60 Minutes couldn’t be prouder of him.'..."

Owens praised the correspondent for speaking out about the changes at the show.

06/01/2026

NEW EPISODE OUT NOW

🎙️ On this episode of Making Media Now, host Michael Azevedo speaks with filmmaker Owen Dubeck about To Write Love: A Documentary on the Movement, a film that tells the remarkable origin story of To Write Love on Her Arms. Owen Dubeck Films Optimist

📝 What began in 2006 as one friend’s effort to help another through a mental health crisis became a global movement that transformed conversations around mental health, hope, and recovery.

🌎 Nearly 20 years later, To Write Love On Her Arms. continues to connect people with resources, support, and a reminder that they are not alone.

🎬 The documentary premieres globally on YouTube on May 31 and celebrates the power of storytelling to create real-world change.

🎧 Listen now to hear the story behind the movement: https://fcmakingmedia.podbean.com/e/to-write-love-on-her-arms-a-message-a-movement-and-nowa-documentary/

06/01/2026

"...How does someone...wind up living in a garage and devoting his life, and his fortune, to a charlatan claiming to be an alien from a distant star called Arcturus?

That’s the central question in 'Bring Me the Beauties: A Model Cult,' a new three-part docuseries directed by the Emmy-winning filmmaker Chris Smith ('100 Foot Wave,' 'American Movie').

It premieres Monday on HBO and HBO Max...."

Richards, a globe-trotting former model, discusses “Bring Me the Beauties: A Model Cult,” a new three-part docuseries on HBO.

05/30/2026

"...Netflix is ringing in America’s 250th anniversary with a new documentary by Brian Knappenberger.

The streamer will premiere a five-part documentary about the founding and future of democracy in the U.S. called The American Experiment on June 24.

Featuring interviews with former and current lawmakers, former vice presidents and cabinet members, a former Supreme Court justice, historians, tribal leaders and military experts, the film is being marketed as a nuanced take on how America wrestled with some early contradictions in its quest to form a new kind of government..."

Kamala Harris, Mike Pence, Hillary Clinton and Al Gore all sat for the five-part documentary, which will bow on the streamer on June 24.

05/29/2026

“...'Prime Minister,' the HBO original documentary about popular New Zealand leader Jacinda Ardern, was named best documentary at Thursday’s Documentary Emmy Awards.

The doc, directed by Michelle Walshe and Lindsay Utz, had its world premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award for World Cinema Documentary."

Documentary Emmys 2026 Winners List: HBO's 'Prime Minister' lands top prize, while Nat Geo and Netflix lead all outlets with six wins each.

05/29/2026

"...Parsons (aka Kane Pixels) was 16 when he created his web series, The Backrooms: Found Footage, in 2022, itself inspired by a 2019 creepypasta photo on 4chan of what appears to be never-ending vacant office space.

With many creative takes on the unsettling imagery popping up around the internet, Parsons’ series was a well-produced found footage adaptation that centered on the fictional Async Research Institute’s work studying the Backrooms (aka The Complex) as missing persons cases continue to escalate around the discovery..."

Born in 2005, the year YouTube launched, 'Backrooms' director Kane Parsons has "always taken that for granted," having the platform at his disposal.

05/28/2026

"...Bari Weiss, CBS’s editor in chief, named Nick Bilton, a tech journalist and filmmaker, as the show’s executive producer. The network also fired two on-air correspondents."

Bari Weiss, CBS’s editor in chief, named Nick Bilton, a tech journalist and filmmaker, as the show’s executive producer. The network also fired two on-air correspondents.

05/28/2026

"...ABC News and National Geographic are among the top winners at night one of the 2026 News & Documentary Emmy Awards on Wednesday.

ABC World News Tonight with David Muir took home the award for outstanding live news program, while CNN Worldwide’s The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper won the award for outstanding recorded news program.

Overall, ABC received eight awards, Trafficked with Mariana van Zeller via National Geographic/Muck Media won seven Emmys and CNN took home four."

The awards were handed out at the Jazz at Lincoln Center's Frederick P. Rose Hall in New York City on Wednesday.

05/27/2026

NEW EPISODE: Joining host Michael Azevedo on a new episode of Making Media Now is director Theo Rigby to discuss his documentary "If I Could Stay," which will be premiere on PBS on June 1 and remain available to stream on PBS.org and via the PBS app for 90 days thereafter.

Set in Colorado, "If I Could Stay" follows two undocumented mothers, Jeanette and Ingrid, as they face deportation and the threat of being separated from their young children.

In a life-altering decision, they choose to seek sanctuary inside local churches in defiance of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Filmed over several emotionally charged years, their journey unfolds amid constant uncertainty, legal battles, and the quiet bravery of life in refuge.

Check out this film starting on June 1 and give a listen to the podcast chat wherever you listen to podcasts!
https://fcmakingmedia.podbean.com/e/undocumented-mothers-seek-sanctuary-in-if-i-could-stay/

Joining host Michael Azevedo on this episode is director Theo Rigby to discuss his documentary "If I Could Stay," which will be premiere on PBS on June 1 and remain available to stream on PBS.org and via the PBS app for 90 days thereafter. Set in Colorado, If I Could Stay/Si Pudiera Quedarme follows...