I see a thread in the life’s work of successful documentary filmmakers - that they regularly take on commercial work to fund personal projects.

Several years ago Errol Morris produced 80 television commercials, only a handful of which were aired, for Miller High Life. Money made from that project, and work he’s done for companies like Nike and Quaker Oats, surely has gone into the seven documentaries he’s made. Morris’ most recent feature, “The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons From the Life of Robert S. McNamara,” won the 2004 Academy Award for “Best Documentary Feature.”

I found a similar thread in the life of longtime but little-known documentary filmmaker David Hoffman. He started making “reality” films as he calls them at the age of 23. Thirty eight years later he’s made 88 PBS specials, 125 reality films and done tons of corporate communication work, which includes the production of commercials like 12 television spots he produced for Exxon/Mobil during the gas crisis in the 70s.

“My collection of programs, like the collection of any veteran documentary filmmaker, is the result of the work that people paid me to create,” Hoffman states on his Web site (www.thehoffmancollection.com). “Not being independently wealthy, I made the programs I could get funding for—and then set about making them as entertaining, dramatic, and meaningful to audiences as I could.”

Hoffman projects run the gamut. Two films that show his range are “How to Talk Corporate Speak” and “King, Murray.” The first movie captures a communication expert explaining the art of talking at your workplace. “King, Murray” is its extreme opposite. It documents the Vegas trip of a Long Island insurance salesman as part of a junket organized for high rollers. The 35-minute film exposes a “controversial and misogynistic world,” according to Hoffman’s site.

Today, fortunately, the prospects for financing a documentary film are brighter than they were. The industry is growing exponentially because nonfiction movies are making money at the box office. Hopefully that means more investors will want to make documentaries. If not, you now know what to do.

After nearly a month in theaters, Michael Moore’s documentary “SiCKO” - a movie about the expensive, inefficient U.S. health care system - finally got a wider release this past weekend. It’s now showing at more than 1,100 theaters in the country, up from around 700. Thus far the film has raked in $19 million, making it one of the top five grossing documentaries of all time, according to michaelmoore.com. That’s a pittance compared to $222 million worldwide earnings of “Fahrenheit 9/11,” Moore’s last film, but it’s not a bad take for a movie that cost $9 million to produce.

I hope you haven’t begun reading this blog with the hope that by its title, I was referring to Walter Hill’s, mid-eighties, Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy picture. If that was the case, I’m afraid I’m going to have to burst your bubble right here in the first paragraph. No, the 48 hours I was referring to are the 48 that were all allotted for me and the five courageous individuals that competed as a team in the 2007 48 Hour Film Project.

If you’re unfamiliar with the 48 Hour Film Project, the title provides a large clue as to the rules. You and a motley crew of your own assemblage have 48 hours to write, produce, shoot, edit and score a film. The rub is that you draw the genre of your film-to-be from what may as well have been a hat. You are also required to include in the film a prop which is randomly chosen and is different in every city that hosts a 48 Hour Film Project of its own. (For Nashville contestants this year, the prop was a car part). In addition to the prop, you are given a character that you must incorporate and a line of dialogue that has to make its way into the film. (In our case the character was a gentleman named Steve Fogarty, an electrician by trade, and in our script also the deliverer of our required line “Can I get a little help, please?”)

Our team consisted me and five brave lads and ladies who each give new meaning to the term intestinal fortitude. Each of them highly trained, cunning and equipped with the sort of cat-like reflexes, model good looks and rapier wit that you can usually only read about in books or witness on nature programs. Which is to say that it’s a rare thing to be tossed so deeply into the mix with a group of any number and not to have any cross words or heated disagreements. We carried each other through. At times we were even forced to resort to marathon sessions of affecting bad Brooklyn accents during our punchier moments: “Can I get a boom mike over he-ya.” (I’m not sure exactly how this came about, except to say I vaguely remember having a conversation about Tony Danza with one of my teammates and it seemed awfully funny to all of us at the time.)

The film we made is called “Up With People” (our genre was superhero), and though we didn’t have the time (or the pyrotechnics budget) to put all of our ideas in the final cut, I can honestly say without the faintest hint of disappointment that it was one of the more rewarding experiences of my brief career as a filmmaker. It’s a real inspiration to sit around a table with a group of people and have a chance to watch them all be creative.

So while the sleep batteries are low, the emotional and artistic batteries are, I’m happy to announce, fully charged and looking forward to the next opportunity I’ll have to work with any of the members of my team. So there you have it, a little mushy maybe, but every word of it true. I want to thank Abigail, Brandon, Jamie, Johnny and Pam for giving me something more constructive to do with my weekend than watching the Smoky and the Bandit trilogy (which was also discussed in depth during our shoot).

I hope you’ll seek out the 48 Hour Film Project in your own city. It’s an exhausting process but an interesting one, and an excellent way to test your filmmaking mettle. For more info check out the 48 Hour Film Project site HERE.

Hello there loyal DOC fans. Chris here with some of the coolest news I’ve had the pleasure of bringing you in my tenure here at the channel. This Tuesday, the nominations for the 2007 Emmy Awards were announced by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, and among the films chosen was none other than a film we’ve been awfully proud to have on our airwaves this past year, filmmaker Peter Raymont’s powerful film “Shake Hands with The Devil: The Journey of Romeo Dallaire.”
We want to be humble and acknowledge what an honor it is to receive such a nomination, which of course it is, but I’d just like to take this opportunity to channel our collective excitement into a well chosen exclamatory statement. I’ve given this a lot of thought, and I do believe that I’m going to have to go with BOOO-YA! Even a well placed Boo-Ya doesn’t quite do the trick though, but for now it’ll have to do.
We can’t tell you how good it feels to see a film that, like many of the films on our airwaves was lovingly chosen, be selected to potential receive television’s highest honor. I think I speak for everyone here when I say that we’re going do our best to make sure this isn’t the last time this sort of thing happens. There are many wonderful things in store for us all in the weeks, months and years ahead, and it isn’t a stretch to say that you ain’t see nothin’ yet. We’d also be remiss if we didn’t thank Mr. Raymont directly for crafting such a moving and powerful film.
Mark our words this certainly won’t be the last name you hear his name.

If Michael Moore’s “SiCKO,” now in its fourth week of release, continues to make as much money per screen as “Live Free or Die Hard,” why is it playing at only 756 theaters in the country? “Die Hard” is showing at 3,200 theaters.

To find an answer, I called Lionsgate films and The Weinstein Company, which are promoting and distributing Moore’s fiery healthcare documentary.

The first publicity guy from Lionsgate I spoke to acted like I was some dumb kid asking a dumb question. “Call your local theater,” he said. Then he said something like ‘Well you know, it’s a got small budget and it’s a niche movie.’ Not satisfied with his answer I asked if there was someone else I could speak to. He patched my call over to a woman in the publicity department who said, “Call this number and ask for Amber Jackson, who can get you in touch with Sarah Greenberg.”

I called the number and a guy’s cell phone picked up. The message was, “It’s me. Sorry if I don’t get back to you. Not trying to be rude.” I left a message, but was pretty sure that I’d hit a dead end. I finally found a contact number to call The Weinstein Company. The receptionist was polite and helpful and I left a message for someone named Sarah to call me back.

A few minutes later I called again to give The Weinstein Company another telephone number where they could reach me. Sarah answered the phone this time. She was polite and friendly and asked me what I wanted to know. I told her I wondered why “SiCKO” is making lots of money but not showing in very many theaters?

She paused and said in a seemingly grave tone, “You’ll have to ask our corporate communications department that question. I’ll have them give you a call.” It’s past lunch and I haven’t heard from them yet.

Is big business putting the squash on “SiCKO?” It looks much less threatening, and it’s much less of a story, when it stays lodged at number nine at the box office instead of hovering near the top three slot of the box office like “Live Free or Die Hard” has been doing.

If I remember correctly, “Fahrenheit 9/11,” Moore’s hugely successful documentary about the federal government’s response to the terrorist attacks of 9/11, got a much wider release, made much more money and had a greater cultural impact.

In the three weeks it’s has been showing in theaters, “SiCKO” has earned $15.8 million, while “Live Free or Die Hard,” in release for the same length of time, pulled in $103 million, according to boxofficemojo.com. Let’s hope “SiCKO” starts playing at more theaters throughout the country, which is what should be happening.