News

Abducted in Plain Sight captures a case as strange as its foreboding title suggests, interweaving the horrors of child abduction with stories of extramarital affairs, aliens, and brainwashed parents. The 2017 true crime documentary now streaming on Netflix shines a light on the abduction of Jan Broberg, a young girl living in Pocatello, ID, who was twice kidnapped by her neighbor Robert Berchtold (sometimes referred to as "B"). While this sounds like a classic Forensic Files episode, there's more to the story that will truly boggle the mind. Broberg's parents, Mary Ann and Bob, not only held back from contacting authorities but also each had affairs with Berchtold and allowed him to have close contact with their daughter.

Jan's story is a disturbing one throughout - here are the shocking details that formed the basis of the documentary.

The Kidnappings

A close family friend, Berchtold convinced Jan's parents to let him...

Here’s your daily dose of an indie film, web series, TV pilot, what-have-you in progress — at the end of the week, you’ll have the chance to vote for your favorite.

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The Boy from Mushin

Logline: “The Boy from Mushin” tells the story of Bisi Alimi, who risked his life when he came out as gay live on Nigerian television.

Elevator Pitch:

“The Boy From Mushin” is a feature length documentary that follows Bisi Alimi, who was raised in one of Nigeria’s poorest slums. He fled persecution to become one of the most influential African Lgbt and Human Rights activists. Bisi risked his life when he came out as gay live on national television. After enduring three years of violent attacks, he fled to London. The film charts Bisi’s journey...

Here’s your daily dose of an indie film, web series, TV pilot, what-have-you in progress — at the end of the week, you’ll have the chance to vote for your favorite.

In the meantime: Is this a project you’d want to see? Tell us in the comments.

The Feels

Logline: Silly, heartfelt, super-short moments in the life of a bisexual guy who’s got way too many feels.

Elevator Pitch:

Though Netflix and others have brought TV online, most new shows still stick to the traditional half-hour format. Inspired by “High Maintenance,” we have created a form that is shaped for the internet. 30-90 second episodes, released daily for a month. The brevity influences the content: Instead of your standard narrative arc, you’re going to see moments of this character’s life at the same time as you’re living your own. Episodes are closer to blog posts than to short films.

Here’s your daily dose of an indie film, web series, TV pilot, what-have-you in progress — at the end of the week, you’ll have the chance to vote for your favorite.

In the meantime: Is this a project you’d want to see? Tell us in the comments.

Riverment

Logline: A former civil rights activist copes with her traumatic experiences by sharing her stories with her granddaughter by the river. With her granddaughter wanting to continue the fight, will generational differences push them apart?

Elevator Pitch:

Civil Rights activist Maureen was no stranger to racial injustices and traumatic events while fighting for equal rights. To cope with what she’s encountered, Maureen spends her time in her favorite place of peace, the riverbank, where she shares stories about her past to her granddaughter Tyna. Now 19 years old, Tyna has become a freedom fighter in her own right, tackling inequalities...

Here’s your daily dose of an indie film, web series, TV pilot, what-have-you in progress — at the end of the week, you’ll have the chance to vote for your favorite.

In the meantime: Is this a project you’d want to see? Tell us in the comments.

Boy Howdy

Logline: Upcoming documentary film about Creem Magazine from New Rose Films and director Scott Crawford (of Salad Days), exploring the heyday of the game-changing, Detroit-based rock mag.

Elevator Pitch:

The film explores the heyday of Creem, starting from the beginning and following through it’s untimely end. Exclusive interviews in the film include Alice Cooper and Thurston Moore along with many others.

The director, Scott Crawford, has a great history with music documentaries with his most recent being “Salad Days” which explored the legendary punk scene in DC. Also, Creem’s founder/publisher Barry Kramer’s son, Jj Kramer,...

It’s been a couple months since the last edition of What’s Up Doc? placed Michael Moore’s surprise world premiere of Where To Invade Next at the top of this list and in the meantime much shuffling has taken place and much time has been spent on various new endeavors (namely my Buffalo-based film series, Cultivate Cinema Circle). Finally taking its rightful place at the top, D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hagedus’ Unlocking the Cage is in the midst of being scored by composer James Lavino, according to Lavino’s own personal site. Though the project has been taking shape at its own leisurely pace, I’d expect to see the film making its festival debut in early 2016.

Right behind, the American direct cinema masters is a Texan soon to make his non-fiction debut with Voyage of Time. Just two weeks ago indieWIRE reported that Ennio Morricone, who scored...

Bet Networks, in association with Arise TV (an emerging 24-hour news and entertainment channel with broadcast hubs in London, New York, Johannesburg and Lagos) will address the global sexual exploitation of children, focusing especially on the recent kidnappings of nearly 300 school girls in Nigeria, the global response to this crisis and the rising exploitation of children around the world, in the Bet News Special "Stolen Innocence: Your Daughters Are Our Daughters," premiering this Friday, May 23 at 7Pm Et/Pt on Bet, and Saturday, May 24 at 10Pm Et/ 7Pm Pt on Centric.  Further, the special will expand the conversation past the current headlines of the...