Greenlit: Listed Sisters, HGTV

 Listed Sisters (12 x 30′) – Features real estate expert Alana Barnett and renovation/design expert Lex LeBlanc who help their clients renovate, and transform homes into hot properties. Project manager Trey Palmer works closely with Lex to maximize each home’s resale value. The clients can then sell the reimagined home at a premium price and […]

Greenlit: Sisters in Law, WE tv

Sisters in Law ( x 60′) –  Being a female lawyer in Texas is tough; being an African American female lawyer in Texas is tougher.  In the city of Houston, a group of five women at the top of their field have coined themselves the “Sisters In Law.”  The series follows these powerful women as they […]

Greenlit: Listed Sisters, TLC

Listed Sisters w/t – Go into the fast-paced real estate world with three of the most entrepreneurial sister duos across America, as they hustle during the height of selling season. Channel: TLC Producer: Matador Content TX: Late 2014 Source: TLC press release

Greenlit: Hook, Line & Sisters, Nat Geo People

Hook, Line & Sisters (7 x ) – Sisters and female fishing duo Sierra and Memry trek to a remote Alaskan location to earn an entire year’s living in just three short months, competing in the high-stakes, male-dominated world of commercial fishing in seven exciting episodes. Channel: Nat Geo People TX: Early 2014 Source: Nat […]

Greenlit: Tequila Sisters, TVGN

Tequila Sisters (8 x ) –  Old-world family values and new-generation ideals collide in this eight-episode docu-soap series that follows the real lives of the Marins, an affluent, multi-generational Hispanic family living in Southern California. The show follows Mexican-born family patriarch and tequila entrepreneur Bill and his wife Lori, as they raise four beautiful daughters—Jen, Lauren, […]

Greenlit: Sisters With Voices, WE tv

Sisters With Voices (6 x 60′) – Reality series following the lives of R&B band Sisters With Voices as they attempt to revive their careers.   Producer: Entertainment One Television TX: Early 2014 Source: Cunopsis

Greenlit: City Sisters, Bravo

City Sisters – The series follows a group of single, up-and-coming movers and shakers in New York’s elite circles of real estate, fashion, and media. These ladies are aggressive in their pursuit of personal and career goals, but in this cutthroat world where egos are high and the drive to succeed is even higher, success can […]

Greenlit: Gypsy Sisters, TLC

Gypsy Sisters (6 x 60′) –  This series is set in the thriving Gypsy community in West Virginia an looks at life in the Stanley family, a loud and proud clan that was first introduced in the series My Big Fat American Gypsy Wedding. This series follows the four women who lead this outrageous family […]

Greenlit: Golden Sisters, OWN

Golden Sisters (2 x 30′) – A real life comedy following the hilarious adventures of Mary, Josie & Teresa Bartnicki, three sisters who shot to fame after a web video of the ladies watching a celebrity sex tape went viral. With Mary in her eighties and her twin sisters not far behind, these three raucous […]

In Development: War of the Rose Sisters, GSN

War of the Rose Sisters ( x 30′) – This docuseries focuses on Beth and Pam Rose, the eldest of four hard-driving auctioneer sisters who sell millions of dollars worth of jewelry, cars, antiques and art every year. For the buyers and the sellers, it’s a game of winning and losing—but for these sisters, it’s […]

Greenlit: Kelly and Her Sisters: Ten Years On, ITV1

Kelly and Her Sisters: Ten Years On w/t (1 x 60′) – An update on the 2001 Bafta-winning documentary that followed the lives of six children living in a condemned house in Birmingham, UK. Channel: ITV1 Producer: Shiver TX: 2012 Source: Broadcast

Greenlit: Hook, Line & Sisters, TLC

Hook, Line & Sisters (7 x ) – Docuseries that follows the unusual lives of the Andersons, a family of fishermen who have only three months to brave the Alaskan wilds for pay day. This is an inside look into a little explored territory – the wild, unpredictable and competitive world of deep-sea commercial fishing. […]

Greenlit: Picker Sisters, Lifetime

Picker Sisters (aka To Live and Buy) (7 x 60′) – Tracy Hutson and Tanya McQueen travel the length and breadth of the USA to find treasures for their interior design store in Los Angeles. Channel: Lifetime Producer:  RelativityREAL TX: 2nd August 2011 Source: Realscreen

Greenlit: Welcome Back Potter, HGTV

Welcome Back Potter ( x 30′) – Actress, entrepreneur and mother, Monica Potter, best known for her role in NBC-TV’s Parenthood, returns to Cleveland to renovate her childhood home near the shore of Lake Erie. The series follows Monica, her mom, Nancy, and three outspoken sisters, Jessica, Brigette and Kerry, as they tackle the massive whole-home […]

Greenlit: Smollett Eats, Food Network

Smollett Eats (6 x ) – The Smollett siblings are well-known for their acting and musical talent, but they also have top-notch cooking and entertaining skills.  From putting on the perfect kids’ birthday party to throwing a midnight BBQ for their friends, the family’s culinary ace Jake is joined by brothers Jocqui, Jojo and Jussie, […]

Greenlit: Young, Gifted And Classical , BBC4

Young, Gifted And Classical  w/t (1 x 60′) – Sheku Kanneh-Mason, winner of this year’s BBC Young Musician, is the subject of a documentary, along with his six musically gifted brothers and sisters. The 17 year-old cellist wowed audiences with his virtuosity this summer in the grand finale of BBC Young Musician 2016. When he […]

Greenlit: Ink Ink Shop, TLC

Ink Ink Shop w/t – Ink Ink in Springfield, MO is a tattoo shop like no other. Owner Kelsey Rogers set out to make it feel different from the burly, intimidating, traditional shop. All the artists are women and on any given day, the place is filled with soccer moms, sorority sisters, mother and daughters, brides – […]

Greenlit: Outdaughtered, TLC

Outdaughtered ( x 60′) – 40 bottles a day, 420 diapers a week and feedings every three hours became the new normal for Danielle and Adam Busby when they welcomed home the only all-female set of quintuplets in the country. The family of three became a family of eight overnight, and this series follows that […]

Greenlit: The Kids Casting Agency, Channel 4

The Kids Casting Agency (4 x 60′) – Finding the superstars of the future is a massive business. In series takes you inside Bizzykidz, one of the largest children’s talent agencies in the UK, to enter the extraordinary and competitive world of young stars, wannabe models and some of their powerhouse parents, many of whom […]

Greenlit: Single Dad Seeking…, TLC

Single Dad Seeking… w/t  – Follows five single fathers working hard to raise their kids. As they strive to provide the ideal lives for their sons and daughters, they each feel that a critical piece of their family is missing. These dedicated dads are searching to find not only love in their lives, but also […]

Greenlit: Brontës at the BBC, BBC4

 Brontës at the BBC  (1 x 60′) –  From Jane Eyre to Villette, this programme will dig deep into the BBC’s archive to explore the Brontes’ famous works and discover the fascinating lives these sisters lived during this remarkable period in literary history. The Brontë sisters are among the most adapted writers in the BBC’s […]

Greenlit: Living Like a Brontë, BBC2

Living Like a Brontë  (1 x 60′) –  Journalist and broadcaster Martha Kearney, columnist and author Lucy Mangan and novelist Helen Oyeyemi travel to Haworth Parsonage, the home of the Brontë sisters, to discover the stories behind their classic novels, Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights and Agnes Grey. Just two years before these works were published […]

Greenlit: Rise Of The Superstar Vloggers, BBC3

Rise Of The Superstar Vloggers w/t (1 x 60′) – Told for the first time from the perspective of vloggers themselves, this documentary sees Jim Chapman meet the biggest and best vloggers from across the globe, including Tyler Oakley, Joe Sugg, Alfie Deyes and Ingrid Nilsen, to hear first-hand how this 21st century phenomenon has […]

Greenlit: Quintuplet Project, TLC

Quintuplet Project w/t – Docuseries following the trials and tribulations of the Busby family, as they adjust to life with new born quintuplet sisters. Channel: TLC Producer: The Boardwalk Entertainment Group TX: Spring 2016 Source: Realscreen

Greenlit: The Getaway Car, BBC1

The Getaway Car (12 x 60′) –  Sees couples go head to head in a funny, fast-paced and action packed competition where only the best get to face the legend that is The Stig. Presented by Dermot O’Leary, the Saturday night entertainment show will see couples compete in a series of exciting driving challenges that […]

Greenlit: 18 Kids and Counting, Channel 4

18 Kids and Counting w/t (1 x 60′) –  As well as owning the title of Britain’s biggest family under one roof The Radfords have fast become one of the nation’s favourite families too. Now that they’ve become one bigger, with the arrival of new baby girl Hallie. The documentary will chart exactly what the […]

Greenlit: Escaping Polygamy, LMN

Escaping Polygamy (6 x 60′) – A  new original documentary series that follows the work of three sisters who left the Kingston clan, a secretive polygamist group based in Salt Lake City, Utah known as the Order, as they help both loved ones and strangers break free of polygamy. The series follows three sisters – […]

Greenlit: One Morning in March, BBC2

One Morning in March (1 x 60′) – “I call it the shooting, because, well…I was shot.” On the 13 March 1996 a gunman walked into a primary school in the small Scottish town of Dunblane and shot dead 16 pupils and their teacher in a Primary 1 gym class. This film features, for the […]

Greenlit: Art Breakers, Ovation

Art Breakers (4 x 30′) – Powerhouse art dealers Miller Gaffney and Carol Lee Brosseau give us a backstage pass to the high-stakes and higher price-tag world of art collecting. With a demanding client list that includes everyone from A-list celebrities, Wall Street tycoons and NFL superstars, these ladies are on a mission to find […]

Greenlit: Douglas Family Gold, Oxygen

Douglas Family Gold  w/t –  Gabrielle “Gabby” Douglas stunned the world in 2012 by becoming the first African American in history to win the individual all-around gold medal at the Summer Olympics.  Behind her meteoric rise was a supportive family willing to sacrifice everything for years to help her dream. Now 19, Gabby is ready […]

Greenlit: The Willis Family, TLC

The Willis Family w/t (13 x ) –  Follows Brenda and Toby Willis as they share the challenge of maintaining their large, fourteen-member family while keeping up with the workload required to manage their touring band. The family, hailing from just outside of Nashville, was thrust into the limelight after making it to the final […]

Greenlit: Love Thy Sister, WE tv

Love Thy Sister – A docu-soap that showcases three affluent African-American sisters at the height of southern society, who put the “FUN” in dysfunctional. The series follows The Ruckers – Ruby, Ellen and Ione – educated, sexy, and sassy southern sisters who love hard and fight even harder. Ruby Rucker…”The Hothead”. The former lawyer and […]

Greenlit: Daphne Dishes, Food Network

Daphne Dishes (6 x 30′) – Mom, blogger, and stand-up comedian, Daphne Brogdon, shares her secrets to easy and impressive family-friendly meals, with a healthy side of humor. Follow her life at home with her husband, their two kids, and dog, as she whips up home-cooked, hearty meals that put smiles on the faces of […]

Greenlit: Barely Famous, VH1

Barely Famous (6 x 30′) –  Docu-comedy series featuring multi-hyphenate producers, actresses and writers, Erin and Sara Foster. In each episode, the Foster sisters parody the most obvious and outlandish conventions of reality TV by centering around two sisters who say they would never do a reality show, but are being filmed by a camera […]

Greenlit: Footsteps in the Snow, LMN

Footsteps in the Snow (1 x 120′) – Documentary weaving together the gripping tale, dating back to 1957, of the coldest case in American history ever to be solved – the murder of Maria Ridulph. Convicted killer, Jack McCullough, gives an exclusive interview from prison. It is the saga of two families – the victim […]

Greenlit: Godfather of Pittsburgh, A&E

Godfather of Pittsburgh (8 x 60′) – For Vince Isoldi nothing is more important than family. Some may say he’s a gangster but according to Vince, he’s just a good businessman. An entrepreneur with a sordid past, Vince has built an empire in Pittsburgh, from nightclubs to real estate, all in hopes of providing a […]

Greenlit: Growing Up Gator, GAC

Growing Up Gator (6 x 30′) – Florida-born blonde beauties Britney, Kasey and Chelsea Brooks are third-generation alligator famers on a mission to rescue wild gators and keep their community safe. Sisters Britney and Kasey, and cousin Chelsea prove no task is too tough and no gator too intimidating for the Brooks girls. We follow […]

Greenlit: Goth at the BBC, BBC4

Goth at the BBC w/t (1 x 60′)  – A compilation of performances from the BBC to explore the ‘Goth’ style of British rock and pop in the 80s. This was a period of music in which dry ice, doomy lyrics and dyed black hair tortured skywards were only some of the constituent parts of this very British […]

Greenlit: It Takes a Sister, Oxygen

It Takes A Sister w/t – This comedic docu-series gives viewers a look into Nikki “Hoopz” Alexander’s unique and chaotic modern family with her five younger sisters and her 11 nieces and nephews.  With an unparalleled bond, the Alexander sisters, ages 24 to 31, have been together through thick and thin. Now at Nikki’s ranch in rural Knoxville, […]

Greenlit: Curvy Brides, TLC

Curvy Brides ( x 30′) – While many brides would love to walk down the aisle in a beautiful designer gown, these couture dresses are not as easily accessible for curvier women. After having trouble finding a designer gown to fit her curvy figure for her own wedding, Yukia Harris along with her sister Yuneisia became […]

Greenlit: Godfather of Pittsburgh, A&E

Godfather of Pittsburgh (8 x 60′) – Pittsburgh is a town ruled by Vince Isolde, a first-generation Italian American, who has built an empire of nightclubs and restaurants all in hopes of supporting his family. But getting to the top means making a lot of enemies and some of them are kin. While Vince is one of […]

In Development: Aunt Nikki, Oxygen

Aunt Nikki w/t – Nikki “Hoopz” Alexander gives viewers a look into her unique and chaotic modern family, living with her five younger sisters and her 11 nieces and nephews on a ranch in rural Knoxville, Tennessee.  With an unparalleled bond, the Alexander sisters, ages 24 to 31, have been together through thick and thin. […]

In Development: Sister Witches, Oxygen

Sister Witches w/t – Set in Bethlehem, PA, “Sister Witches” follows the lives of three unique sisters facing their twenties head on as they learn to harness their powers as witches and find their own way.  Along with their larger-than-life mother, the sisters run the family business, a witchcraft and magic shop, where they help clients […]

In Development: Christina Milian, E!

Christina Milian –  Since she was a teenager, Christina Milian has lived life in the public eye.  Hit songs, movie roles and paparazzi focus have come, gone and come back again, but the one constant in her life has always been her family.   Whether from her passionate mother and business partner, her strong-willed sisters, her […]

Greenlit: Curvy Girls Bridal, TLC

Curvy Girls Bridal w/t – The savvy Harris sisters own a one-of-a-kind bridal salon where full figured brides experience their dream of finding the perfect wedding dress. Channel: TLC Producer: Half Yard Productions TX: Summer 2014 Source: TLC press release

Greenlit: Children on the Frontline, Channel 4

Dispatches: Children on the Frontline  – The children of Syria are often the forgotten victims in the ongoing civil war. More than eleven thousand children have been killed and over a million are now refugees. Syria’s largest city Aleppo, has become engulfed by fighting between pro and anti-regime groups and over two thousand children have […]

Greenlit: Against the Odds, AHC

Against the Odds (6 x ) – During game-changing moments of battle, one wrong move could ultimately cost the war, but lack of teamwork could mean dozens of lives lost in an instant. When faced with insurmountable opposition, brave U.S. troops didn’t retreat in weakness but banded together in strength and trust to meet their […]

Five Documentary Storytelling Styles Seen in 2013

Here’s a list of some of the most memorable documentary films I saw, roughly divided into narrative style; the films grouped at the top of the list I generally found most enjoyable and satisfying and within each group of similar films I’ve listed in order of preference from best to worst (my favourites are in bold). Of course this is highly subjective and some of the films I disliked intensely have won awards, so you’ll have to make up your own mind. Some films could easily be placed in a different category but I’ve put them in what seemed to be the most prominent storytelling style for that film.

However, whether you agree with my selection or not, we can learn from the different narrative approaches chosen by the filmmakers you may find inspiration to help you develop and shape your own films. Having a clear idea of how you are going to tell the story will help you pitch your idea to potential funders (and ulimately the audience) more effectively, and also help you keep on track schedule- and budget-wise. (Photo: Jingle Bell Rocks! courtesy of IDFA)

Greenlit: The Lylas, WE tv

The Lylas ( 60′) – Docuseries in which Jaime, Tiara, Tahiti and Presley – sisters of Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Bruno Mars – leave the sand and surf of Hawaii for the City of Angels to take the music industry by storm.   The sisters prepare to launch their music career, but are soon faced with […]

Nat Geo People Launches in Early 2014

National Geographic Channels International (NGCI) has announced the launch of Nat Geo People – a brand new channel that offers unfiltered, intimate access to the true, amazing and inspiring stories of real people all over the world.  Exploring the emotional and experiential journeys of fascinating individuals whose everyday lives both astonish and resonate, Nat Geo […]