This week we’re roaming from Go-Valley (the production compound) thru Govalle (the neighborhood) with Marfa, TX-based filmmaker Hillary Pierce, a producing force behind Ben Masters’ THE RIVER AND THE WALL, and Maisie Crow’s AT THE READY..

Hillary's path involves assisting the legendary Albert Maysles in New York (yes, he ate her leftovers), looping back to Austin, and then simultaneously working on two wildly different features with Keith, TOWER and A SONG FOR YOU. A meandering stroll through Govalle’s sculpture garden and lizard-lurking trails, Hillary shares why "love your subjects" is ardent filmmaking advice, how producing a wedding preceded additional documentary productions, and why she eventually fled to Marfa during COVID.

We dig into the Documentary Producers Alliance - why it matters, what those crediting guidelines actually do, and how unsexy spreadsheets save productions. Hillary breaks down fundraising across political aisles, the death of traditional distribution, and why your next project might not need to be a feature.

The industry's burning down? Rumor has it. But Hillary's got ideas for what we build next.

Discussion links: TOWER (2016) | A SONG FOR YOU (2016) | THE RIVER AND THE WALL (2019) | AT THE READY (2021) | DOCUMENTARY PRODUCERS ALLIANCE

Timestamps:

00:00 Govalle Adventures Begin

02:00 From Maysles to Austin

07:00 The Costa Rica Doc That Never Was

09:00 Producing Two Features at Once

14:00 What the DPA Actually Does

21:00 Escaping to Marfa

24:00 Conservative Conservationists & Border Politics

28:00 Plans Are Made to Be Changed 33:00 Direct Distribution Isn't Plan B Anymore

40:00 Redefining Documentary Success

44:00 What Do We Build Next?

Tags: documentary filmmaking, film producer, documentary producer, Tower documentary, The River and the Wall, Albert Maysles, documentary distribution, direct distribution, indie filmmaking, Documentary Producers Alliance, DPA, Austin filmmakers, Marfa Texas, film production, documentary careers, filmmaking advice, Keith Maitland, Ben Steinbauer, documentary industry, independent film