What does impact look like? That’s what we’re asking this week’s guest, Courtney Cook—a veteran impact producer who’s helped hundreds of doc-makers answer that question in her 7-years at POV. A high school teacher-turned-PhD-turned-doc-producer and soon-to-be professor of documentary film at Texas State, Courtney has strong opinions about perspective, ethics, and how having a “bad attitude” is the only way to make it in this field.

Courtney happily draws inspiration from Black Feminist Thought, HANDS ON A HARDBODY, and the stop-motion masters, the Brothers Quay—explaining just what it means to be "theoretically promiscuous." Transitioning out of her role at POV and preparing to re-enter academia, we catch Courtney shortly before the Augmented Reality project LAYERS OF PLACE: AUSTIN that she produced with the MIT Open Documentary Lab makes its debut at SXSW this Spring. Courtney breaks down the difference between making art and making a career, why you should know how you want to “haunt” your audience, and what it actually takes to build a life as a documentary storyteller when you're not "kind-of rich.” This wide-ranging walk cuts through the noise and confusion of the current doc landscape and lands at a simple conclusion, that the real silver lining in this industry is us. “We’re the silver lining.”

Plus: the gospel of asking better questions, how EYES ON THE PRIZE changed her entire life, why librarians rule, and a peek inside a little free art gallery in the Mueller neighborhood of East Austin. This one's about community, hustle, and learning to “hold on gently.”

Discussion Links:

EYES ON THE PRIZE (1987-1990) | HANDS ON A HARD BODY (1997) | LAYERS OF PLACE: AUSTIN (2026)

Timestamps:

00:00 Welcome and Guest Introduction

02:00 Outlook on Texas Filmmaking and Doc Distribution

05:00 Mueller Lake Park and POV Impact Work

07:00 Education, Ethics, and Power in Documentary

10:00 From PhD to POV: Courtney's Path

15:00 Building Careers vs. Building Projects

19:00 Producer Pay and Labor Practices

23:00 The Three-Month Trial Period

26:00 Feisty Conversations and Better Questions

29:00 Grant Applications and Process

33:00 Theoretically Promiscuous

34:00 Silver Linings: We Have Each Other

37:00 MIT Augmented Reality Project

39:00 It's All Who You Know (Two Steps Away)

43:00 Believing in People Until You Learn Otherwise

45:00 Gateway Drug: Eyes on the Prize

48:00 Advice for Emerging Filmmakers

52:00 Little Free Art Gallery Discovery

53:00 DIY Impact and Educational Distribution

55:00 What's Next for Courtney