Real Life Beats Fiction

An Oscar nominated documentarian Wednesday questioned why filmmakers make fictional movies when “you just can’t beat real life.”
Michael Cascio, senior vice president of National Geographic Television, told an audience at American University’s Wechsler Theater that is he is drawn to documentary filmmaking because it is as full of pathos and passion as anything imaginary.
“You just can’t beat real life,” he said, “There is drama, memorable characters, life and death, humor and one added element real documentaries tell the truth. Truth is when you can say everything you are about to see is real.”
National Geographic television which stems from the National Geographic Magazine dedicates their channel to documentary ethics of presenting real life. The relatively new channel started in 2000, and is owned in part by Fox Television and part the National Geographic Society a non-profit which decides the content. The market for documentary television has grown and become more competitive with the explosion of the cable television in the 1990s. This explosion landed Cascio with more opportunities, but he also saw how the business changed.
“Nature documentaries existed before cable television, but with so many new channels they were suddenly on everyday of the week. Audiences began asking what is new and what is sensational,” said Cascio.
This made the market for documentary television more competitive said Cascio. National Geographic channel has been able to survive with innovative shows, such as, The Dog Whisperer, which stars, Cesar Millan, a dog trainer and canine psychologist, Millan is able to transform a dog from vicious to well-behaved in every episode.
However the marketable secret of the show is that the owners also change which help their dog change said Cascio. The show remains committed to representing the subjects truthfully and in real time.
This innovative programming is key to staying successful, as the series was nominated for the Emmy for Outstanding Reality Series in 2006 and 2007.
The digital world of the internet is also changing the face of documentary television said Cascio. For example, he said, National Geographic bought the rights to a tourist’s very popular YouTube video, of a lion and a crocodile playing tug of war over a young water buffalo. The channel did a special, in-depth analysis of what the footage captured and the relationships between these animals. According to Cascio, nature documentarians have never been able to capture anything like this before. Also the clip represents how with today’s technology anyone can capture events on film
“You never know where the next documentary film will come from,” he said.
Several AU students and many D.C. film professionals filled Wechsler Theater for the event held by the Center for Environmental Filmmaking. Giorgia Harrell, who works as a producer, at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, came because of her interest in nature documentary films and moved to D.C. from Los Angeles to step away from fiction.
International AU student, Michael Ravier, said that the lesson he took from the YouTube video was that know that, “you can start out small.”
Cascio said that those interested in starting out in documentary filmmaking can find opportunities at small production companies, working on pieces for television or the internet.
“Just in the way cable changed everything, the digital world is an explosion of choices. If I were getting into the business that I where I would want to go,” said Cascio.
Another element of truth in nature documentaries that frequent the channel is the inherent danger of filming unpredictable animals. Host and other that work with the wildlife can often get hurt said Cascio.
For example, Cascio played another clip, in which, Brady Barr, a host of several National Geographic specials, mistakenly provoked a snake into biting him as he venture into a cave in Australia. Barr eventually received medical treatment with no lasting injuries said Cascio.
In his career Casio has worked on a four hour documentary on the Titanic for the A&E channel. Also he served as vice president for the Animal Planet channel where worked with Steve Irwin and the highly popular show, “The Crocodile Hunter.” Cascio briefly touched on the critically acclaimed Planter Earth series containing HD footage of exotic plants and animals by the Discovery Channel.
“Planet Earth was fabulous. We are working something that won’t come out for a few years but it will blow that out of the water,” said Cascio.