More and more documentaries are getting financed with equity investments or a combination of equity, grants, and contributions. But what are the pros and the cons of investments? How does it work and how should you approach this new world of funding? And what is this ‘waterfall’?!

Susan Margolin, producer and leading member of the Documentary Producer Alliance, joins Women Make Movies to walk us through equity investment. Unpacking the DPA’s Guidelines for the Documentary Waterfall to ensure sustainability, realistic budgets, and fair compensation in our field, Susan can answer all questions you might have, whether you have already gotten equity investment or want to.

The DPA launched in 2016. Their first major set of guidelines was introduced in early 2019, The Documentary Crediting Guidelines, followed by the Anti-Racist & Structural Equality Resource Guide in the Spring of 2020. Register.