Sunny Side of the Doc 2026 — Back to Business. The Right Move.
Right Time. Right Partners. Right Connections.
In a market defined by fragmentation and contraction, the ability to find the right partners, share risk and build together is where the new business models begin. Old models are gone. The landscape has changed permanently. And those who aren't in La Rochelle next June will miss the conversations that matter.
Documentaries and factual content are holding their ground. New routes to global markets are opening up. The shift is real — but so is the opportunity. The difference between uncertainty and confidence is being well-informed, well-connected and in the right place at the right time.
Back and renewed, Sunny Side of the Doc, in partnership with Documentary Campus, cuts through the clouds to deliver what the industry needs most: the community, the insights and the connections to move forward.
Through keynotes and straight-talk discussions, the programme tackles the questions the industry is asking. How do you finance a project when broadcaster fees are shrinking? Who are your co-production partners in a realigned market? How do you reach and retain audiences in a fragmented digital landscape? What are the real economics behind YouTube, platforms and the creator economy? How do you build direct-to-consumer strategies and community-driven revenues that last? And what do the new business models, from acqui-mission to brand funding, from subscription to platform economics, actually look like in practice?
Designed for producers, distributors, programmers and platforms, the sessions move from diagnosis to action — examining new distribution models, the rise of series and scalable formats, emerging collaborations between archives, studios and tech, and the growing role of brands and NGOs as funding partners.
The keynotes set the frame: audience behaviour and attention in the digital age, the future of international coproduction, and the technological forces reshaping the value chain.
Together, they offer not just insight — but a clear map for the opportunities ahead, and the strategic perspective to seize them.
