DOCUMENTARY RADAR
Daily news lead scan · Howard Cohen · an Ariel service
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What I'm looking for
Howard makes music documentaries. Surface raw NEWS LEADS, never finished pitches - stories a viewer would want a whole film about. The bar: would enough people watch a doc about this? Favour a named human story with archive/footage potential and access. Three buckets: BIG STORIES (untold chapters, resurfacing scandals, newly opened archives, deaths, rediscovered footage, legal sagas, reunions, feuds), TOURS/ALBUMS (major tour or album announcements filmable as concert or tour docs, ideally announced with lead time), and ANNIVERSARIES (album/event/death/cultural milestones at 10/20/25/30/40/50 years with enough lead time to develop and shoot - 2027 is the current sweet spot). Roster and label-network connections are a bonus that pushes a lead up, never a filter. Skip pure reviews, chart gossip, and release-day noise with no story behind it.
Not interested in
Celebrity memoir or autobiography without investigative angle. Self-help, business advice, or lifestyle books. Fiction. Historical subjects without living witnesses or archival footage. Stories where rights are locked up by major studios.
Sources — Primary
BBC Entertainment & Arts
Guardian Music
Far Out Magazine
Classic Pop
Louder Classic Rock
Rolling Stone
Stereogum
Nme
The Big Issue
Sources — Secondary
Guitar World
Metal Planet
Pitchfork
Variety Music
Billboard
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Paste any link — a Substack, news site, podcast, or publication
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