The Doc Camp Story
(as of Spring 2026)
Reason #27 to Love Portland: Doc Camp
Here’s a little something you should know about Portland…Once a year, for three days, thirty documentary filmmakers from New York, LA and everywhere in between gather around tables, lower their guards, and talk honestly about their work. The hard stuff: the projects that won't cooperate, the edits that aren't landing, the stories they've been chasing for years. And by the end of those three days, they leave full of feedback, fire, and the rare relief of knowing they're not alone.
That's Doc Camp. And it's been quietly happening since 2011.
What Doc Camp Is
Organized by Jackie Weissman and Jen Tate of Oregon Media Lab, Doc Camp is an annual retreat for mid-career documentary filmmakers. Not beginners. Not festival veterans with finished films in hand. But those deep in production, wrestling with what their projects are truly about and why it matters.
"There are plenty of places to go to learn how to make a film, and lots of things to do with a finished film," says Weissman. "There's not a lot to support documentarians in the trenches, often on their own for years with a project. That’s who Doc Camp is for."
The programming reflects that mission. Each edition combines screenings of works-in-progress (with real audience feedback), craft-focused workshops led by industry professionals, and perhaps most importantly, unstructured time for filmmakers to simply be in the same room with others who get it.
Alumni Nisha Burton puts it this way: “Doc Camp is a rare space where filmmakers meet people who don't just give feedback, but become long-term collaborators in your work. My film was finished because of the connections I made at Doc Camp.”
Spring 2026: The Lineup
This year's Doc Camp delivered on every level.
Attendees got an exclusive screening of Barbara Forever followed by a Q&A with director Brydie O'Connor, fresh off winning Best Documentary at the Berlinale (one of the most celebrated documentary prizes in the world.) They joined an intimate conversation about the art and craft of editing with Andrew Gersh, ACE (Crip Camp) and Steven J. Golliday (Birthing a Nation: The Resistance of Mary Gaffney). They participated in a curated workshop with Courtney Hermann, co-author of the definitive textbook Directing the Documentary. And they engaged in a case study and career retrospective with Beth Harrington, legendary filmmaker just back from premiering Our Mr. Matsura at SXSW 2026.
The attendees themselves were equally compelling. Among the cohort: a Ukrainian filmmaker traveling the U.S. solo, collecting ordinary people's stories about what "home" means; a former Washington Post reporter turning her lens on the emerging Women's Pro Baseball League; and an avid fan of Organ Grinder Restaurants exploring the rise and fall of these cult-pizza parlors renowned for their massive Wurlitzer theater pipe organs.
“Doc Camp didn’t just support my project,” claims first time attendee, Lana Shapoval, “It reminded me why I’m making it in the first place.”
The Alumni Effect
More than 350 filmmakers have come through Doc Camp since its founding — from a small gathering on a friend's farm to a 100+ person event before the pandemic, to its current intentional scale of thirty people for three days.
Co-founders Weissman and Tate have come on board as producers on a number of projects after connecting with the filmmakers at Doc Camp, including the upcoming women’s soccer documentary: Unmatched: The Team that Changed the Beautiful Game, as well as Monumental, recently chosen to participate in Sundance Collab’s The Bridge: From Oregon to Industry.
Doc Camp's impact tends to compound over time. Now on the current festival circuit, the team behind Pour the Water as I Leave honed their pitch at Doc Camp in 2024 before taking it to the international stage. Similarly, the short film Over the Kitchen Table solidified the collaboration between its director and producer over lunch a few years back.
What's New: Portland Panorama
This year, Doc Camp deepened its partnership with Portland Panorama, the city's acclaimed new film festival. The collaboration opens select screenings and filmmaker talkbacks to the public, extending the conversation beyond the retreat itself and connecting Doc Camp's community with Portland's broader film audience.
"Partnering with Panorama means more of us are celebrating great filmmaking together," says co-founder Jen Tate. "The filmmakers win. The public wins. Everybody wins."
The Goal
"Our goal has always been for Doc Camp to become a well-known destination retreat for mid-career documentary filmmakers," says Weissman.
Considering that Doc Camp sells out every year, with filmmakers flying in from across the country; Oscar-winning presenters show up regularly to share their experiences; and each spring, thirty people leave Portland feeling a little less alone in their work…It seems that goal has been achieved.
