Ask Stanley Nelson about the key to his longevity as a documentary filmmaker and he doesn’t hesitate with his response: “Luck.” Nelson is the director-producer behind such recent films as “Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool,” which premiered at Sundance last year and is now part of PBS’ “American Masters” series, 2015’s “The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution” and 2017’s “Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Black Colleges and Universities.” On the latest episode of the Variety podcast “Strictly Business,” Nelson discusses the luck factor in his long career, and the many paths that documentarians pursue to fund projects that are almost always purely driven by passion rather than dreams of hitting it big at the box office.
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