How Oscar-Winning Film Producer Nina Fialkow Picks Projects

Boston power couple Nina and David Fialkow have a nose for compelling narratives. For more than a decade, they’ve backed and executive produced documentaries through Impact Partners and their own New Lane Media. Two of their projects, Icarus (2017) and Navalny (2022), snagged Academy Awards, while their most recent film, Sugarcane, nabbed Sundance’s documentary directing award. For our “Hollywood Comes to Boston” issue, we caught up with Nina to dive into Boston’s thriving documentary scene—and find out what it’s really like to win an Oscar.

What does an executive producer do?
We are fairly involved in the filmmaking process: We advise, watch a lot of cuts, and host screenings and events around the films and their missions. There are projects that we’re involved in from the get-go, ones where we come in midstream, and ones where we come in when the film is trying to get over the last hurdle and needs finishing funds.

How do you choose the projects you invest in?
We’re attracted to stories that might not be well known, and we’re interested in working with someone who might have a different way of storytelling. The directors and the filmmakers are usually just very passionate about the story they’re trying to tell. They want to showcase the story and connect with as many people as possible.

What do you and David believe makes a documentary successful?
We are very interested in the impact a film has. One example is Icarus, which helped in getting Russians banned from the Olympics and the Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act passed in the United States. That’s the kind of outcome that we get excited about, where the film can be a vehicle for greater good.

What’s the Boston film scene like? Do you feel like there’s a large community?
New York and Los Angeles have a critical mass of people in the documentary film industry, but there’s a very vibrant community here in the Boston area. People are aware of what other people are doing, but it’s at these regional festivals—including the Provincetown Film Festival—that you get to catch up with your fellow documentarians and see what they have percolating.

Has winning two Oscars changed your career at all?
It was very exciting and glamorous, and from that, I think more projects have been brought to our attention. But otherwise, we’re just a nice Boston couple. We’re not very Hollywood.

Photo illustration by Comrade

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