Celia Aniskovich is a New York–based documentary filmmaker and the founder and editor-in-chief of Switchboard Magazine, a digital publication that produces rich, character-driven long-form nonfiction narratives and also acquires short films. In the piece below, she explains how these works form a diverse slate of original content designed to serve as IP for adaptation into television and film properties.—M.M.
Here’s the problem: it takes too damn long to make movies.
By the time a nonfiction story gets reported, optioned, developed, and maybe — if it’s lucky — turned into a film or series, years have passed. Too many great stories stall in that gap between discovery and screen. And the ones that do make it through? For far too long, they’ve come from a narrow perspective, resulting in a lack of diversity in both the stories told and the voices amplified.
We started Switchboard Magazine to close that gap. The idea was simple: create a pipeline that works faster, more effectively, and gets stories in front of the people who can move them forward. But also — and this is crucial — do it in a way that values what the stories are, respects ownership, pays the artists who do the work, and ensures a wider, richer range of voices is heard.
The Problem With ‘Good Intentions‘
One of our board members put it bluntly: “You can have the highest ideals, but if the model doesn’t work, people will dismiss it as a feel-good experiment, not a viable path to success.” That stuck with me.
Sometimes in Hollywood, ethics and success are treated as opposites — as if valuing artists and their work is antithetical to making money. At Switchboard, we wanted to prove the opposite: that you can build a profitable model and get artists paid for their work. You can do good and succeed.
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That’s why we structured Switchboard around a 50/50 profit share with our writers and filmmakers. We also make sure contributors know what they’re signing onto (this is non-fiction, these are real people!).
Before a story runs, we secure appearance releases for documentary adaptations. And life rights for scripted adaptations — not as empty paperwork, but as real agreements that ensure the people whose lives inspire these stories have a financial stake if a narrative film or series moves forward. That way, there’s a clear path from page to screen — and no one wakes up a year later surprised their life is on the market. Transparency is built in from the start.
Why Switchboard Magazine Stories Travel
Using our experience as filmmakers, we treat every piece of nonfiction like potential IP. Our articles are written like films — arcs, characters, tension — and the shorts we acquire are character-driven and market-ready. The goal is to give each story the best chance to live beyond the page or the festival circuit.
Already, this approach is working. We’ve optioned multiple pieces to industry leaders and seen real interest in the stories we’re surfacing. Not because we compromise, but because we package stories to move faster, more clearly, and more ethically through the system.
The Collective Experiment
This fall, we put one of our models into action in a concrete way. Switchboard acquired four shorts in consideration for the 2026 Academy Awards — “Freeman Vines,” “Poreless,” “Rat Rod” and “Saving Superman.”
But even with this expansion, the films remain squarely aligned with Switchboard’s mission: all rooted in true stories or lived experiences, and all carrying themes that stand for something larger than themselves.
For us, the films are more than releases — they’re proofs of concept. Just like our written features, they serve as IP that can be carried forward into new forms, whether as series, features, or other adaptations. By pairing festival-proven shorts with Switchboard’s infrastructure, we’re showing how nonfiction stories can move faster, more transparently, and with artists at the center.
Instead of sending them out to battle each other in an overcrowded awards season, we mounted a collective campaign. Together, these shorts have played more than 100 festivals worldwide, winning jury and audience prizes at Tribeca, HotDocs, Palm Springs, Indy Shorts, and more. Rather than competing for scraps of attention, the four teams are lifting each other up — pooling resources, sharing visibility, and pushing as one.
We’re also releasing them across Switchboard’s YouTube channel, leaning into a digital-first model designed to democratize access, broaden visibility, and reach audiences well beyond traditional distribution.
The goal isn’t just to prove that collaboration is nice. It’s to prove that this pipeline — from article or short film to visibility, awards, adaptation — actually works.
Lessons for Other Filmmakers
Building Switchboard has reinforced some lessons I think are useful for any filmmaker:
- Speed matters. Don’t let your story sit in limbo. Build pipelines that move it quickly to the right eyes.
- Think like an owner. Your work isn’t just content. It’s IP. Protect it and plan for adaptation from the start.
- Ethics and profit aren’t enemies. A fair model can also be a successful one.
- Collaboration scales. When artists share resources instead of hoarding them, everyone gains.
The Future We See
The future of nonfiction film and IP won’t be dictated solely by studios or streamers. It will come from models that democratize ownership, move stories through faster pipelines, and center collaboration instead of competition.
At Switchboard, we say every story is a signal waiting to be amplified. Our job is to catch that signal and ensure the people who create it still have their hand on the dial.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s this: Ideals don’t have to be at odds with outcomes. We can build a system where artists are valued, stories move quickly, and success is shared. And if that works — it’s not just a feel-good experiment. It’s a new model.
You can learn more about Switchboard Magazine here.
Main image: Scenes from the Switchboard Magazine shorts “Freeman Vines,” “Poreless,” “Rat Rod” and “Saving Superman.”