The landscape of documentary filmmaking is shifting.

For four decades, the bulk of American documentaries have focused on social issue films that documented societal problems.

We needed these films. They include “Fahrenheit 9/11”, “The Corporation” and “Inside Job”.

But now a new type of documentary is emerging. What is it?

The emerging stories confront some of the same issues — environmental destruction, social injustice, and economic ruin — with hopeful ideas rather than doomsday scenarios.

According to Duane Elgin, one of the most inspiring speakers at the recent StoryCon2 Conference in LA, “great transition stories” are emerging in both narrative and documentary film.

Social visionaries, spiritual leaders, system thinkers and futurists describe the possibility of a major shift in our future that we can co-create together. These stories describe that shift. Some of my favorite examples include “Visions of Universal Humanity,” “Sing Your Song,” and “Crazy Sexy Cancer”.

Speaking for the Global Alliance for Transformational Media (GATE), Elgin has categorized more than a dozen core narratives.

Check out his website for a detailed list of specific meta-stories that will usher in deep changes in our economy, justice system and environment.

http://greattransitionstories.org

I’m proud that many of the filmmakers with whom I work as a story consultant are creating documentaries that tell some of the stories that Elgin outlines.

Here are a few examples.

The first story Elgin identifies, “A Global Brain Awakens,” documents the unprecedented revolution in global communication.  Tiffany Shlain’s extraordinary documentary “Connected” embodies this type of story.

My Inner Circle member Sylvie Rokab’s film “Love Thy Nature” tells the story that Elgin calls “Reconnecting With the Living Universe”.

And my former Inner Circle member Katie Teague’s “Money and Life” is telling the story that Elgin identifies as “Holistic Economics”.

If any of you are working on films that will include solution-oriented ideas that document and usher in our changing world, please consider joining my Inner Circle.

While not all members of the Inner Circle are telling “a Great Transition Story,” you will definitely find members of your tribe in this supportive environment.

I’ll announce the new Inner Circle in early April 2012.

Feel free to e-mail me if you’re interested in the early bird special.

I hope you had a Happy Valentine’s Day! Before I share some tips about how to choose a good title, a quick announcement.

We currently have two talented and experienced editors available. Our editors are trained by me and will help you structure a highly compelling documentary. In addition, you’ll receive free story consulting from me. Please email me today to learn more.

Now…are you trying to choose a great title for your documentary?  One that is intriguing and easy to remember?

Often filmmakers choose titles that are too generic to be easily recalled. Here are some tips for creating an enticing, memorable documentary title:

- Seek a word or words that are specific, unique, even metaphoric. Examples include “Tongues Untied”, “Last Train Home,” “Finding Joe”, “Bull In A China Shop”, “Born in Goma”.  Note the use of proper nouns and specific images. Both are memorable.

- One word and two-word titles are popular these days:  “Capitalism”, “Connected”, “Cool It”, “Outfoxed”, “Gas Hole”, “The Secret”, “Senna”, “Freakonomics”

- Sometimes a word or phrase that is used in everyday conversation will help make your title memorable.  For example, “Tying the Knot”, a documentary about gay marriage, uses a common phrase and a metaphor, both easily recalled.  Michael Moore’s indictment of American health care, “Sicko” is also easy to remember. Take care not to use a phrase that is too generic.  While I loved the film, David Weissman’s “We Were Here” does not strike me as a memorable title. It’s evocative, but I can never remember if it’s “We Were There,” or “Here We Were,” or something else.

- Refer to a location, song or some other specific phrase that is used in the film. For example, my own PBS documentary “I Shall Not Be Removed: The Life of Marlon Riggs” gets the first half of the title from an activist song that Marlon actually sings halfway through the film. Scour your soundbites for specific images or places or other details that could serve as a title.  Note that some uses of place make sense and are easily recalled, such as, “The Mayor of Castro Street”; others don’t make sense, such as “Bowling for Columbine”.

Good titles are challenging to come by. So take your time, organize a brainstorming session (show a clip from the film to inspire people) and then test the best choices by emailing your friends and asking them to vote.  If you can’t think of a title by the time a grant is due, then say you are taking the above steps and refer to your title as “tentative”.

Finally, for information on how to structure compelling documentaries, I can’t recommend highly enough “The Ultimate Guide to Structuring Your Documentary”. Check it out at:
newdocediting.com/products

I feel excited and “on purpose” as I write this newsletter, just hours after attending the amazing StoryCon conference about making transformational films. And I was delighted to meet up with many of you in Los Angeles!

Sponsored by the Global Alliance for Transformational Entertainment (GATE), the StoryCon conference was packed with Hollywood creatives who confirmed what I’ve been writing about for two years: a groundswell of transformational films is jelling into what I called the “new documentary movement”.

What are transformational films? The kind that can bring tears of joy to your eyes, which is what happened to me as I listened to speaker Jean Houston. A leader in the human potential movement, Houston talked about the need for filmmakers like you to evolve a new story for the plant.

If you’re skeptical and woo-woo resistant, don’t worry. According to GATE co-founder and comedian Jim Carrey, “This kind of entertainment doesn’t have to be a bore.”

I’ll be sharing with you many insights related to story structure that arose at the GATE StoryCon in the coming months.

For now, here are three highlights:

1. What are transformational films? Hollywood producer Marta Mobley defined transformational films as “media that inspires, educates, and provides insight into how humans can become healthier, more loving and fully actuated human beings.”

You may be wondering if Mobley’s call for stories that, in her words, “focus on triumph rather than tragedy” lack drama or realism. Not to worry. Bring on Eckhart Tolle.

2. A giant in the personal and spiritual development field, hunched over Eckhart Tolle (“The Power of Now”) spoke at 1 AM to a rapt Beverly Hills audience about what story consultants like me refer to as the “inciting incident”.

“Something goes wrong,” said Tolle, “and that’s the lifeblood of most movies.”

Making transformational documentaries doesn’t mean eliminating challenging moments when “something erupts”, in Tolle’s words.

Here’s the kicker, according to Tolle: “Human consciousness would never evolve if nothing went wrong.”

So it’s not about removing difficulties from our films. It’s about mindfully portraying how our characters respond to life’s obstacles.

And how do we “mindfully portray” character arc? Dara Marks knows.

3.  I was delighted when Dara Marks took the stage. Author of “Inside Story: The Power of the Transformational Arc”, Marks is a story consultant like myself, but for narrative films.

Like me, she believes that a traditional story arc that focuses only on “what is going on in the exterior, outer world” is essentially a masculine model.

This fixation on the concrete protagonist’s desire provides a meaty plot, but the story arc can, in Mark’s words “feel artificial rather than organic”.

Marks called “the other half of the story,” involving a mythological feminine descent and metaphoric death experience, the “transformational arc of character.”

Some of you will recognize this parallel arc from my seminars as the protagonist’s psychological “need” (to grow), as distinguished from the protagonist’s concrete “desire” (to get).

How do you construct this psycho/spiritual transformation when your characters are real human beings rather than actors?

It’s time for a mindful sales pitch.

You can learn how to chart character transformation in my online home study course, “Editing the Character Driven Documentary”.

My teachings are pretty much in line with Mark’s screenplay lore; only my work about structuring character arc through a “midpoint” is tailored for documentary filmmakers.

Right now you can get this popular seminar for free when you purchase “The Ultimate Guide to Structuring Your Documentary”, my most comprehensive online seminar:

http://newdocediting.com/products/

It comes with a money-back guarantee.

I’m very excited to have found my tribe and grateful for my mission to help transformational filmmakers craft soulful documentaries!  If you were at GATE StoryCon, please let me know what you thought.

Even veteran filmmakers (including my ideal story consulting clients) can benefit from taking my Documentary Concept Quiz.

But first, a quick announcement. My Inner Cirlce has sold out.  I am considering beginning a new Inner Circle and there are a few spots left. This 6-month program for documentary filmmakers begins January 31, 2012. Email me today to learn more. Or click on this link now:

newdocediting.com/land/innercircle

Back to the quiz…here are seven questions to ask about your core concept for your documentary-in-progress.

Take this quiz to see if your concept paper and treatment need to be tweaked (or revamped) to make an engaging, profitable documentary film:

1. Do you know about and are you structuring your film with one of the meta-templates used by 90% of commercially successful documentaries?

2. Is your topic visual (or would it work better as a magazine story)?

3. Does your topic or character really rock your world (and will it for the next 2-3 years)?

4. Can you get sufficient access to your characters, or are you dreaming?

5.  Are you using cutting-edge visual devices or, better yet, re-creating the documentary form with a truly innovative stylistic technique?

6. Is your program “ever-green”, or will it be old news by next year?

7. Are you savvy to and prepared to fund the most expensive budget line items

(such as archival footage, music licensing, travel expense and editor fees) that can make or break

your project?

If you answered “yes” to six or more of these questions, congratulations! You likely have an engaging documentary, poised to attract funding, critical acclaim and large audiences. (Be sure to register your treatment with the Writer’s Guild to protect your intellectual property.)

If not, how can you turn each “no” into a “yes”?

In my six-month Inner Circle program, we take a candid, professional look at your core concept and see where tweaking or outright refashioning your film can help.

And if you’re making a character-driven documentary (my specialty), we’ll also ask one more important question:  does action unfold on screen?  If not, how can we replace some of your monotonous talking heads with events that develop in front of your viewers’ eyes?

Join my Inner Circle, beginning January 31^th, 2012 and receive:

-       Three One-on-One Story Consultations … aimed at structuring your film with a robust concept that provides a compelling dramatic experience for your viewer;

-       Twelve Mastermind Calls … to provide peer support and feedback from fellow filmmakers;

-       Unlimited Email Access… to my professional guidance for six months;

-       Much more…check it out at:

newdocediting.com/land/innercircle

Note that my last two Inner Circle programs sold out.  Here’s what some current members are saying:

“We needed help with our story and structure for our next film, and another filmmaker recommended Karen Everett and New Doc Editing. We’re half way through our 6-month course with the Inner Circle, and we have already learned an incredible amount about story structure that will help us shape our rough cut!”

- Judy Kohin, Producer, BAG IT, URANIUM DRIVE-IN, Reel Thing Productions

“Without having any footage for my film, it initially seemed unjustifiable to seek story consulting or a story editor. But by joining the Inner Circle, I’ve learning so much more about story crafting and editing which will definitely save a lot of time and money in production and post-production.”

- Valerie Camila Rhodes

If you are interested in the upcoming Inner Circle, please email me today at karen@newdocediting.com so we can discuss how your documentary can benefit!

A few years ago I heard a statistic on the useful Doculink forum for documentary filmmakers that chilled my bones.

The statistic claimed that only one percent of documentary films are commercially successful.

For awhile, I believed it.  Now I’m beginning to question that statistic.

Where did it come from? Does anyone know?

And how accurate is it today, a few short years later, when distribution consultants like Marc Rosenbush and Stacey Parks are helping filmmakers devise innovative roll-out plans to sell your film? And when more filmmakers are selling their films online, keeping all the profit?

Before I blow the one percent statistic out of the water, a quick announcement: my Inner Circle program for documentary filmmakers sold out last Friday.

Since there is such high demand for this popular program, I am starting a second, concurrent Inner Circle. There are two spots left. Please email me today if you are interested in joining so we can talk about whether this six-month documentary story consulting program is right for you.

Now…here’s my manifesto for 2012:  ignore the one percent statistic!  Expect to make money from your film!

There’s a growing movement among indie filmmakers that addresses the fear embedded in the outdated archetype of the poor, starving artist. For example, the innovative radio show Film Courage (http://filmcourage.com/) empowers indie filmmakers to follow their bliss and create monetary and emotional rewards.

Many filmmakers in my six-month Inner Circle program are creating profitable documentaries by:

-  a) getting their films fully funded through angel investors, so there’s no one to pay back when the film is done; and

- b) turning to innovative distribution models that give the filmmaker the lion’s share of the profits.

Check out my upcoming Inner Circle program at:

newdocediting.com/land/innercircle

According to film fundraising consultant Morrie Warshowski and documentary mentor Jilann Spitzmiller, who were guests on past Inner Circle Mastermind calls, there’s hope.

Recent fundraising and distribution innovations include:

-       Crowdsourcing to build your audience while you create your film;

-       Engaging your film’s character in fundraising;

-       Correctly implementing fundraising software like Kickstarter and Indie-Gogo.

If you want to join the growing tribe of filmmakers making profitable documentaries, consider joining my upcoming Inner Circle beginning January 31, 2012.

newdocediting.com/land/innercircle

This high-end consulting program is not for everyone.  It is a great way to save on my story consulting fees and get cutting-edge storytelling guidance and support from fellow filmmakers over a six-month period.

For example, one of our current Inner Circle members recently shared with our five fellow members how her team raised tens of thousands of dollars from progressive, upper-middle class professionals to fund their last award-winning environmental documentary.

I’m proud that Inner Circle members tell me over and over again how helpful they find the mindset aspect of the program.

“The Inner Circle is a rare, perfect combination of individual attention and

group support,” says Inner Circle member Mark Davis, with whom I am consulting again tomorrow. “The motivational boost alone is worth the price!”

Cultivating a positive, purpose-driven attitude is something I’ve personally worked on a great deal. And I’ve developed unique ways for Inner Circle members to provide encouragement and support for one another, including Mastermind Calls and accountability partners.

Frankly, next to my world-class story consulting skills, my ability to help you stay positive and on track is a major part of my value to you as a filmmaker.

So please, don’t fall prey to dubious and out-dated statistics such as the above-mentioned one percent stat.

Learn more about how the Inner Circle can help you create an engaging, profitable documentary at:

newdocediting.com/land/innercircle

Again, note that while my Inner Circle program sold out last week, I am starting a second, concurrent Inner Circle on January 31st.

I am only accepting six filmmakers to provide a quality experience. There are two spots left.

Email me today: karen@newdocediting.com,  so we can talk by phone about how Inner Circle can provide you with the storytelling guidance and peer support to create a profitable documentary.

I’m offering ten fortunate filmmakers a free critique of their footage.  Want to be one of them?

Here’s how it works:

For the next week, I’m offering 10 documentary filmmakers a complimentary mini-story consulting session.

If chosen, you’ll send me up to five minutes of your footage, and I will critique what’s working, what’s not, and how to improve your film.

If you are selected for this offer, I will ask you to send me one of the following:

1. Your trailer or your Kickstarter/IndieGoGo campaign (your film’s calling card)
2. The first five minutes of your film (the most difficult to craft and important to get right)
3. Five minutes from any section of your documentary, even outtakes of uncut video.

To take advantage of this rare opportunity for professional story consulting, email me today. Again, I’m only accepting 10 filmmakers.

If you’re chosen, I’ll critique up to five minutes of footage using my special “Viewer POV” software. This technology allows you to see two things at once: 1) your footage; 2) me critiquing your footage.

We’ll then schedule a 10-minute phone consultation to discuss your project.

At my hourly rate of $250, you’re getting at least $75 worth of story consulting for free!

In case you’re worried your footage isn’t good enough, please don’t! I’m a kind critic, and I will help you.  I’ll point out what’s working, what’s not and how you can improve your documentary.

When we’re done collaborating, I’ll send you a Quicktime file of my critique.

Please email me today at Karen@newdocediting.com if you are interested in this offer.

I’ll accept the first 10 filmmakers, and I’ll give preference to those who are considering joining my next Inner Circle that begins January 30th… so be sure to let me know if you’re interested in this 6-month story consulting program!

You’ll save on my story consulting fees and work with like-minded filmmakers in a supportive environment, fostered with bi-weekly Mastermind Calls. The early bird discount ends soon.

Learn more about the Inner Circle at:

http://newdocediting.com/land/innercircle/

Email me if you are interested in the free critique, and let me know if you are also interested in the Inner Circle. I look forward to critiquing your footage!

I love working with filmmakers who make a difference, and there’s an emerging tribe of documentary filmmakers who are making a difference in a brand new way.

I call their documentaries “transformational films”.

Examples include surprise hits such as “I Am”,“What the Bleep Do You Know?”, “Horse Boy”, “Wake Up”, “Crazy Sexy Cancer”, “Thrive” and “Discover The Gift”.

Imagine a bookstore’s psychology, spirituality and self-help sections combined, and you’ll get a whiff of how huge this emerging genre will be.

As the upcoming GATE conference (the Global Alliance for Transformational Entertainment) promotes in their advertising, “The Audience is Ready!” for stories of personal transformation culminating in global impact.

I’ll be at the GATE conference in Los Angeles on February 4, 2012, so let me know if you’re coming.

The fact that most of the above-mentioned documentaries were theatrical sleeper hits or internet-spread success stories points to what I believe is a blind spot in mainstream distribution channels.

Frankly, most American distributors aren’t interested in “self-help documentaries”…yet.  Is that because these distributors cater primarily to universities, and academia is suspicious or downright disdainful of documentaries like “The Secret” (2006)? (“The Secret” is probably the most commercially successful and denigrated transformational film to date.)

Whatever the reason, I predict the Transformational Film Movement will gain in intellectual rigor, broaden beyond a personal focus, and eventually envelop much of the social issue genre (currently the largest genre of American documentaries, which receive the bulk of foundation funding for films).

I love working with filmmakers who are making transformational films.  Many members of my Inner Circle programs have received my story consulting help in creating cutting-edge, transformational documentaries, including Scott Ryan in “Manifesto” and Katie Teague in “Money and Life”.

If you are interested in creating films that make a difference, I invite you to join my new Inner Circle program starting January 30^th, 2012.

Learn more at http://newdocediting.com/land/innercircle/

Former members have raved about this six-month program for documentary filmmakers.

Inner Circle member Scott Ryan said:

“Karen helped us overcome serious story hurdles, ultimately defining which narrative elements were truly important to my film. After shooting off and on over a period of five years, we were working with hundreds of hours of footage, so her guidance was crucially important.”

Inner Circle member Katie Teague said:

“Hiring Karen as a consultant on my film was one of the best investments on the project to date…Her respectfulness and genuine enthusiasm for the film’s success gives me a renewed confidence when it sags the most.”

If you are seeking professional guidance structuring your film as well as peer support, check out the Inner Circle at:

http://newdocediting.com/land/innercircle/

I’m capping the Inner Circle at 6 members to provide a quality mentoring and group experience, so please contact me today at Karen@newdocediting.com to see if this program is right for you.

Are you applying for the ITVS open call due January 13, 2012?

If so, I helped design a Film Arts Forum with ITVS senior executive Richard Saiz that inspired so many filmmakers to think more creatively about their storytelling approach that I want to share some tips here…just in time to spruce up your application!

But first, in case you missed the announcement, my new Inner Circle program is starting January 30^th, 2012.  If you are seeking guidance in structuring your film, motivation to meet deadlines, as well as the creative support of other talented filmmakers, this 6-month program is right for you.  Check it out at:

newdocediting.com/land/innercircle

Now back to the Independent Television Service, the largest U.S. funder of independent documentaries.

Whether or not you are writing an ITVS grant (Open Call is due tomorrow), it’s important to address the important creative aspect of your proposal with fresh eyes.

ITVS promotes innovative storytelling, and filmmakers who think outside the doc box are more likely to get ITVS funding that those who don’t.

(You can see my forum on “Thinking Outside the Doc Box” with ITVS’s Richard Saiz at http://newdocediting.com/client-resources/documentaryinnovation/.)

Here are several ideas to inspire you to, in ITVS’s words “take creative risks” and think in new ways about three standard documentary conventions:

1. Narration.  In my opinion, narration is making a comeback. So how can you provide narration differently than the old “voice of god” drone and in a way that reinforces the theme of your documentary?

-       Crowd source the narration.  (See Tiffany Shlain’s new short “A Declaration of Interdependence”.)

-       Have a child narrate

-       Have someone sing the narration

-       Film the narration being delivered in the audio booth to convey transparency or collaboration, if these are important themes in your film.

2. Interviews. How can you shoot your remaining interviews in a way that makes them stand out and expresses the themes in your film? Here are some examples:

-       Have experts on a documentary about history appear in their own historical reenactments (“Herskovitz: Heart of Darkness”).

-       Combine a talking heads film with a narrative story. (“What the Bleep Do We Know?” “Paulina”)

-       Interview only one person in your film. To capture an aspect of their personality or a theme of the film, use a special camera device such as a jib (see “Collapse”) or Errol Morris’s Interrotron (“Fog of War”) or the newly named EyeDirect device at (http://www.mceyeliner.com/index.html).

-       Have experts on a documentary about child development be interviewed by children. (Not done yet to my knowledge.)

3. Personal Documentaries. First-person films are still growing in popularity. How can your storytelling leverage the “access” you already have, or recreate the access you thought you had?

-       Use animation to recreate scenes with family members or others who are part of your story but now don’t want to be on film. (See Kirby Dick’s “This Film Is Not Yet Rated”).

-       Contrive a ridiculously funny quest. (“Supersize Me”)

-       Crowd source your quest.  Describe your goal or problem and send out a request for You Tube videos from people in your family, or community, or the big wide world, with suggestions for solving the problem. Then film yourself acting on some of the suggestions.

I hope these suggestions will spark your own creativity, whether or not you are aiming for the ITVS deadline. Several of our Inner Circle members have benefited from rethinking their storytelling approach in a more innovative way.

Here are a few testimonials:

“Karen helped me look at my project with fresh eyes,” said Inner Circle member Scott Ryan, “providing a wealth of provoking new ideas for telling my story with the greatest impact.”

According to one Inner circle member, Greg Boozell, “The Inner Circle was a creative haven of mutual support and constructive critique…thanks to its collaborative nature.”

To learn more and register for the January 30^th Inner Circle, click on:

newdocediting.com/land/innercircle

I’m accepting six filmmakers in the Inner Circle and there are five slots left.

Please email me today if you are interested in talking about whether the Inner Circle is right for you, as the early bird discount ends soon!

A few days after Christmas, a veteran in our independent documentary community gave me some sage advice.

When I told her I was weighing whether to begin a new Inner Circle coaching program for documentary filmmakers (given all my new projects), she told me in no uncertain terms that I should definitely offer the Inner Circle program this month.

She helped me realize what I already knew in my gut, from my testimonials gathered from other filmmakers.

Simply put, we creatives thrive when we can talk about our projects on a regular basis with fellow filmmakers.  And our documentaries benefit from structural guidance at key points in our project’s timeline.

She reminded me that I’m really good at giving this guidance. After leading our Mastermind group last night (for the current Inner Circle), I remembered how joyful I feel giving my gift to my tribe.

So… I’m excited to announce that my new Inner Circle 5.0 begins January 30, 2012!  This six-month documentary consulting program provides unparalleled peer support, mastermind calls and one-on-one consultations for your documentary-in-progress.

Learn more at:

newdocediting.com/land/innercircle

Please email me if you are interested so we can discuss if this program is right for you.  The early bird pricing allows you to save $2000. This special discount ends in mid-January, so email me today at Karen@newdocediting.com.

Here’s what a recent Inner Circle alumnae, Julie Miller, said about the program:

“Karen’s analysis and feedback were exactly what I needed! Her insights and methods are quite amazing and will be tremendously useful to me going forward. In particular, her video notes are a great tool.  She helps me stay focused with her sincere, informed support and encouragement.”

Last night my Inner Circle met, and I was struck by how many members of this 6-month program were currently experiencing major challenges with their projects.

One filmmaker was floored to discover that the hours of city council footage he had been depending upon had been inadvertently dumped by the archive facility.

Another filmmaker had run smack into legal challenges with the government he had turned to for funding.

A third filmmaking, working on a concept paper for a film about epilepsy, had personally experienced two seizures in the last few weeks.

Two other Inner Circle members were bravely facing challenges of similar magnitude.  We all cheered to hear that our sixth filmmaking team had won an Audience Choice Award last week for a previous film!

While I was happy that our Mastermind Call provided support and solutions for these toiling filmmakers, I was also struck last night by two things.

First, these filmmakers (most of whom were directing character-driven documentaries) were the protagonists on their own obstacle-filled quest. Sometimes pulling back and looking at your life that way can be inspiring.

Second, I recalled something that award-winning editor Vivien Hillgrove (“The Future of Food”) said while commenting on the editor/director relationship. “I think directors are brave,” she said.

I echo her sentiment here. Documentary film directors are brave. And I want to say thank you to all the directors out there who subscribe to my 2500-member newsletter.

Thank you for listening to and following your passion, which fuels your creation.

Thank you for the courage you show in the face of inevitable challenges.

And thank you for the films you create that educate, enlighten and inspire thousands if not millions of people.

Please give yourselves a pat on the back.  Right now! If you’re a hugger, give yourself a squeeze, while you accept my gratitude.

For those of you who are interested in getting support for the journey of directing your film, I’ll be starting a new Inner Circle in early 2012.

Feel free to email me today at Karen@newdocediting.com if you want to learn more about early bird registration.