Can’t afford a story consultant for your documentary?

The Story Doctoring Kit

Figuring out what’s wrong with your documentary film is only half the battle. Once you have the diagnosis, you still have to find the remedy.  The good news is that test audiences are usually right about what’s wrong with your film. You can trust them. But they’re rarely right about how to fix it.

If you can’t afford a story consultant, this do-it-yourself Story Doctoring Kit will give you all the diagnostic tools and storytelling remedies to fix virtually any problem afflicting your work-in-progress.

Learn how to cure these common structural symptoms and more:

• Character Identity Disorder.  Are test audiences confusing your characters? You may need to intercut less often, or use the clumping method.
• Inciting Impotency.  Is your opening scene limp?  Let’s shore up your inciting incident.
• Major Social Issue Depression.  Would anyone want to spend a Thursday night at the movies watching your depressing film?  Craft a reversal, a moment of respite, and perk up your film’s ending to inspire your audience to take action.
• Sagging Midpoint. Do you need to escalate suspense in Act Two?  You can fashion a midpoint or use other pacing tools to increase momentum.
• Climax Constipation. When the great push is on, don’t plug up the climax with common mistakes.
• Repetitive Narration.  Is your documentary confusing? Does it meander? We’ve got 7 streamlining tools.
• Premature Aging. Are your titles and graphics looking dated? See our cutting-edge visual storytelling strategies.
• Deadly Denouement. Do you hold your viewers hostage … long after the film should have ended? Learn how to release your viewers with a denouement that leaves them wanting more.
• Shoddy Shots. Do you need to bolster your production values with some cosmetic pickup shoots?  How two new shoots can change the look of your film.

Get Video Modules and More…

The Story Doctoring Kit for Documentary Filmmakers provides story focusing exercises, diagnostic tools for troubleshooting structural pitfalls, tips for gathering useful feedback and four video modules (more than 3.5 hours of material) featuring dozens of strategies to fix problems and keep your audience engaged. You’ll receive a host of digital resources that you can download or view online:
1.     Storytelling Strategies to Engage Viewers (4 video Quicktime files, each 45-65 minutes long)

2.     Story Focusing Exercises (PDF)

3.     Rate Your Doc’s Story Potential (PDF)

Plus, we’re adding a free bonus interview (m4v) with Cynthia Kane, Program Manager for ITVS International.

If you’ve purchased New Doc Editing products before (such as “Editing the Character-Driven Documentary” and “The Ultimate Guide to Structuring Your Documentary”), you’ve come to expect expertise that comes from my 17 years of teaching at the top documentary program in the country (UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism).

The Story Doctoring Kit leverages storytelling principles from earlier New Doc Editing products into problem-solving strategies for your rough cut.

The Story Doctoring Kit also reveals new techniques for solving problems related to narration, music and lack of visual material.

Using examples from more than forty commercially successful documentary films, the 45-65 minute videos cover:

Part 1: Narration and Exposition

Part 2: Structural Remedies

Part 3: Musical and Cinematic Solutions

Part 4: Pacing and Tone

Special Pricing

You may be wondering, what if I’m not in post-production yet? If you’re just starting out in pre-production, I highly recommend “The Ultimate Guide to Structuring Your Documentary”. If you’ve already purchased this online seminar, or if you’re in production on your film, The Story Doctoring Kit will help you preempt many of the costly problems that arise during editing, saving you time and money.

Best of all… you can get this new online program for our special introductory price. The Story Doctoring Kit comes with a full money-back guarantee. No questions asked.

When you click “Add to Cart”, you can purchase The Story Doctoring Kit at our early bird price of $77.97 (good until November 30^th, 2011).

Then look for a confirmation email that you’ll reply to in order to immediately receive your download links.

Note: These products are available for immediate online viewing. In respect of the environment, we like to keep our products virtual and digital! You won’t receive a physical product, but you can download the kit to your computer.