Need help structuring your documentary?

Emmy-award winning filmmakers Marissa Aroy and Niall McKay (Sikh’s in America) worked with New Doc Editing on their two most recent films.

Are you feeling unsure about where to begin your story? How to build suspense?  How to craft an effective climax? New Doc Editing provides world-class documentary editing services. But if you are already working with an editor, you’ll want to support that collaboration with a story consultant. And if you are editing your documentary yourself, hiring a professional story consultanat is a great way to save you time and money while getting specific structural guidance. How? We’ll help you:

- Map a clear vision of the film’s story arc with our exclusive Doc Plot Map™

- Pinpoint structural pitfalls

- Generate storytelling solutions that will keep your viewers glued

Build suspense: New Doc Editing owner Karen Everett explains how to adapt the three-act structure for character-driven documentary films. (Photo by Betty Bastidas, www.babphotography.net.)

DETAILED STORY GUIDANCE

One of the wonderful things about the independent documentary community is that colleagues are frequently willing to help one another. They’ll view a rough cut and offer advice at no cost. We applaud this community spirit. We also know that a colleague volunteering time will not give you the detailed story guidance that you need to edit your documentary over time.

Picture receiving an invaluable outside perspective, reassurance about where you are on the right track, trouble-shooting from assembly cut to locked picture, and the confidence of knowing exactly how to craft the next cut. Your film deserves the unparalleled value that our professional story editing services will provide.

Documentary Story Consulting Packages

New Doc Editing offers four Story Consulting packages designed to help you structure your vision into a gripping, enlightening documentary.

Here’s how it works.

Pick a Story Consulting Package from the four listed below based on the type of service you are seeking. Note that the Bronze Package is aimed at filmmakers in pre-production or production, and the Silver, Gold and Platinum Packages are for filmmakers in post-production.

Each package’s cost is based on the listed base fee, plus an additional $3 for every minute of video you want reviewed. (Since the Bronze Package does not include watching footage, the price is always $530.)

For example, let’s say you want the Silver Package and you have a 90-minute rough cut. To calculate the cost, you would start with a base fee of $300 and add 3 x 90, or $270, for the length of the rough cut. The total would be $570.

1. Bronze Package:  $530 Fee

(Ideal for filmmakers in pre-production or production)

You Get:

• Detailed assessment of written material about your film (up to one hour)

• 60-minute recorded phone consultation about your documentary

• 3 pages typed Story Notes

2. Silver Package:   Base Fee starts at $300

You Get:

• Story Consultant reviews your footage.

• 20-minute phone consultation about your documentary

3. Gold Package:   Base Fee starts at $550

You Get:

• Story consultant reviews your footage.

• 45-minute recorded phone consultation about your documentary

• 3 pages of typed Story Notes

4. Platinum Package:   Base Fee starts at $975

You Get:

• Story consultant reviews your footage

• a 75-minute recorded phone consultation

• 6 pages of typed Story Notes

•  “Viewer POV” movie* with live commentary

• Doc Plot Map** (if applicable)

*The Doc Plot Map is a diagram of the three-act structure customized for your documentary. An extremely useful tool for structuring character-driven documentaries, the Doc Plot Map will identify your film’s inciting incident, midpoint, and the first, second and third act climaxes, as well as show you exactly how many minutes into the total running time of your documentary each of these plot points should ideally appear.

** The Viewer POV movie is a Quicktime file of your documentary with the Story Consultant’s commentary in real time. In other words, you will get the consultant’s first impression of your cut, much like a typical viewer’s first impression, but with the added benefit of an expert’s vantage point in identifying weak spots and trouble-shooting structural problems. You’ll see your movie playing, along with the Story Consultant’s face giving commentary at the bottom of the screen. This unique approach gives you powerful feedback for specific scenes and soundbites, as well as overall advice on your story arc.

Free Consultation

You’ll want to get clear on your story arc as early as possible in the filmmaking process, ideally, before you shoot a frame. Take advantage of our free 30-minute phone consultation today. Email us today to schedule an appointment and figure out which package is right for you.  We look forward to keeping your viewers glued to the screen!