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Editing Sports, Pageant and Performance Docs
September 24, 2024
I have an editor available soon who excels in cutting documentaries about sports, concerts, and other dynamic performative feats. What’s so unique about this style of editing? Adeptly cut, fast-paced sequences bring viewers into visceral, cinematic performances. Picking the right music for a scene is critical, whether it’s a strip performance with a seductive sound, a wheelchair basketball game with hip hop beats, or a long take of a champion surfer atop a score that soars. Most importantly, editorial chops can reveal the fascinating human interest behind the spectacle: character. That includes picking the right interview soundbites, verite moments, and…
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John Cooper & Best Practices for AI in Docs
September 18, 2024
I recently wrote about an AI discussion moderated by former Sundance Director John Cooper that you can read here: Will Documentaries (And Their Makers) Survive AI During the dynamic Q&A, Jean McGlothlin, former co-director of the prestigious Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival, spoke on the importance of “preserving what is real”. Specifically referring to documentary films, she continued, “I’m all for using new tools, but my overriding concern is that there is a huge societal loss if things are not real.” I followed up with a similar question that has been on the mind of several of my story consulting clients.…
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Will Documentaries (And Their Makers) Survive AI?
September 9, 2024
Recently I attended a spirited discussion in Sebastopol CA, titled Will Film Survive AI? Former Sundance Director John Cooper began by telling filmmaker and AI thought leader Quinn Halleck, “You’ve got some explaining to do!” The BackstoryI confess. For many years I hoped that I would be retired by the time AI might make my work as a story consultant and editor obsolete. Then came the simmering debate last summer (2023) when Hollywood creatives feared losing their livelihood. The unions went to bat over AI usurping and profiting from creatives’ work. As filmmaker Kaitlyn Nyugen asks in a KQED spot,…
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Webinar Recording: Make Multiple Fundraising Cuts Of Your Doc
September 5, 2024
Last month’s webinar on Editing for Fundraising is available here on the Show&Tell website. As you listen to this recording, you’ll learn: How to structure multiple length fundraising reels (and why you need them) How participants workshopped a fundraising cut-in-progress What not to do!
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Story Structure Webinar Recording
July 22, 2024
Last month I did a webinar with the legendary Carole Dean about documentary story structure. You can watch the recording here: Story Structure with Karen Everett I teach from 1:10-33:35. (Excuse the abrupt ending; I had audio issues.) This is a public link for streaming so feel free to share! Here is the link mentioned in the webinar. Ultimate Guide to Structuring Your Documentary
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A Cheer in the Office
July 16, 2024
It’s time to bring the va va voom home! We loved editing this phenomenal, titillating story of the daring young woman who ignited the flames of the 1960’s sexual revolution in CAROL DODA TOPLESS AT THE CONDOR. In fact, the director said that our “creative story solutions would often cause a cheer in the office”! Adored by audiences and critics alike, with a 96% score on Rotten Tomatoes, the film is now available to Watch at Home on Amazon or Apple. Trailer is here!
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Tomorrow Final Day for our Documentary Seminar Sale
July 4, 2024
Here’s to the independent urge that resides in us all. In my experience, creativity sparks when curiosity and independence meet. Curious how a documentary seminar could improve your film? Get Editing the Character-Driven Documentary if you need help structuring a character quest. I’m offering 2 seminars (formerly for nearly $600 for $50.) Most of the testimonials at the bottom of this page were written by students who have taken these courses live. I couldn’t ask for better testimonials. If your film is more hybrid and essay style, turn to The Ultimate Guide to Transforming Your Documentary. At the bottom of…
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Documentary Seminar Sale
July 1, 2024
In honor of American Independence Day, I’m offering a sale on my documentary seminars. If you are working on a character-driven film, you will definitely want to learn the building blocks of dramatic storytelling. The six modules of editing the character-driven documentary illustrate case studies of how to craft an inciting incident, a midpoint, and a climax scene, etc. If you’re editing a hybrid documentary that is structured around both stories and ideas, then get the Ultimate Guide to Structuring Documentaries. It looks at structural models outside the normal three act structure. Right now, I am offering both seminars for…
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A Huge Creative Force on Topless Doc
March 18, 2024
I’m excited to announce that a captivating documentary we edited, CAROL DODA TOPLESS AT THE CONDOR, opens this Friday, March 22, in San Rafael, San Francisco, New York, and LA–then rolls out to theaters across the country. Our staff editor (available soon) was “the perfect editor…a huge creative force,” according to the co-director. “Her story solutions would often cause a cheer in the office.” (Email me if you are interested in our editors. We’ve lowered our rates, and story consultations are complementary when using our staff editors.) This doc will tickle your feminist funny bone. Here’s a quote from…
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Intentional Filmmaking Class
December 21, 2023
Carole Dean, president of From the Heart Productions, has just announced that she is beginning another session of her successful Intentional Filmmaking Class starting February 26th. I’ve taken this class and it’s truly motivating and instructional. (She helped me raise more than $100,000 for my last film.) Along with co-instructor producer/director Tom Malloy, the four-month class will guide you in creating a six-month film funding action plan, show you how to find and land high net worth investors, how to fine tune your proposal and pitch, win grants, and more. Carole is the author of “The Art of Film Funding”…
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