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Talented Documentary Editors Available
June 11, 2013
First, I want to give you a free gift, courtesy of my client Katie Teague, whose wonderful documentary “Money and Life” is currently getting standing ovations at theaters nationwide. You can see how we structured her essay-style, hybrid documentary by watching “Money and Life” free of charge at: http://moneyandlifemovie.com/watch-now Next, if you foresee needing an editor, please contact me. Two of my most talented editors are currently finishing big projects and will be available soon. Choosing the right editor is an important, albeit time-consuming process. The stakes are high and you can spend a lot of effort vetting potential candidates.…
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Two Spots Left for Documentary Seminar
May 5, 2013
I hope you had a great weekend! There are two spots left in my 4-week tele-seminar, “Structuring the Hybrid Documentary”, which begins this evening May 6th) ! The first person to register gets $50 off. Register here: https://newdocediting.com/products/structuring-the-hybrid-documentary/ I’m looking forward to helping a handful of motivated filmmakers find the perfect structure for their documentary film.
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Do You Have A Hybrid Documentary?
May 2, 2013
If you’ve been shooting a documentary and the story is not clear yet, you may not have the necessary story elements for a classic three-act structure. But you can still engage audiences with a character-driven film by crafting a “hybrid documentary”. Learn more about this engaging documentary form and my live 4-week seminar, “Structuring the Hybrid Documentary”: https://newdocediting.com/products/structuring-the-hybrid-documentary/ This seminar begins next week (May 6) and comes with a money-back guarantee. Read what my story consulting client Mike O’Brien has to say about my teachings: “Karen has tremendous insight on plot, structure, character development, and storytelling principles as they apply…
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Seminar Early Bird Price Ends Today
April 30, 2013
As a reminder, the early bird price for our new seminar, “Structuring the Hybrid Documentary,” ends today! Register and learn more about this virtual, 4-week seminar at: https://newdocediting.com/products/structuring-the-hybrid-documentary/ As a bonus, I am giving participants a free copy of my popular seminar, “Directing the Character-Driven Documentary”, which was filmed live at the San Francisco Film Society.
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Structuring the Hybrid Documentary
April 23, 2013
There’s good news for those of you who don’t have the footage to sustain a character quest through three solid acts. My groundbreaking work on how to adapt documentary films to the three-act narrative structure has recently expanded to include guidance on how to craft the “hybrid documentary”. “Structuring the Hybrid Documentary” teaches you how to combine the best of the three-act structure with the essay-style structure. This new, 4-week seminar begins Monday, May 6th. You can participate in this live, virtual teleseminar from anywhere in the world, and each class is recorded so you can listen to it later.…
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New Documentary Seminar
April 22, 2013
You may be working on a documentary that doesn’t have a strong enough story to qualify as a legitimate three-act narrative, yet you want to maximize your characters’ appeal and drama. What do you do? Chances are your footage can be crafted into a hybrid documentary, an art form that borrows elements of the three-act structure and the classic essay form. An example of this kind of documentary is Werner Herzog’s “Grizzly Man”. Available on Netflix, this highly successful film explores ideas about how we humans connect with animals, while leveraging the story elements of his main character, Timothy Treadwell.…
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The State of Documentary Filmmaking
April 18, 2013
I’m pleased to announce a new documentary seminar that I think will help many of you who are concerned you don’t have a strong enough story arc. But first, this reassuring pronouncement from one of the biggest funders of documentary films: the state of documentary filmmaking today is extremely healthy and robust! That’s coming from veteran filmmaker Orlando Bagwell, who will soon be stepping down as a Program Officer for the Ford Foundation. If you’re making a documentary with a strong social justice theme, you should definitely be applying for the Ford Foundations “Just Films” initiative. Their goal is to…
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Crafting an Elegant Essay Documentary
April 13, 2013
First, a quick reminder: the sale on our most popular documentary seminars ends in 24 hours. Go to: https://newdocediting.com/products Having just seen a wonderful essay-style film (my story consulting client Katie Teague’s “Money and Life”), I want to share a free resource to help other filmmakers edit a filmic essay. If you are crafting an essay-style film—meaning you are structuring ideas rather than a hero’s journey–check out my popular blog on how to do this: https://newdocediting.com/editing_essay_documentary_film If you find this blog interesting, check out my online seminars (money-back guaranteed). Note that half of the content of “The Ultimate Guide to…
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Spring Sale on Documentary Seminars
April 9, 2013
Happy Spring! I’m proud to announce that my story consulting client Katie Teague is debuting her smart new documentary, “Money and Life”. One of the most inspiring films I’ve ever worked on, “Money and Life” is a terrific example of a well-crafted essay film. Katie and I worked hard to create a three-part essay structure that would easily segue from the history of money, to its current faulty system, to solutions for our future world economy. If you live in the Bay Area, you can catch the theatrical premiere at: http://mnlsf.brownpapertickets.com Whether you’re crafting an essay style film or a…
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Help Getting Your Film on HBO
April 2, 2013
I’m proud to announce that my story consulting client Steven Pressman’s documentary will premiere on HBO on Monday, April 8th! His film “50 Children: The Rescue Mission of Mr. and Mrs. Kraus” (masterfully edited by Ken Schneider) is an excellent representative of what I call the “New Documentary Movement”. These solution-oriented films inspire viewers about vexing issues. In this case, Steven tells the story of a couple who single-handedly decided to rescue children whose lives were endangered by the Holocaust, a powerful embodiment of the idea that “we are the ones we’ve been waiting for”. Steven benefited from my story…
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