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Seeking Producer for Transformational Documentaries
June 27, 2012
For two years I have been inviting documentary filmmakers to join what I call “The New Documentary Movement”, a rising tide of non-fiction films that inspire rather than depress viewers. I am currently seeking a co-producer to join my production company New Doc Films to create transformational films. These “transformational documentaries” are stirring, solution-oriented films that will help midwife the greatest planetary change humanity has seen. In the words of futurist Barbara Marx Hubbard, “We are moving from unconscious evolution through natural selection to conscious evolution by choice.” My company New Doc Films is currently developing many types of transformational…
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Tips for Hiring A Documentary Editor
June 13, 2012
Today is my Birthday, and I’m rafting down the Grand Canyon with my sweetie. When I return, I’ll be talking with filmmakers who are approaching post-production. Are you getting ready to hire an editor and started asking colleagues for referrals? If you have a short list of top editors, maybe you’ve already made a few phone calls and quickly realized you either can’t afford these big names, or they weren’t available. Or perhaps, given our challenging economy, a few of them are actually wooing you … and yet… something’s not clicking. Something you can’t quite put your finger on. My…
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Crafting An Essay Style Documentary Part 3
June 7, 2012
Today I want to share a powerful structural template for structuring an essay-style film. While there are plenty exceptions, most idea-based films can be divided into three parts. I use the word “parts”, rather than “acts” intentionally, to distinguish the powerful essay we are crafting from the classic three-act narrative structure first articulated by Aristotle. In Part One, which runs no more than one-quarter of the film’s length, you introduce your viewer to the film’s topic and ethos, or intellectual sensibility. What is the film about? Is your approach critical, affirming, investigative? Most importantly in Part One, you present your…
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Crafting An Essay Style Documentary Part 2
May 29, 2012
This is part 2 of a 3-part series on structuring essay-style documentary films. Traditionally, PBS essay-style documentaries were characterized by talking heads, narration and occasional b-roll used as “wallpaper”. Not very cinematically appealing materials, to say the least. Then along came Ken Burns who put his imprint on landscape beauty shots, reenactments, actor’s voiceovers and rotating zooms on photographs. Today we may yawn at these once engaging tactics. In the last few years, creative directors have racked their filmic sensibilities to come up with fresh stylistic approaches. On the visual side, essay films are now employing animation (Bowling for Columbine),…
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Crafting An Essay Documentary Part 1
May 23, 2012
I’m running an informative 3-part series on how to structure an elegant essay-style documentary. The essay (or topic-based) documentary is the second most popular art form dominating today’s independent documentary landscape. Although it shares in the festival accolades and box office commercial success of the reigning character-driven documentary, structurally the essay doc is a different beast entirely, usually organized around a central idea rather than a protagonist on a quest. It looks different too, often employing talking heads, text, statistics, man-on-the-street interviews, educational graphics and slide shows to make its points. Popular examples include An Inconvenient Truth, Religulous, Bowling for…
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Best Length For Your Documentary
April 25, 2012
How long should your documentary be? I get this question a lot. Before I answer, a quick announcement: I have a few spots left in my Inner Circle, which begins Monday, April 30th. I know some filmmakers have said the Inner Circle’s $4000 price is beyond their budget. So…if the remaining spots are not filled by Friday, I will allow two filmmakers to join at the discounted rate of $2600. You would get two consultations rather than three, plus all the other benefits of being in the Inner Circle, including support from other filmmakers, 12 Mastermind calls and free documentary…
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The Latest Innovation in Documentary Filmmaking
April 21, 2012
You’ve heard of crowd-funding. How about cloud filmmaking? Leading the latest innovation to sweep the documentary world, Tiffany Shlain and her team at The Moxie Institute have developed a new way of creating collaborative films she’s calling Cloud Filmmaking, and it’s getting high profile treatment at the Tribeca Film Festival this week. But first…if you are interested in joining my six-month program for documentary filmmakers, please let me know today. The Inner Circle has been attracting many talented filmmakers lately, and the last two circles sold out. You can still get the early-bird registration savings. Go to: https://newdocediting.com/land/innercircle So…what is…
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Early Bird Deadline Is Tomorrow
April 18, 2012
Does your documentary speak beyond the choir? Before I explain how to keep skeptics watching your film, and why your documentary needs a “detractor“, first an important announcement: The early-bird deadline to register for the Inner Circle and save money is tomorrow, Friday, April 20th. Please contact me if you are interested in joining this 6-month program. We’ve been attracting several very talented filmmakers lately, as well as some passionate, emerging filmmakers! Learn more at: https://newdocediting.com/land/innercircle Now back to reaching beyond the choir. How do you keep skeptics watching your film? Give them a credible spokesperson. Not a straw man…
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The Most Positive Filmmaker I’ve Ever Met
April 14, 2012
Larry Shogbamimu was the most positive filmmaker I’d ever met in my Inner Circle program. So I began my second story consultation with Larry by thanking him for how supportive and cheerful he’d been with his accountability partners and on every Mastermind call. Little did I know that Larry was about to launch into a tirade of anger. He reported that after years of trying to get an interview with his film’s protagonist, the governor of a Nigerian state, he’d been stonewalled once again by a corrupt public relations official, who didn’t want to see Larry’s documentary made and wouldn’t…
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Shaking the Documentary Money Tree
April 11, 2012
I recently had lunch with the guru of documentary fundraising, Morrie Warshawski, who shared a story that could change your fundraising strategy. Before I reveal his insider advice, I want to announce that my upcoming Inner Circle begins April 30, 2012. If you need guidance crafting your documentary, the Inner Circle is a great way to structure your film with big savings off my normal story consulting fees. Learn more at: newdocediting.com/land/innercircle Also, in my last newsletter I shared a glowing testimonial about the Inner Circle and mistakenly attributed it to Tom Parker, rather than Tom Duncan. My apologies to…
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