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Three Tips for Writing Documentary Narration
May 11, 2011
Narration is making a comeback! The omniscient voice-of-god narrator is being usurped by personable voices that lend mood and an appealing point-of-view to your documentary film. Last week I shared several tips for writing intriguing narration to my Inner Circle members. You’ll learn three tips in this newsletter from the many we discussed. But first, I invite you to join me for a free teleseminar on “Writing Personable Documentary Narration” on Tuesday, May 17th, 5:30-6 pm PST. Register at: https://newdocediting.com/writing-documentary-narration/ Second, need funding for your film, right now? Join film fundraising expert, Jilann Spitzmiller, for “FIND YOUR CROWD, FUND YOUR FILM”, an…
Read More...New Inner Circle Begins June 1st
May 3, 2011
I’m proud to announce that our third consecutive New Doc Inner Circle begins next month! If you need support and crave a community of like-minded visionary filmmakers, as well as professional story guidance, this six-month documentary coaching program is for you. I will select five qualified filmmakers to participate. When you work with New Doc Editing, you’ll join the company of other ambitious filmmakers whose films have been shaped by our story consulting expertise and gone on to premiere at top documentary film festivals, such as Sundance, SXSW and Hot Docs. (In fact, we have a film premiering at Hot…
Read More...Extraordinary Documentary Kickstarter Campaign
April 28, 2011
Last week Morrie Warshawski, author of the filmmaker’s fundraising bible “Shaking the Money Tree”, shared with me a link to his daughter’s Kickstarter campaign. For those of you who may not yet be aware of this powerful new method of fundraising for documentary films, Kickstarter is one of several software platforms (including IndieGoGo) transforming the ways filmmakers raise money by appealing directly to friends, colleagues and other sources of “crowdfunding”. Leah Warshawki’s is one of the best campaigns I’ve seen, partly because her direct camera address “ask” is so compelling: “Now we’re stuck. We need your help. We need to…
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Creating Your Documentary Climax
April 21, 2011
Last year we began editing a personal documentary about a man’s quest to understand why he was adopted. Directed by NPR reporter Steve Lickteig, “Open Secret” had a big problem at early rough cut stage that many filmmakers face: there was no obvious climax scene. At first, we considered making Steve’s upcoming wedding the film’s climax, but we quickly nixed this idea. Although emotionally intense for the participants, the happy event would not translate into emotional intensity for the audience because it did not show the protagonist calling forth a supreme effort to reach his goal. In time, when it…
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How to Craft Character Transformation
April 8, 2011
I met with my very engaging Inner Circle group last night and thoroughly enjoyed myself! These filmmakers are passionate and courageous. FYI, I’ll be forming a new Inner Circle in a few months. Meanwhile, I’d like to share with you excerpts from our discussion about character transformation. If you have a character-driven documentary, you’ll find this very helpful. In addition to having a concrete goal, a protagonist may also have a so-called “need”, which is a subconscious psychological desire to embrace a character trait that they are lacking. Maybe they are lacking courage, or kindness, or in the case of…
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Getting Around the Creative Roadblock
March 17, 2011
Karen Everett, owner of New Doc Editing, explains the rise of character-driven documentary films. Last weekend I taught a seminar on “Structuring the Character Driven Documentary”. My twelve students, who had each paid about $200 to attend, were exuberant on day one with all that they were learning about how to apply the three-act structure to documentary films. But by day two, many of them had hit a roadblock. They were realizing that their film ideas did not stand up to the requirements of dramatic storytelling. In other words, many didn’t have a real story. Now what? Although this dip…
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Oprah’s New Documentary Fund
March 9, 2011
Last week’s newsletter about “The New Documentary Movement” hit a nerve, generating lots of feedback! More on that in a moment. First, if you’re directing a character-driven documentary, I’m teaching my often sold-out seminar “Structuring the Character Driven Documentary” this weekend, March 12 and 13, in San Francisco. You can register at the San Francisco Film Society website. If you aren’t in the Bay Area, you can get the online recording of the seminar (the first module is only $1) at: https://newdocediting.com/ Now back to The New Documentary Movement, described in last week’s newsletter as a trend in producing hopeful,…
Read More...Do You Have an Engaging Elevator Pitch?
February 24, 2011
I’m excited to say that the New Doc Inner Circle is full! We had our first Mastermind Call on Tuesday, in which I asked the filmmakers to describe their films in 1-2 sentences, so they could begin to become familiar with one another’s projects. As it turns out, that’s not such an easy task. How often have you been asked, “What’s your film about?” and not had the succinct elevator pitch you know you should have? It’s happened to me in the early stages of all five of my (eventually successful) documentary films. And it’s a bit embarrassing. So to…
Read More...Documentary Circle Begins Tomorrow, Feb. 15th
February 14, 2011
Happy Valentine’s Day, all you doc lovers! I’m thrilled that my own labor of love, the New Doc Inner Circle, has been attracting passionate documentary filmmakers seeking close contact with like-minded artists. At the time I’m writing this email, I have only one opening left. In the last few days, the Inner Circle has been attracting filmmakers seeking support, accountability, and guidance in structuring their documentary. Based on the results of our former Inner Circle, you’ll make significant progress on your documentary, including nailing down your film’s structure in the course of our six months. In fact, most of the…
Read More...Hearing The Truth About Your Documentary, With Compassion
February 9, 2011
Last week many of my students at UC Berkeley kindly asked, “How was Sundance?” “Great!” I replied, recalling the thrill of sharing the stage with director Tiffany Shlain and the crew of “Connected” (connectedthefilm.com). I tried to explain to my students that while I enjoyed the ego-gratification of being on stage for the film’s Q&A’s, I enjoyed even more the camaraderie of being a valued member of a talented team. Part of Shlain’s success as a director stems from her ability to seek out, support, and solicit the best from industry professionals who specialize in different aspect of documentary filmmaking.…
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