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PBS on Facebook
March 31, 2010
PBS is now using Facebook. With a core audience of 50 and 60-year-olds, PBS is finally joining the social media trend by promoting its broadcast of a new documentary on American Experience, “Earth Days”. And … if PBS can do it, so can I! I’m committed to actually using Facebook this year to further the mission of New Doc Editing…to help documentary filmmakers structure inspiring, engaging films that will keep their viewers glued to the screen. And I’m also going to get my Twitter account up and running (thanks to Michael Behrens and Tiffany Shlain for the encouragement). You can…
Read More...Why “The Cove” Won the Oscar For Best Documentary Feature
March 26, 2010
My girlfriend Erin and I recently attended an annual Academy Awards party with friends who dress up like Hollywood stars. My sweetie said my nylons looked like high school tights, and later a new acquaintance told me that black was not a good color for me. But later I enjoyed a moment of pride when my prediction that The Cove would win Best Documentary Feature came true. While much has been written on Doculink about the controversy surrounding the winner of the Short Documentary competition, what impressed me about the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature was the director’s acceptance in…
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“Documentary Editing” Gets Better
March 24, 2010
Earlier this month, I had the privilege of presenting with one of our community’s most inventive thinkers, ITVS Senior Programming Manager Richard Saiz, on how to generate innovative approaches to your documentary storytelling. After the event, which was the biggest Film Arts Forum ever hosted by the San Francisco Film Society, I wanted to give filmmakers a practical tool, something you could use to generate creative approaches to your storytelling. The result? The “Innovation Worksheet”, which is just one of the many improvements in the second edition of my eBook Documentary Editing. The 2nd edition of Documentary Editing, which is…
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The Empathetic Storyteller, Part Two
March 18, 2010
As a story consultant who has advised on hundreds of documentary films, one of the biggest problems I see and help solve is what I call the “Save the Day My Way Syndrome”. This insidious tendency is shared by many well-meaning documentary filmmakers who, in creating socially conscious films aimed at changing the status quo, structure an essay solely from one-sided arguments. My job? To help them get off their rant with a proven storytelling strategy. Ready? Back in the day, journalistically-sound PBS style documentaries frequently relied on a “voice of God” narrator to referee between multiple viewpoints, creating a…
Read More...The Empathetic Storyteller, Part One
March 17, 2010
I just returned from an internet marketing conference in New York. Internet marketing doesn’t have the greatest reputation, especially within our highly-educated, mostly liberal, and sometimes anti-capitalist tribe of independent documentary film makers. Consider this. “Documentary filmmaking” is equally distasteful to a large segment of the U.S. population. When they hear the words, what do they think? Ugh. Bleeding heart liberals. Michael Moore-like propaganda. Whiny. Negative. Self-indulgent. The reason I went to an internet marketing conference was to learn how to develop better online seminars to help documentary filmmakers craft a compelling film. My biggest takeaway? “Focus on your customer,…
Read More...Your Most Important Storytelling Question
March 16, 2010
Fresh off my presentation at the “Thinking Outside the Doc Box” event with ITVS and the San Francisco Film Society earlier this month, I’m really curious to know: What’s the number one question on your mind today as you think about how to structure your documentary in a new and compelling way? The reason I ask is two-fold. First, I’m being interviewed by DocuMentors next week (March 18th) for their Doc Talks, and I want to tailor my remarks to your most important question about structuring a compelling documentary. See the “Coming Soon” part of this email to register for…
Read More...What Do You Want in a Documentary Membership Site?
March 11, 2010
I am considering launching a membership site for documentary filmmakers. The focus would be on how to craft a compelling documentary film. I’m curious to know if you would find this site interesting and helpful? The site might include the following: An Online Forum Where Members Can Interact Tips for Editing Analysis of the Structure of Contemporary Documentary Films Storytelling Techniques What would you like to see in such a membership site? If your dream site improved your film, how much would you be willing to pay per month? Bottom line is this: how could this proposed member site best…
Read More...Self Distribution and Amazon VOD: Getting Your Documentary Seen
March 10, 2010
I recently saw an interesting post on Doculink, an online forum for documentary filmmakers. Dawn Mikkelson, a Minnesota-based documentary filmmaker and teacher, shared her success distributing her many documentaries through self distribution. While you’ve probably heard good and bad things about Amazon’s VOD (video-on-demand) distribution platform, there is no question that this sort of delivery service is one wave of the future for the broken documentary distribution industry. The great thing about Mickelson’s success is that her documentary films are not only being seen, but she’s making money! “I no longer see Sundance or the other big festivals as the…
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Fair Use Insight for Documentary Filmmakers at SXSW Film Festival
March 9, 2010
There’s a wonderful opportunity next week if you are wondering if footage that you are considering using in your documentary film falls under the Fair Use Doctrine. Pat Aufderheide, who spearheads research on when and how documentary filmmakers can use footage without obtaining copyright license, is going to be speaking at a panel on Fair Use at the South by Southwest Film Festival that runs March 12-20th. Here’s the deal. If you would like expert opinion about the legality of the footage you are considering using in your documentary, Pat is inviting filmmakers to share their clips with her so…
Read More...Will Academy Awards Favor “Positive” Documentaries?
March 4, 2010
This year’s five Oscar nominees for Best Feature Documentary all seek social change. That’s not surprising. But what was news to me is that The Academy, in the words of Stephen Simon, head of the Spiritual Cinema Circle, “has become very aware of, and sensitive to, the fact that most Oscar nominations and awards in the last few years have been going to small, mostly dark, and non-commercial films.” Simon hopes that a “positive” narrative film will sweep the awards. I must admit my bias. I subscribe to the Spiritual Cinema Circle, and after years of making and watching depressing…
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