First 10 Minutes of Your Documentary
I want to share a personal story, but first this: December 2nd is the deadline to submit to two prestigious festivals: AFI Silverdocs and the Los Angeles Film Festival.
Recently I had the opportunity to show an excerpt of my own work-in-progress at a tribute for my film’s 86-year-old subject, Barbara Marx Hubbard. I was excited because this group represented my core audience, and I would have a chance to generate a buzz for the film.
As I contemplated showing the first ten minutes of my fine cut, I realized that it would not contain one of the film’s most moving scenes, which occurred at 17 minutes.
So with the audience’s experience top of mind, I decided to move that scene to the 8-minute mark. With a few transitional tweaks, it fit seamlessly.
The screening was a big success. People commented on the special scene with Barbara and her skeptical granddaughter. And I got invited to a film festival that very night.
When I got home, I realized there was still an entire 4 minute section in first ten minutes that I could delay until later in the film, bringing even closer the film’s first, dramatic backstory—and engaging the audience sooner.
Since the self-contained scene only needed new transitions, I made those changes in under an hour. I’m happy to submit the new and improved version to Hot Docs today!
The moral of this story? Cut to create the most engaging first ten minutes that you can. I’m happy to help. Email me to discuss how we can work together to hook your viewer straight out of the gate.
