Structuring Your Documentary’s “Call To Action”

If you’re making a social issue documentary, you probably want viewers to feel motivated by film’s end to take action on a problem.  How do you do that?  You need to craft a call to action.

Perhaps best known in the marketing world, a “call to action” is a pitch to do something.  You don’t want your viewers to feel like they’ve just watched another depressing documentary, do you? And you don’t want them to stew in “paralysis by analysis”.

In essay-style documentaries, which are structured around ideas rather than a character on a quest, the call to action can be easily built into the third and final part of your essay.  In part one you may propose a simple thesis, such as “global warming is real”. In part two, you give arguments that support your thesis.  And in part three, now that you’ve proven your central thesis, you (or your expert interviewees) suggest what can be done about the problem.  This is your call to action.

You could also take it a step further and detail what different categories of viewers can do.  For example, check out Vicki Abeles new documentary “Race To Nowhere” (which I’m honored to have story consulted on), at http://www.racetonowhere.com/. 

At the end of the film, Abeles and co-director/editor Jessica Congdon cleverly deliver via text on screen specific action steps for teachers, for students, for school administrators, etc. so together they can help revamp our stressed-inducing U.S. educational system.

In character-driven documentaries, the call to action could grow organically from the story, or you might add your call to action in the film’s credits or website.  The 2010 Oscar winning documentary “The Cove” does this very effectively. 

Check out their website at http://www.thecovemovie.com/.  You’ll see an elegantly designed home page with the words “What Can You Do To Help” splashed across the front, along with a button “To Donate” and a button “To Take Action”.

For more information on how to structure a compelling call to action for your documentary, go to https://newdocediting.com/land/ultimate_documentary_guide/.