The Dreaded Film Question

How often these days are you asked, “So how’s your film going?”

I used to dread that question. In 2012, I had made rapid progress on my sixth documentary. Then, as I waited for grant money, film production receded into the background of my busy life. Then, the haunting began, with that dreaded question.

I finally realized that I had to get this film done now, grant funding or not. Why? Partly out of self-respect, but also for love of my film’s subject.

So I went through the steps of making a promise to finish my film within a year. And in the process, I developed my popular Finish Your Film program to help other filmmakers in a similar situation.

One of our filmmakers, Gloria Borland, must finish her film Barack Obama Made in Hawaii before the President leaves office. Another team of filmmakers, Anthony Aalto and Mike Hinchey, has a May television broadcast deadline to motivate them to finish Roofless, a penetrating look at homelessness in Hawaii.

But…if you’re like most independent filmmakers, your deadline is self-imposed. So what will motivate you?

Other professionals can. With a talented editor and an award-winning story consultant by your side, you’ll benefit from the encouraging guidance and speedy execution of industry experts.

I use the acronym “CREATE” to keep our editorial team focused on six essential steps:

C stands for Commit. How can you commit to a film release date that fits into the ecology of your existing promises to your loved ones and your other work?

R stands for Realistic. Letting go of your dream budget, how can you finish the film given the footage, vision, and resources you have today–not what you hope to have in the future?

E stands for Editorial. You’ll work with one of our talented staff editors, someone specially suited to your sensibility, to get from assembly cut to rough cut to fine cut to locked picture. In addition, a veteran story consultant will weigh in at important editorial milestones.

A stands for Additional material. If your film employs archival footage, we’ll start there, since the licensing process can take months to complete. Do you also need animation? Narration? Composed music?

T stands for Tenacious. We’ll help you stay accountable to getting us materials and reviewing cuts.

E stands for End-Minded. Congratulations! It’s time to think about color correction, sound mix, and distribution. As they say at the Global Alliance for Transformational Entertainment, “The audience is ready!”

Email me for a free consultation about our Finish Your Film program and we can help you create a film you’re proud of this year. We’ll turn that dreaded question, “How is your film going?” into a welcome invitation for announcing your release date.

Speaking of release dates, we recently wrapped editing on Larry Shogbamimu’s forthcoming documentary Great Expectations, and he will be announcing his world premiere soon. Here’s what Larry had to say about working with New Doc Editing:

“The vast amount of resources available, coupled with Karen’s passionate personal input, packs the power to surprise the audience.”

Go, Larry, go!