The State of Documentary Filmmaking
I’m pleased to announce a new documentary seminar that I think will help many of you who are concerned you don’t have a strong enough story arc.
But first, this reassuring pronouncement from one of the biggest funders of documentary films: the state of documentary filmmaking today is extremely healthy and robust! That’s coming from veteran filmmaker Orlando Bagwell, who will soon be stepping down as a Program Officer for the Ford Foundation.
If you’re making a documentary with a strong social justice theme, you should definitely be applying for the Ford Foundations “Just Films” initiative. Their goal is to “advance social justice” and, interestingly, they fund “emerging” (first-time) filmmakers as well as established ones. Do your homework before applying, says Bagwell:
Bagwell spoke Tuesday at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism, where I taught documentary editing for 18 years. He said he receives about a thousand inquiries for funding per year, and about fifty of those actually get funding. Five percent is pretty good odds in my book, if you know what you’re doing.
Speaking of which…if you’re making a documentary that doesn’t fall neatly into a character-driven or essay-style film, you may have what I call a “hybrid” documentary on your hands.
I’ve had a number of requests for a seminar on how to structure this complex style of documentary.
So I’m happy to announce a new 4-week, virtual seminar, “Structuring the Hybrid Documentary”. This reasonably priced seminar begins May 7, and you can participate from anywhere in the world. I’m limiting enrollment to ten filmmakers so I can give everyone the attention they require. Learn more at:
https://newdocediting.com/products/structuring-the-hybrid-documentary
This course will rivet you if your footage contains interesting ideas and characters, but not a strong enough story arc to craft a three-act structure.
