The Documentary Filmmaker's Roadmap

The Documentary Filmmaker's Roadmap
Author: Maxine Trump
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 216
Release: 2018-07-11
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 1351628984

The Documentary Filmmaker’s Roadmap is a concise and practical guide to making a feature-length documentary film—from funding to production to distribution, exhibition and marketing. Using her award-winning film Musicwood—a New York Times Critics’ Pick—as a case study, director Maxine Trump guides the reader through the complex lifecycle of the documentary Film. Her interviews with lawyers, funders, distributors, TV executives and festival programmers provide a behind-the-scenes look that will assist readers on their own filmmaking journey. Written from the perspective of a successful documentary filmmaker, the book covers mistakes made and lessons learned, a discussion on the documentary genre, crowdfunding, pre-production through post, test screenings, the festival circuit distribution, legal pitfalls, fair use and more. Perfect for documentary filmmaking students and aspiring filmmakers alike, this book emphasizes the skills needed to succeed in a competitive production market. An appendix includes useful web links for further study, a list of films for recommended viewing and sample release forms. This concise guide is ideal for the classroom or as a quick reference out in the field, at a budget meeting or in the editing room.

The Documentary Distribution Toolkit

The Documentary Distribution Toolkit
Author: Rachel Gordon
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 137
Release: 2021-11-18
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 100047755X

Mapping out a diverse journey through documentary distribution, this book is a comprehensive global how-to reference guide, providing insights into the landscape of documentary distribution; targeting the right audiences to expand the reach of your documentary; and building a sustainable career. Detailing how to prepare your documentary, strategies for crowdfunding, working with documentary organizations and online platforms and outlining the channels to consider, The Documentary Distribution Toolkit demystifies the process of distributing your documentary. Featuring case studies and interviews including filmmaker Alice Elliot, representatives from public television stations such as ARTE, ZDF, Al Jazeera, TRT (Turkey), NHK, as well as drawing on author Rachel Gordon’s over 20 years of experience working in documentary distribution. Foregrounding documentaries for non-profit and educational purposes, each chapter gives guidance on how to think locally and globally, on money matters to consider, and personal questions to answer before proceeding to help filmmakers manage their time, money and energy wisely. This book empowers the filmmaker to distribute their documentary in an effective and strategic manner. Providing concrete advice on how to navigate the documentary ecosystem beyond the classroom, this is the ideal book for professional and emerging documentary filmmakers, as well as students who are looking to distribute their documentary films.

The Science of Hope

The Science of Hope
Author: Wiebke Finkler
Publisher: Exisle Pub
Total Pages: 160
Release: 2021-09-08
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 9781925820645

From polar bears to mountain gorillas, penguins to sea otters, certain animals capture our imagination. These are the animals that become mascots for conservation campaigns. By why these creatures instead of other equally endangered animals? The answer lies in their cuteness or charisma The great white shark fascinates us even as we fear it. The comical waddle of the penguin entrances us. Illustrated with breathtaking images by one of the world's leading wildlife photographers, The Science of Hope informs as it educates, describing the psychology and science behind our desire to connect with these animals while promoting a message of hope by highlighting positive conservation efforts around the world.

The Insiders' Guide to Factual Filmmaking

The Insiders' Guide to Factual Filmmaking
Author: Tony Stark
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 513
Release: 2020-08-13
Genre: Art
ISBN: 1351251449

The Insiders’ Guide to Factual Filmmaking is an accessible and comprehensive ‘how to’ guide about the craft of making documentaries for TV, online or social media. Filmmaker Tony Stark distils a long career at the BBC and as an independent producer to explain the conceptual, visual, editorial and organisational skills needed to make impactful and stylish factual films. Interviews with top industry professionals in the UK and US - commissioners, executive producers, filmmakers, strand editors and media lawyers – add valuable insight and authority to this book. For more experienced filmmakers The Insiders’ Guide tells you how to get the green light for undercover investigations, how to tell film stories online and on social media, and how to budget a factual film. This is a key text for anyone who wants to succeed in the rapidly changing, competitive freelance markets in Britain and America. It provides expert guidance to students on filmmaking courses, journalists wanting to move from print to video and non-professionals with an interest in film-making. Whatever the final destination of your film – and whatever the budget - The Insiders’ Guide provides a vital roadmap. The book’s accompanying website is a ‘show-me’ resource for new directors: with 24 specially-shot film clips illustrating the key rules of filmic grammar and sequence shooting – together with downloadable versions of essential production forms.

Directing the Documentary

Directing the Documentary
Author: Michael Rabiger
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 895
Release: 2020-05-10
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 1000054780

Directing the Documentary is the definitive book on the documentary form, that will allow you to master the craft of documentary filmmaking. Focusing on the hands-on work needed to make your concept a reality, it covers the documentary filmmaking process from top to bottom, providing in-depth lessons on every aspect of preproduction, production, and postproduction. The book includes dozens of projects, practical exercises, and thought-provoking questions, and offers best practices for researching and honing your documentary idea, developing a crew, guiding your team, and much more. This fully revised and updated 7th edition also includes brand new content on the rise of the documentary series, the impact of video on-demand and content aggregators, updated information on prosumer and professional video (including 4K+), coverage of new audio & lighting solutions and trends in post-production, coverage of the immersive documentary, and provides practical sets of solutions for low, medium, and high budget documentary film productions throughout. The companion website has also been fully updated to a variety of new projects and forms. By combining expert advice on the storytelling process, the technical aspects of filmmaking and commentary on the philosophical underpinnings of the art, this book provides the practical and holistic understanding you need to become a highly regarded, original, and ethical contributor to the genre. Ideal for both aspiring and established documentary filmmakers, this book has it all.

Scheduling and Budgeting Your Film

Scheduling and Budgeting Your Film
Author: Paula Landry
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 325
Release: 2017-06-26
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 1315454831

Budgeting and scheduling are easy in principle but hard in practice. The successful producer has a solid plan for juggling dozens of activities and costs while retaining the flexibility to cope with those inevitable last-minute changes and stay on course. Preplanning the budget and schedule of any media project is absolutely essential, and the 2nd edition of Scheduling and Budgeting Your Film: A Panic-Free Guide shows you the intricacies of handling both budgeting and scheduling successfully. This new and updated edition explains the fundamentals of line producing in an easy-to-understand style, and includes tips and techniques that apply no matter what kind of scheduling or budgeting software you’re using. Author Paula Landry includes detailed examples of breakdown forms, organizing resources, distribution expenses, and hidden costs, and discusses how to set realistic priorities and find industry and state tax incentives. The new edition also includes discussions of transmedia and multi-purpose shooting, special considerations for VR, 4K and 3D shooting, new web platforms and mobile technology, crowd funding, film festivals, and much more. Each chapter is filled with handy checklists, tips, practical advice, and anecdotes, showing how scheduling and budgeting are done in the real world; Principles apply to any type of media project: film, video, music video, projects hosted online, and corporate and educational videos; An accompanying eResources page offers downloadable forms and templates, and other essential resources.

The Pocket Lawyer for Filmmakers

The Pocket Lawyer for Filmmakers
Author: Thomas A. Crowell
Publisher: CRC Press
Total Pages: 447
Release: 2012-11-12
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 1136067507

* How can you use a state's film tax credits to fund your film? SEE PAGE 63. * You have an idea you want to pitch to a production company; how do you safeguard your concept? SEE PAGE 77. * How can you fund your production with product placement? SEE PAGE 157. * How do you get a script to popular Hollywood actors and deal with their agents? SEE PAGE 222. Find quick answers to these and hundreds of other questions in this new edition of The Pocket Lawyer for Filmmakers. This no-nonsense reference provides fast answers in plain English-no law degree required! Arm yourself with the practical advice of author Thomas Crowell, a TV-producer-turned-entertainment-lawyer. This new edition features: * New sections on product placement, film tax credits and production incentive financing, Letters of Intent, and DIY distribution (four-walling, YouTube, Download-to-own, Amazon.com, iTunes, and Netflix) * Updated case law * Even more charts and graphics to help you find the information you need even more quickly. This book is the next best thing to having an entertainment attorney on retainer!

Story Money Impact: Funding Media for Social Change

Story Money Impact: Funding Media for Social Change
Author: Tracey Friesen
Publisher: CRC Press
Total Pages: 317
Release: 2016-02-12
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 1317508238

Story Money Impact: Funding Media for Social Change by Tracey Friesen is a practical guide for media-makers, funders, and activists who share the common goal of creating an impact with their work. Today, social-issues storytellers are sharpening their craft, while funders with finite resources focus on reach, and strategic innovators bring more robust evaluation tools. Friesen illuminates the spark at the core of these three pursuits. Structured around stories from the front lines, Story Money Impact reveals best practices in the areas of documentary, digital content, and independent journalism. Here you will find: • Twenty-one stories from people behind such powerful works as CITIZENFOUR, The Corporation, Virunga, Being Caribou, Age of Stupid, and Food Inc. • Six key story ingredients for creating compelling content. • Six possible money sources for financing your work. • Six impact outcome goals to further your reach. • Seven practical worksheets for your own projects. • A companion website located at www.storymoneyimpact.com containing up-to-date information for those seeking the tools and inspiration to use media for social change.

The Insider's Guide to Independent Film Distribution

The Insider's Guide to Independent Film Distribution
Author: Stacey Parks
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 216
Release: 2012-10-02
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 1136066373

Innovation in technology means that almost anyone can make an independent film these days. Although this may be good news for aspiring filmmakers, it also means that the oversupply of independent films on the market has caused acquisition prices to dramatically decrease. As a result, producers and investors rarely recover their initial investment in the films they make. But don't be discouraged! Use this book to learn the realities of the market in advance and map out a winning distribution plan. This comprehensive manual for filmmakers and producers dedicated to film distribution and the marketplace could mean the difference between getting your film out to the public and keeping it "in the can." Learn how to sell your movie to a studio, a cable network, a video distributor, or international buyers. Self-distribution and other alternatives to traditional distribution are also considered. As well, you'll hear some success stories from producers and hear directly from buyers what they are seeking. Stacey Parks has worked with dozens of hungry filmmakers to get their films a distribution deal and knows how frustrating the whole process can be. Let her tell you how you can take control of your filmmaking career and start getting your work seen by audiences with a few little-known distribution secrets. Features include: * Interviews and case studies with producers and distributors * Ten Ways to Market Your Film for Self-Distribution * Sales Projections per Territory * Distribution Resource Listings * Negotiation tips for distribution agreements * Sample distribution agreements

Transmedia Marketing

Transmedia Marketing
Author: Anne Zeiser
Publisher: CRC Press
Total Pages: 582
Release: 2015-06-19
Genre: Art
ISBN: 1134746296

Transmedia Marketing: From Film and TV to Games and Digital Media skillfully guides media makers and media marketers through the rapidly changing world of entertainment and media marketing. Its groundbreaking transmedia approach integrates storytelling and marketing content creation across multiple media platforms – harnessing the power of audience to shape and promote your story. Through success stories, full color examples of effective marketing techniques in action, and insight from top entertainment professionals, Transmedia Marketing covers the fundamentals of a sound 21st century marketing and content plan. You’ll master the strategy behind conducting research, identifying target audiences, setting goals, and branding your project. And, you’ll learn first-hand how to execute your plan’s publicity, events, advertising, trailers, digital and interactive content, and social media. Transmedia Marketing enlivens these concepts with: Hundreds of vibrant examples from across media platforms – The Hunger Games, Prometheus, The Dark Knight, Bachelorette, The Lord of the Rings, Despicable Me 2, Food, Inc., Breaking Bad, House of Cards, Downton Abbey, Game of Thrones, Top Chef, Pokémon, BioShock Infinite, Minecraft, Outlast, Titanfall, LEGO Marvel Super Heroes, Halo 4, Lonelygirl15, Annoying Orange Real-world advice from 45 leading industry writers, directors, producers, composers, distributors, marketers, publicists, critics, journalists, attorneys, and executives from markets, festivals, awards, and guilds Powerful in-depth case studies showcasing successful approaches – A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Mad Men, Lizzie Bennet Diaries, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, and Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues Extensive Web content at www.transmediamarketing.com featuring a primer on transmedia platforms – film, broadcast, print, games, digital media, and experiential media; expanded case studies; sample marketing plans and materials; and exclusive interviews With Transmedia Marketing, you’ll be fully versed in the art of marketing film, TV, games, and digital media and primed to write and achieve the winning plan for your next media project.