The documentary filmmaker's roadmap: a practical guide to planning, production and distribution

1 Research: Choosing Your Story p. 1

Archive Or Third Party Materials p. 6

2 Pre-production p. 8

Inspiration/Early Analysis and Prep p. 8

3 How to Choose Documentary Genres p. 20

Essay Film p. 25

4 Budget p. 38

Filmmakers' Costs p. 38

Production Insurance and Legal p. 39

Finishing Costs p. 39

Example Budgets p. 40

5 Production p. 46

Releases p. 47

Look of the Production p. 47

Crew p. 48

Filming p. 49

BTS p. 50

Tracking the Details p. 52

Editing White Filming p. 52

6 Funding p. 55

In Kind p. 56

Deferred p. 56

Foundations and Film Funds p. 57

Individuak/Crowdfunding/Fundraisers p. 60

Our Goal p. 63

Sponsors and Individual Investors p. 64

Non-profits p. 65

TV Pre-sales p. 65

7 Social Media and Print Assets p. 67

Social Media p. 68

Key Art p. 71

Trailer p. 72

8 Crowdfunding p. 73

Think Of Your Strategy and What Crowdfunding Can Do For You p. 73

Lead Time p. 74

Outreach/Reaching People p. 74

Making Strangers Your Funders and Your Audience p. 75

Then and Now p. 77

Pre-Launch p. 77

Launch p. 86

9 Edit p. 96

Story Beats and Structure p. 100

Voice Over p. 103

Good Narration p. 105

Music and Sound p. 105

Finishing and Assembly p. 109

10 Case Study: Cartel Land Edit p. 110

11 Copyright Law, Third-party and Archive Material p. 129

Third-party Materials p. 132

Public Domain p. 135

Fair Use p. 135

Privacy p. 135

Releases p. 137

When a Release Isn't Possible p. 137

Errors and Omissions Insurance p. 139

Journalism p. 140

Hidden Cameras, Phone Calls and Door Stepping p. 141

Satirical Works p. 142

Trespassing p. 144

Recreations p. 144

12 Brain Trusts, Test Screenings and Outreach p. 146

13 In Conversation With: Fork Films Funder, Women Make Movies Distributor, DOC NYC Festival, PBS POV Television Strand Exhibitor p. 151

Funden Fork Films p. 151

DOC NYC Festival p. 157

Women Make Movies Distributor p. 159

TV Network-PBS and POV p. 163

Applying/Premiering p. 170

Premiere Night p. 172

Distributors At Film Festivals p. 174

Festival Circuit p. 175

Press at Festivals p. 176

25 Tips for the First-Time Feature Director on the Festival Circuit p. 177

15 Distribution (or Selling and Income) p. 184

National p. 188

International p. 190

Our Deal p. 192

Semi-Theatrical/Non-Theatrical Distribution p. 194

Educational p. 194

16 Theatrical p. 196

Theaters In Our Theatrical Run p. 200

17 Press and Marketing p. 202

Theatrical Marketing and Press p. 204

Blogs p. 206

Overall p. 206

18 TV and Streaming p. 208

Digital Streaming p. 208

US TV Networks p. 211

European TV Networks p. 214

BBC Storyville p. 214.