FILMMAKING FOR CHANGE

How to Make Films that Transform the World

JON FITZGERALD

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction How to Use This Book PART 1 - DEVELOPMENT
1. THE POWER OF FILM The Heros Journey A Path with Purpose The Open Road Calling all Storytellers The Shift is On Time for Transformation 2. DOCUMENTARY STORY STRUCTURE The History Tales of Truth The Call to Action Real to Reel The Finances Green to Green 3. NARRATIVE STORY STRUCTURE The History of Cause Pictures Movies with a Message The Stories From Facts to Fiction The Finances Shaking the Money Tree

Case Studies - Development

Part Time Fabulous Bully Moving On Forks Over Knives Project Happiness

Words of Wisdom from Industry Professionals PART 2 - PRODUCTION

1. PRE-PRODUCTION The Final Budgeting On your Marks The Crew Get Set The Final Prep - Go
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2. PRODUCTION The Artist Palette Painting with Pictures The Non-Fiction Film Documenting Reality The Narrative Filming Fiction 3. POST -PRODUCTION The Post Team An Editorial Collaboration The Work Flow Sculpting the Work The Final Package Delivering the Elements

Case studies Production

Part Time Fabulous Bully Moving On Forks Over Knives Project Happiness

Words of Wisdom from Industry Professionals PART 3 - DISTRIBUTION

1. MARKETING The Strategies Marketing 101 The Sales Tools Adding the Polish The Internet Window to the World 2. PLAYING THE FILM FESTIVAL CIRCUIT The Landscape Learning the Ropes The Submission Strategy How to Join the Party The Process Get your Dance On 3. DISTRIBUTION The Platforms Many Avenues to Explore The Internet The New Frontier The Hybrid Strategy A Paradigm Shift

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FILMMAKING FOR CHANGE . . . Jon Fitzgerald

Case studies Marketing & Distribution

Part Time Fabulous Bully Forks over Knives Moving On Project Happiness

Words of Wisdom from Industry Professionals RESOURCES

Glossary of Terms Sample Budget 1 Sample Budget 2 Finishing Funds Campaign - Front the Back Fundraising Sample - The Back Nine Keynote Sample Survey Sample Press Kit The Highest Pass 10 Keys to Playing the Festival Circuit Host Your Own Screening Sample Delivery Requirements Digital Delivery Requirements International Sales Delivery Requirements Theatrical

About the Author

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PA RT 1
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DEVELOPMENT
If you want to send a message, call Western Union.
Samuel Goldwyn - MGM

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DOCUMENTARY STORY STRUCTURE

The History ~ Tales of Truth

few years after DW Griffiths Birth of a Nation (1915) and the simultaneous development of the Hollywood studios, a genre dubbed the narrative documentary, was taking shape. By their very nature, these non-fiction films provided a glimpse into other cultures and issues of the world. Robert Flaherty, for example, became interested in the harsh lives of the Eskimos of Belcher Islands. After living with an Eskimo family for fifteen months, filming their daily lives, he edited the footage into a feature documentary entitled Nanook of the North (1922). The film achieved great critical and commercial success. Another documentary, Grass (1925), highlighted the extreme hardships faced by nomadic peoples, as well as the bravery and ingenuity of the Bakhtiari. At the same time, the film is also a reflection of the context out of which it emerged, that of Hollywood in the 1920s. The central concern of Grass is to present primordial human struggle with harsh environments, as in the Nanook of the North. As in Nanook, the filmmakers attempt to document timeless and ancient human struggles. Both of these documentaries were deemed culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant and selected for preservation in the United States Library of Congress National Film Registry. These, however, were exceptions to the rule. While a few filmmakers sprinkled documentary works into the mix over the years, most struggled to find movie screens. Studio movies, driven by narrative storytelling, made with recognizable talent, dominated theaters.
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FILMMAKING FOR CHANGE . . . Jon Fitzgerald

Over the years, it continued to be a struggle for documentaries to find screen time in theaters, but with the advent of television, they would find an audience at home. A few movies really stood out in this period. Michael Apted kicked off The Up Series (1964) with a simple hook: Fourteen British schoolchildren would be interviewed every seven years, well into adulthood. Seven installments later, this series continues to provide powerful insight into the cycles of life. More rock doc than Cause picture was DA Pennebakers Dont Look Back (1967). Tracing Bob Dylans England tour in 1964, the film became a landmark in both film and rock history. High School (1968) was Frederick Wisemans exploration of a Philadelphia school, deftly weaving in a social critique, as the authority figures feeding kids hollow values takes on a new level of significance. Not only did this project strike a nerve with general audiences, it was one of the first to be presented in schools across the country, and an example of using film as a tool for discussion on the issues at hand. The Thin Blue Line (1988) took the true story to another level, even for a documentary. Errol Morris introduced narrative techniques and a Rashomon-like style, into a true crime tale of a murdered police officer. Not only a hit with critics and audiences, but the film ultimately exonerated an innocent man. A truly remarkable demonstration of the direct power of film as a storytelling device. Documentary took another big step forward with Roger & Me in 1989, a film that was given a fairly wide theatrical release for a non-fiction title. The film also presented the controversial Michael Moore to the world, who would go on to make a number of successful films, including: Bowling for Columbine, Fahrenheit 9/11, Sicko; and Capitalism: A Love Story. Love him or hate him, he really helped to establish the documentary as a commercially viable medium. In 1994, one of the best films of the decade took the festival circuit by storm, in Hoop Dreams. In fact, Roger Ebert picked it as his

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number one film of the year, and later of the decade! The project tracks two young African America youths and their quest to play professional basketball. Filmmakers had originally intended for the film to cover a grade school transition and their personal struggles. Yet, as the story evolved, they chose to continue filming, ultimately taking nearly 10 years from start to finish. In the new millennium, the documentary genre really took off. They started to score at the theatrical box office like never before, with Fareheit/911 (2004) and March Of The Penguins (2005) both grossing over 100 million dollars, with Moores film leading the charge. With his blue-collar persona, Michael Moore used a loud camera voice to inspire debate. His subjective documentary style of filmmaking catered to a generation immersed in audio/visual stimulation. Fahrenheit 9/11 pushed the boundaries of politics and entertainment. With a mixture of popular music, humor, and documentary-style storytelling, Moore was able to involve audience members in ways that politics alone could not. With a release so close to an election, people did try to prohibit the films release. However, Moore used the surrounding drama to fuel the promotion of his movie, stating, I want to thank all the right-wing organizations out there that tried to stop this movie either through harassment campaigns, going to the FEC to get our ads removed from television, or the things they said on television. All they have done is given more publicity to the film. Following in these footsteps, the popularity of the genre continued to grow, with twenty of the top twenty-five grossing documentaries in history being made in between 2000-2010. At film festivals, largely considered a barometer for quality independent cinema, the documentary sections generated more buzz than the narratives time and time again.

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FILMMAKING FOR CHANGE . . . Jon Fitzgerald

Here are 10 of the standouts: 1. Food Inc 2. An Inconvenient Truth 3. Enron, The Smartest Guys In The Room 4. God Grew Tired Of Us 5. Super Size Me 6. Born Into Brothels 7. Murder Ball 8. Bowling For Columbine 9. Fog Of War 10. Iraq In Fragments The genre had evolved from being a primarily static, talking heads category, to a broader range of technical styles and structures, with more of a narrative flow and heightened sense of storytelling. Examples include: Man on Wire, The Cove, and Exit Through the Gift Shop. While there were some great biopics and slice of life docs over the years (Crumb; Hearts Of Darkness; Fast, Cheep and out of Control; and Grizzly Man) and Rock Docs (The Last Waltz; Gimme Shelter; Stop Making Sense; Dont Look Back; and No Direction Home), playing the nostalgia card, it was this new chapter in the genre that really led to what many are indeed calling the Golden Age of Documentary. Although dramatic films based on real life are in vogue, cinemas most direct connection to the world at large remains the documentary film, and 2010 has seen a remarkable resurgence of the form, says Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times. Another contributing factor is simply the current landscape of the world. Clearly, we are living in difficult times. From the economic crisis to global warming, and a full range of social and ecological issues in between, audiences seem to be turning to the documentary to get some answers. I really do think we are living in a golden age of documentary filmmaking. There is a frustration with traditional media and a hunger for documentaries that have
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the stamp of integrity. People are looking for bigger truths about the way we live now, truths they are not getting from Hollywood or the traditional media, says filmmaker Lucy Walker (Waste Land). As the stories change, so do their platforms and values. We are now living in a time of uncertainty, and the need for more socially relevant stories has emerged. The Call To aCTion Real To Reel So you want to make an engaging film, tell a story that will make a difference in the world. Now what? If you already have a subject matter or an idea to explore, you are ahead of the game. If not, where do the ideas come from? There are a number of resources to help you find the idea you really connect with. Whether its surfing the net for compelling characters, stories or causes, or going a more traditional route of perusing publications (books, newspapers or magazines), the ideas are out there. Perhaps you know an issue you want to explore, such as education or the environment. If so, whats the angle? Do you have someone in mind, an hero to anchor the story. It all comes down to telling an interesting story. One of the most successful television shows off all time is 60 minutes. When the founder, Don Hewitt, was asked how they decided what segments to produce, he said it was pretty simple: Tell me a story. Yes, they made good choices about their subjects and had the journalistic experience to present the stories in compelling way. This is just an example of just how important story is. Often times, news content presents the core idea for a good movie. They can even present a rich and detailed history that provides much more than just an idea. Is the story already connected to a cause or are there themes you can easily connect. Participant Medias digital division, www.Takepart.com is a great resource, as is www.causes.com.
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FILMMAKING FOR CHANGE . . . Jon Fitzgerald

There are literally hundreds of categories that have subcategories; and many real people with real stories to tell that can inspire audiences to take action. Here are some to consider:
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Education Environment (Ocean, Pollution, Nature Preservation) Human Rights Inspiration Animal Rights War Health (Cancer, Aids, Autism, TB, Depression, Obesity) Arts Political International Issues Children Homelessness Water Crisis

...
In 2007, I was ready to transition back into filmmaking. I had a couple of investors and wanted to make a movie for a price. Something I could control. I didnt want to wait around for one of my bigger projects to get the ever elusive green light. I was walking down the fairway on a golf course in Palm Springs, doing what I love to do. Then the idea hit me. I wondered if it was possible to become a professional athlete after turning 40? Is it ever too late to chase a dream? I was sliding into 40 and was up for the challenge. I talked to some friends, did some research about the number of golfers in the US, North America and the World. In short order, I learned there were well over 50 million golfers in North America alone! I would call it Be The Ball after that famous line in Caddyshack. I would walk into a golf pros office and say you have 10 years to make me good enough to qualify in a professional tournament. Is it possible? I developed a plan, a budget and a tagline: Its never too late to become what you wanted to be. I had a cheap HD camera, and an assistant with camera experience. I was ready to move into production
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Once you have a subject, category or idea, there are other key factors to consider, including: A. Goals for the movie B. Audience C. Time commitment Having a goal for the movie may seem obvious. You want to make a movie that tells a great story. One that manages to raise awareness of an issue. Bring attention to a subject. Get people to take action. These are all great ideals. Of course, any filmmaker putting time into the production of a movie would love to have the biggest audience possible. But many get sidetracked with visions of theatrical grandeur. They think the theatrical release is the Holy Grail. There are many reasons, detailed at length in Section III this may not make the most sense for your movie; and it may prove counterproductive to your primary goal. Are you thinking National Geographic, Discovery or HBO? If your goal is to get the film on HBO, one of the more prestigious networks, you should know that as of this writing, they only buy 38 documentary features a year. And in 2011, there were over 2,000 documentaries made that we know about! The point of this exercise is to consider the playing field. If you have an important story to share, a message to get out there, you can make it happen; but you have to be realistic. Dream big, but manage expectations. Are you content to play the festival circuit and sell your DVD on Amazon (which virtually anyone can do)? Or do you have higher aspirations for the film? For example, I would argue that film festivals have become a form of distribution for many documentaries (and narrative for that matter) that would not otherwise find it. Some films play dozens, or even hundreds of festivals. Do the math. Thats a lot of people, seeing your movie, on the big-screen. And you wont have 30 million to spend (the current studio average) to put those
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cheeks in seats. But you didnt make any money. Then again, cause based movies arent about money. They are about creating awareness, sharing issues, with and for audiences, inspiring them to take action. Which brings us to the next point. Know your audience. Again, you just may be passionate about a person, cause or story and are committed to getting it made. But you have to know going in whether there is a legitimate core audience for it. Of course, you can buy yourself a Canon 7D for a mere fifteen hundred bucks, use your iPhone or hire a cameraman who will work for free for the credit and shoot your movie. But if you want more than your friends and family to see it, you need to do some research about the core audience you are trying to reach. There are many ways to target that core audience (see Section III), and if the story is truly compelling, you always have that chance of crossover to other, more general audiences. You are looking for viewers to champion your movie, and hopefully, spread the word to the less obvious of audiences. Chances are, if the story falls into one of the sub-categories listed above, you are well on your way; but you still have to do some more homework. This conveniently leads me to the next point. Commitment. If you have already worked in the business, on a movie or perhaps even made a film, you already know this idea is key to success. But for the emerging filmmaker, I cant stress this enough. To do this right, to develop the subject fully, produce the best movie and get it out into the world, youre looking at an average 3-year commitment. Sure, you can interview your subject, put in some pretty pictures and slam it together in Final Cut in a few weeks; but you will most likely never fully realize your audience with that project. And lets remember why you are reading this book in the first place. You want to make a movie that can transform the world. You cant have an impact with your project if nobody sees it. So lets assume you are one of the filmmakers ready to develop an amazing story, produce

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it in an informative and creative way, en route to finding the widest audience possible. This takes time, but its worth it. You will enjoy the process, a journey you will never forget and you will make a difference in the lives of many. So make sure you are totally committed to the idea before you take the leap. The FinanCes GReen To GReen Were going to assume you are firing on all cylinders if youve gotten this far. You have a general idea thats going to make a difference in the world, one thats going to help us grow. You know there is an audience and are willing to make the commitment. The next thing you have to consider is the money. If you are very well off and are willing to risk putting money into an endeavor that may not fully recoup, thats great. But if you are going to borrow from your family, take out a second mortgage on the house, apply for some extra credit cards and/or seek investors, there will be some sense of obligation to try and make the money back. I have seen amazing documentaries that cost very little, and some cost well over a million dollars. Some ideas have a big core audience. Others are not as obvious. Again, do your homework. Research what projects with similar targets have done, what docs with similar structure have generated in revenues. This information is not always published but you would be surprised how open most documentary filmmakers are. More often than not, they will share information to help a fellow filmmaker. Of course, it comes back to the goals for the film and the story. We will go over these items in greater detail in the Production section of the book (and we have included several budgets, at different productions levels, in the Resources section of the book), but before you can lock into a budget, you have to be able to answer many questions that fall into these buckets:

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FILMMAKING FOR CHANGE . . . Jon Fitzgerald

Production Schedule Like a traditional narrative film, will you establish a shooting schedule? For example, can you schedule your shoot over a few days, 3-4 weeks? Will it be periodic filming over the course of a year or more. March of the Penguins was filmed over the course of a year. Hoop Dreams for nearly 10 years. It really depends on the story, subject and structure of your project. We shot The Back Nine over a 3-year period, but The Highest Pass was a scheduled 3-week shoot, as we essentially filmed a planned motorcycle adventure, with a specific destination in mind. These are important questions because you will most likely have to pay and feed your crew, and you may have to rent gear, so the number of days/weeks is crucial to budgeting properly. Crew Many docs are filmed by the director/producer, but given the opportunity, its always best to have a trained Director of Photography (DP). The same goes for sound. Ive seen directors plugging wireless microphones into the camera, and Ive done it myself. But the sound comes out better with the right equipment and sound person. They know how to test the levels and adjust for changing environments; and sound is important to the overall production value of the project. Both cinematography and sound are often taken for granted on independent film projects. And yes, with documentary, there are times when the realistic look, cinema verite, can work to your advantage; but make it a stylistic choice and not a bad result from lack of planning.

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Post Production Will you be working out of an office, with the editorial team coming in daily for a period of months? Will he or she do it out of their home? Will you buy Final Cut and do it on your laptop? These decisions obviously can affect the budget and the timing of postproduction process. To some extent, knowing what your intentions are with the final product, in terms of distribution, will help to dictate this. Again, you can do the home movie, post it on Youtube and share with friends model, but were trying to affect positive change, right? So lets develop the best idea, hire the right team and bring it out to world. If with widest distribution platforms possible is the target, then there will most likely be lab costs (color correction, final mixing and tape/DVD) stock you cannot avoid (again, see budgets in Resources section). Deliverables Back to the goal for distribution. If you plan to consider any combination of the following, you will have a long list of different media types and sound mixes to consider: Film festivals, DVD replication and duplication, VOD and SVOD, International territories, and perhaps even theatrical. What about extras? Some are easier and less expensive than others. The Case Studies and budgets in the Resources section will provide more info, but just wanted this on the radar. Making some decisions on these categories can help shape the direction, cost and ultimately the story structure.

...
Unlike the golf movie mentioned above, my next documentary (The Highest Pass) had a set schedule and a set budget. The hero of the story, Adam Schomer, brought us this amazing project with the dates and journey already set. He pitched me the idea A small team of riders follow Indian yogi Anand Mehrotra on a motorcycle adventure through the Himalayas, to the highest motorable road in the
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FILMMAKING FOR CHANGE . . . Jon Fitzgerald

world (at 18,500 ft). Oh, and the leader, Anand, is carrying a prophesy given to him at birth that he would die at the age of 27 in an accident. And yes, he was 27. The trip was already planned. We had to reduce the original budget and make some crew changes, but ultimately, we set the budget at 125,000 and booked our flights. Within a few weeks, Adam was in India working with Anand on logistics for the riders and finding some local crew to support, while I stayed in LA to finish prep. I found a great DP (Dean Mitchell) who had experience filming with motorcycles. Dean and I pulled together the gear and headed for India for approximately 3 weeks of shooting Story Research Before pulling the trigger on a project that will not only require major commitment and have an impact on the community, you need to do your homework. What films may have been made on the subject? Which documentaries have proven successful, with critics and/ or audiences? Can you produce a film that will make a difference? Which film(s) have certain structural elements you can model, yet allow for your own unique perspective and creativity? I was fortunate in falling into the role of festival director, by default, we started Slamdance to show our own films. I found myself in a position to have to watch literally thousands of movies over the years. Some in my living room. Some in a theater with audiences. Either way, there was huge value and learning in my being able to see, experience and compare films. There are a number of film lists worth considering. One is Kevin Kellys 200 Films You Must see Before you Die (http:// www.kk.org/books/tf3.pdf), and more recently is by Super Size Me director Morgan Spurlock, who worked with Current TV on 50 Documentaries to see before You Die. Google provides many more, from Roger Ebert to Paste Magazine. If you have a subject that will cost a pretty penny, you will also want to think of the distribution opportunities, looking at
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both conservative and optimistic viewpoints. If you spend several hundred thousand dollars or more, for example, you will need to find a combination of distribution platforms. You may not need theatrical, but you will have to achieve a certain level of storytelling and production value to secure a cable deal, and perhaps a DVD distributor. There are exceptions to the rule, where certain films did a special event release, or sold several hundred thousand DVD units out of their garage, but you have to manage expectations and build from there. If the film has a direct cause, can you approach the related charities for feedback, support and leads? Are there special interest groups that can ensure some level of support for the release of the film? These are all considerations. Again, its great to have a noble cause, and tell a story that is important to you; but if you are going to tackle an issue that can really have an impact on our culture, the movie needs to have a certain level of storytelling, production value and audience penetration. To appeal even to your core audience, the movie needs a certain sense of storytelling. Long gone are the days of talking heads, snore fest documentaries. The reason this genre is thriving is because filmmakers have picked up on the idea that the structure can have a more narrative flow; and connect with audiences in a similar way to traditional fictional films. Once you have your core idea, and feel there is an audience for it, it can help to think about a storyline. Yes, it will change in post; but what I learned is you have to start with a big ball of clay, your core idea, and then you sculpt from there. You go in with a core concept, an issue you want to present; and then you find the best story and elements to hang from it to best engage the audience. You need enough to seed the imagination, perhaps tug on the heartstrings, and then put in a framework that audiences can understand. At some point early in my career, I read an amazing book called The Writers Journey by Christopher Vogler. I had heard about Hero with
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a Thousand Faces, but it was Voytilla who fed these ideas of the heros journey into a screenplay structure. This was a game changer for me. Followed by Myth & the Movies: Discovering the Myth Structure of 50 Unforgettable Films by Stuart Voytilla, where he applied these concepts of the Heros Journey to 50 movies in varying genres. And it wasnt just Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark, the list included Dances With Wolves and Boyz N the Hood. I was certain that this model could be applied to the documentary category, and what I hope we are defining as a subcategory, the Cause genre. Based on these concrete examples, audiences clearly embraced the idea of a hero who had to go through a certain number of phases in life. I could take a subject/hero and their fundamental purpose and feed it into this framework. They all start somewhere (Ordinary World), find themselves on a mission/journey (Call to Adventure) and have to go through a series of obstacles (Tests) to face his greatest challenge (Ordeal) and ultimately have to find their way back (Return Home). I can assure you that there is a very good chance you can work your subject matter into such a structure. And by the way, you can lay this out on a dry erase board, on 3 X 5 cards or in Final Draft, just to give some structure to your shoot. However, know this, throughout the development process: After filming, your movie will not be what you expected it to be. The trick is to have a goal, know your core idea has purpose. All you can do is prepare as much as possible. Do your homework and enjoy the process. Develop the key pieces of the story as much as pre-production will allow. Make sure you can afford to shoot the movie you want and surround yourself with a team of all stars to help you get the best footage. The production will take some twists and turns. The better, more flexible and creative producers welcome the curve balls and know how the story can evolve far beyond what they ever expected.

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Then in post-production, you will go forward, with a great editor, an open mind, and hours and hours of great footage. Your movie will be made in the editing room. This is where the fun starts, and from there, its in the hands of the divine mother.

...
With all 3 documentaries, I used the books above and the stages of the journey as structural guidelines. As a festival director, I had seen many documentaries, and had also done plenty of research on the growing demand for this film category. What became clear was that many of the more interesting, and successful, documentaries were actually structured more like narratives. They had a better flow than the more traditional talking heads documentaries. Right or wrong, and there are many different styles and tastes, but I embraced this idea and integrated into my docs. Here are some of these ideas put into practice: Early in The Back Nine, we established my background and my ordinary world We have the call to adventure and set out to find the team that would help me chase this dream. Then we had the obstacles, the adjustments and the resolution. Of course, there is a lot in between, but I dont want to give too much of it away. Point is, the story had the elements that could give us a narrative flow. With The Highest Pass, we establish Adam as our hero and his call to adventure as his yogi teacher and mentor invites him on this incredibly dangerous adventure. Adam had never even ridden a motorcycle before, much less tackled such treacherous terrain. But he accepted this challenge to face any fear that would come up one of the main themes of the film. Yes, there were plenty of obstacles en route to the highest pass and a satisfying resolution. In Dance of Liberation, we established Parashaktis goal of becoming an accomplished spiritual leader and practitioner, anchored by her unique style of dance therapy. We learn her history, see her move to the US and watch her struggle to face her demons, Parashakti learns that she ultimately has to settle the score with her past and her family in Israel before she can be liberated and truly move forward in her life (a theme also prominent in The Back Nine).

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THE DOCUMENTARY STRUCTURE ~ summaRy PoinTs

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Over the years, it was a struggle for documentaries to find screen time in theaters, but with the advent of television, they would find an audience at home. In the new millennium, the documentary started to score at the theatrical box office like never before, with Fareheit/911 (2004) and March Of The Penguins (2005) both grossing over 100 million dollars. There are a number of resources to help you find the idea you really connect with, from surfing the net for compelling characters, stories or causes, or going a more traditional route of perusing publications. For story structure, consider ideas presented in The Writers Journey by Christopher Vogler and Myth & the Movies: Discovering the Myth Structure of 50 Unforgettable Films by Stuart Voytilla. Once you have a subject, category or idea, there are 3 key factors to consider, including: (A) Goals for the movie, (B) Audience and (C) Time commitment

EXERCISES 1. Pick up your favorite magazine or newspaper (on or off line) and see if you can find an idea from a short article that could be developed into a movie, related to an issue or cause. At your next visit to the bookstore, peruse the non-fiction titles and see if there is a book that could be developed into a movie, again, related to a cause or issue. Consider the list in Myth & the Movies (list in the Resources section) and watch one of the films. Identify some of the elements related to the 12 Stages of the journey
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