Trailer Mechanics: How to Make your Documentary Fundraising

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS......Page 14
How This Information Was Compiled......Page 18
Who Needs This Book......Page 19
How This Book Is Structured......Page 20
How to Use This Book......Page 21
About the Language Used in This Book......Page 22
PART I—THE STARTING POINT......Page 24
Chapter 1—The Trailer Defined......Page 26
A Demo or Sample Is…: What’s in a Name—or Names?......Page 27
An Audiovisual Pitch…: The Trailer in Context......Page 30
1 to 20 Minutes Long…: Timekeeping and Other Ticking Bombs......Page 32
Composed of Excerpts of a Future or In-progress Documentary…: All About Content......Page 33
For the Purpose of Raising Funds: Talent, Time and Treasures......Page 34
And After All That: Do You Need a Demo? How Soon? How Many?......Page 35
From Motivation to Idea......Page 39
From Idea to Story......Page 47
From Story to Documentary......Page 49
Time to Grow......Page 52
Chapter 3—You, the Filmmaker......Page 54
Who Are You as a Filmmaker?......Page 55
What Do You Want as a Filmmaker?......Page 57
Exercise 1: Define Success in Your Own Terms......Page 58
What Are Your Assets as a Filmmaker?......Page 60
Exercise 3: Creating an Inventory of Skills......Page 64
The External Pressure Points......Page 67
The Internal Pressure Points......Page 69
Dealing with It All......Page 73
Exercise 4: Board of Unconditional Allies......Page 74
Exercise 5: The 1-minute, One-day Documentary (or Side Project of Your Choice)......Page 76
Like Penguins, Like Seahorses......Page 78
Who Are Those Industry People?......Page 80
Where Can You Meet Those Industry People?......Page 82
Chapter 6—Industry People Speak......Page 90
Commissioning Editors at Networks and Cable......Page 91
Distributors and Producers’ Representatives......Page 96
Festivals, Markets and Conferences......Page 100
PART II—MOVING ALONG......Page 107
To Script, to Shoot or to Be Aware......Page 109
Character-driven Storytelling......Page 111
Topic-driven Storytelling......Page 113
The Consequences of Your Choice......Page 115
Character-driven Structure Model for Demos......Page 116
Topic-driven Structure Model for Demos......Page 121
Suggested Approaches for Openings, Middles and Endings......Page 124
What to Avoid in Openings, Middles and Endings.......Page 130
Traditional Methodologies and Standard Procedures......Page 136
Structure Awareness Method Before Shooting......Page 137
Structure Awareness Method Before Editing......Page 141
Avoiding Wrong Turns and Dead Ends......Page 146
Keeping Yourself Motivated and Working......Page 158
Exercise 6: Make a Comprehensive Long-term Plan......Page 160
Understanding Your Creative Patterns and Best Environments......Page 161
Exercise 8: Discovering Your Creative Patterns and Best Environments......Page 163
Being in the Moment Every Moment......Page 165
Exercise 9: Conquering the Thirty Seconds Before the First Minute of Work......Page 166
Exercise 10: Contract with Yourself......Page 170
External Interruptions......Page 171
Exercise 11: Identify Distractions......Page 175
Exercise 12: Dealing with Distractions......Page 177
Internal Distractions......Page 178
Exercise 13: The Doubt Collector and Transformer......Page 180
Who Are Those Foundations, Film Organizations and Corporations?......Page 185
Where Can You Meet Those Foundations, Film Organizations and Corporations?......Page 192
Funders and Grant Organizations......Page 197
Film Organizations—Special Programs: Mentorships and Labs......Page 201
PART III—THE FINISH LINE......Page 206
Locking Picture By Choice......Page 208
Locking Picture for the Wrong Reasons......Page 211
Test Screening Your Sample......Page 217
Tips for Submission of Your Sample......Page 226
Completing the Work Within Yourself......Page 236
Exercise 14: Imagine a Bright Future......Page 237
Re-owning the Process Through Integration......Page 239
Progressive Completion......Page 241
Dealing with Old Wounds......Page 243
Exercise 15: Reincarnation of Past Projects......Page 244
Dealing with the Immediate Future......Page 245
Re-owning by Killing the Witnesses......Page 247
Dealing with Rejection and Negative and Unexpected Comments......Page 252
Exercise 16: Role Playing Dealing with Comments......Page 256
Who Are Those Individual Donors and Investors?......Page 258
Where Can You Meet Individual Donors and Investors?:......Page 260
Experts......Page 265
Filmmakers......Page 267
CONCLUSION......Page 285
APPENDIX......Page 287
Worksheets for Exercises in Section 2......Page 288
INDEX......Page 301