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Documentary Workshops: Rolling

enrollment Wednesday nights in LA 

 

What Is The Documentary Insider?

The Documentary InsiderInsider information and workshops for people who want to make great documentaries. 

You want to make a great documentary - the film you’ve been envisioning in your head. 

You have time and money at stake - so why not work with an experienced, intuitive, intelligent no-strings attached collaborator?

Stephanie Hubbard is an award winning documentary editor, writer and producer.  She created the Documentary Insider Blog and Workshops when she got angry at seeing filmmakers exhausted and broke after production - without what they needed to make the film they wanted.  Once she started the workshop, she quickly recognized the value to filmmakers of having someone who knew the process from the point of view of an editor, but could communicate as an advisor rather than an employee.  

Since she has started the workshops she has saved her Documentary Insider Workshop participants thousands of dollars on false starts, wasted shoots and weeks of editing looking to “discover” the story.  They have moved with confidence into their artistic process - capturing and creating the documentary they have dreamed about. 

Documentary Insider Workshops. Clarity, Coaching, Creation. 

Get Clarity:  Know your story. Really know it inside and out.  Be able to adapt to it as you shoot. Or if you’ve been wading through years of footage - fall in love with it  again - right to the finish line.  

Get Coaching.  When you are really making art, it is hard to keep going sometimes.  It’s great to work with someone who’s been there themselves, and been there with a lot of other filmmakers going through the doubts and fears we all go through.  Build a community. Making a documentary is hard enough.  You don’t have to do it alone. 

Get Creation.  Be challenged to create the best possible film you can make. In the workshop you will be asked to go a little farther, be more original, tell the story the most amazing way it can be told. Additionally, you’ll get support and access to creative services to jump start your project. One stop shopping for archivists, sound mixers, camera people - you name it. 

 

“I’ve been working on my film alone for six years. In three sessions with Stephanie I am on track to make my Sundance deadline, I am energized and in love with my film again.”  Darryl R. “I’ve been thinking about my film for the last 9 years.  It’s been 4 months since I started working with Stephanie. We’ve started editing, and I’m about to wrap production.”  Harvey J.

 

To Be Or Not To Be, that is the question...for my documentary....or NOT?

 So I'm lucky enought to work with folks who are making different documentaries all the time. 

Many times I'm coming into a project when significant resources - shooting, editing etc have been spent, and the project has gotten far enough for the folks making it to realize they've hit a wall - they're up the creek without a paddle,  They might say, they've paddled so far up their idea and are so close to it they need some help to break free.  That's what I help them with either as a coach, consultant, story producer or editor.

FAIR USE - Interview with Pat Aufderheide

 An Interview with Pat Aufderheide, expert on Fair Use in documentary and co-author of Reclaiming Fair Use: How to Put Balance Back in Copyright (University of Chicago Press, $11.70). 

 

Acknowledging Resistance

 

Final Cut Pro Short cuts from a Veteran Editor

 Remember when your mom told you to drink your milk?  Or brush your teeth?  She did that to make sure you'd have fewer problems in the future. 

Here is my admonition:  Use your Key commands!

Here they are: 

 

 

5 Things to Remember when Making a Documentary

I've compiled 5 tips I've gleaned from a composit of many filmmakers I've worked with over the years who illustrate alot of valuable lessons for Doc filmmakers out there. 

People just start shooting 

Q&A about Doc Filmmaking on LA Talk Radio

In case you missed it, Stephanie Hubbard did a great interview with Paula Guenon, host of "Don't Get Left in the Dust" on Sunday, March 4 on LA talk radio. Stephanie fielded a wide variety of questions regarding filmmaking and distribution in this fun and informative interview. Listen here: http://www.latalkradio.com/Players/Paula-030412.shtml

Fascinating Interview with Orly Ravid, Founder of The Film Collaborative

Last November, I went to a panel on digital distribution at the International Documentary Film Festival in Amsterdam (IDFA), the world’s premiere documentary film festival.  The person who stood out to me as most informative was Orly Ravid, founder and co-executive director of The Film Collaborative (TFC) whose mission is to educate and provide services for filmmakers.

What needs to be Done when the Film is Done but you can start any time....

So we have been involved in cutting the trailer for my new film, "Bible Storyland".  I'm lucky, I'm working with an excellent sales agent, who has opinions and requirements for the trailer - but it takes time.  (So include that in your budget) 

We also have to cut down the film for international television - and that takes time. (so include that in your budget, or think about that as you build out...so many things to think about...)

IDFA

So, at the advice of filmmaker Jonathan Skurnick,  we submitted "Bible Storyland" to Docs for Sale in Amsterdam which runs as part of the International Documentary Film Festival. 

"Bible Storyland' did not run in the festival, so we were able to focus on the market.  Though it would have been nice to be included in the festival - (we weren't done in time to make the deadline - and wanted to wait to hear back from Sundance in any case) it was a very good thing that we went to Docs for Sale. 

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