Making a documentary part V
Also in this series:
Make a documentary Part I - Planning
Make a documentary Part II - Shooting
Make a documentary Part III - Editing
Make a documentary Part IV - Sound
Over the last few months, we've been looking at the various stages of shooting and editing a
factual film using Pinnacle Studio, but no video project is complete without an audience.
Luckily, the availability of TV-quality domestic camcorders and tools like Pinnacle Studio has
driven a revolution in home filmmaking, and there are now a huge range of ways you can get an audience for your films.
Online
The simplest way to get your work seen is to upload it to a site like youtube or yahoo
(as long as it's 10 minutes long or less). It's easy enough to do (in fact you can do it
straight from the Studio timeline. Just click on the Make Movie tab, and select the Web option.
You'll need to add good tags (search words) and do at least some work to promote your movie to
potential viewers, but if you do, you can quickly build an audience.
Festivals
We've all heard of the Cannes film festival where filmmakers from all over the world come
to showcase their work in the hope of having it picked up by the big studios. But Cannes is just
one of literally thousands of festivals held around the world every year.
Some filmmakers can spend months simply jetting from one festival to another in a constant round
of premieres and meetings - all paid for by the festivals themselves.
For less prestigious productions, submitting work to the smaller festivals is a way of getting an
audience for your film, meeting people, and understanding the whole process.
It's cheap or free to submit to most festivals. Though it can be time consuming and there's no
guarantee that your film will be picked, there can be huge benefits from getting your
film critically appraised by experienced eyes.
A good place to start is www.withoutabox.com - a site which gives you access to the submission
process for thousands of festivals.
TV
Unless your documentary is exceptionally well composed and contains footage TV networks can't get
anywhere else, your chances of selling it to a national channel are pretty low.
However, local channels and other cable TV companies are a different matter.
Each one has its own needs and standards, and there's nothing to stop you from sending copies of
your work to the commissioning editors of such channels. If nothing else, your work can serve as a calling
card that might allow you to discuss other projects you have in mind.
However, you aren't up to this kind of salesmanship, you could try getting your project taken on by a distributor.
Distributors are companies who represent filmmakers, taking
their work to TV channels all around the world.
Be aware, distributors typically demand a very high level of technical quality, and if they choose to
represent you, they'll take a fair chunk of your royalties. The great benefit is that they will
handle all the sales and promotional work for you.
*Offer ends 31 May 2009.