Workshops
Guided by an Emmy award-winning Producer and documentary journalist, examine the dynamics of creating, shaping and producing an effective documentary.
There are no available registration dates at this time.
Think of your favorite documentaries. Can you tell what they have in common? More than likely, their magic is folded into the fabric of their story. Whether making a short-form or long-form documentary, great filmmakers know that story is the backbone of gripping non-fiction projects. In this five-day workshop, we examine, prepare, and practice the fundamentals of documentary development and production, promoting the ways those great ideas come alive on screen (on time, and under budget).
Knowing how to develop, shape and focus that story is vital to success. From generating story inspiration, selecting organizing principles and identifying narrative arcs, to location scouting, field producing and camera work, releases and permitting, documentary production is a rich marriage of logistical and creative feats. Only by leveraging both can effective filmmakers produce stories that inspire, move, and bring ideas to life.
We’ll examine documentary genres and styles as you consider where your idea best lives and what makes your project unique. You’ll explore story structure, learn how to shape acts, research and identify sources and characters, prepare for and conduct interviews, leverage third party footage and other sound-sources, and weave everything together in service of both art and impact.
Whether you intend to shoot the documentary on your own or engage a crew, we’ll consider the practical dynamics of production, budgeting, clearances, and much more. Leave the week with a real world view of how to launch and make your documentary.
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Instructor: Belle Cushing
Belle Cushing is an Emmy-award-winning documentary film producer and journalist. She has made documentaries, shorts, and news specials for platforms including HBO, Showtime, Hulu, The Marshall Project, and Vice. Her work has taken her to Latin America, Europe, North Africa, and across the U.S.
She is interested in stories that explore the unseen and challenge conventional understanding. The search for hidden worlds often leads her to stories about power, how it is abused, and who is impacted. She approaches these questions with a combination of investigative reporting and empathetic storytelling: This has meant constructing narrative out of body camera footage and police interrogation videos; or infiltrating a criminal network with hidden cameras; while always working to create spaces of intimacy and trust on-screen. She understands documentary work, and the act of entering into people’s lives with a camera, as an immense privilege, which demands constant care and re-evaluation.