Have you produced or helped produce a documentary? Would you like to achieve a successful documentary? I want to share with you some of my experience and provide you with a better chance of doing a lucrative program.
Let's pretend that you:
- You have no money;
- He does not want to have debts for the rest of his life, but he has some experience in cinema and a great desire to produce a documentary (which one day will be broadcast on some channel).
Let's now make a list of the "musts" and "shouldn'ts". Let's start with the latter:
1. You shouldn't believe you have the best idea for a show, even though your wife, best friend, mother, and sister believe your idea is the best thing since the invention of sliced bread.
2. You should not take anything that has not been proven in reality, and then produce it on a bulky budget.
3. You should not be afraid to discuss your idea first with someone who may know if someone actually wants to buy your project.
4. You shouldn't be afraid to discuss your idea with someone who has the experience to know whether or not it's actually feasible.
5. You shouldn't start from such a narrow, parochial base as to believe that your film is only going to draw attention to your neighbors, your wife, your mother, or your best friend.
Let's now turn to the "musts":
1. You should prepare a summary of the script and a text that includes:
1.1 A brief description of how the program will "look".
1.2 The biographical data of the key people involved in your show, including the director, producer, cinematographer and screenwriter.
1.3 A description of why people would like to see your show, with details such as your audience demographics, potential markets, and possible programming slots.
1.4 A production schedule.
1.5 A small budget.
1.6 A description of the interest that the program may arouse in a global audience.
2. You should think about the possibility of a television series or the continuity of a unitary program. Series can contain one or more shows and, despite what any American might tell you, the 13th isn't always a magic number of shows to produce.
3. You need to think in terms of a global audience. Of course, your show doesn't have to appeal to everyone's taste, but it should be intended for an audience large enough to allow more than one buyer to want to stream it.
4. You should think about the ease of use of your program. Is it easy to dub it into another language? How many speakers do you need and how long is the voiceover text? Remember that the more announcers and more texts your program has, the more expensive the dubbing.
After all, the buyer (TV station) pays for the dubbing, and its cost is – sometimes – as important a criterion of purchase as the quality of the program itself. Therefore, preferably use a single announcer. If you use an expert on camera, do the introduction and presentation and then use your voice as a narrator. Presenters are not necessarily an advantage; in fact, we do not recommend them. Enough for now of the "should not" and the "must".
What to offer
I ask myself a question: what do I seek to see in a project to want to distribute it or, better yet, to want to get the money to produce it?
1. It is better a program that can last and maintain its quality for many years, and not only in the immediate future.
2. To keep costs low and expectation high, provide the funder with archival material, photographs, the history of the project in a one-hour format. If it's a series, deliver at least five or six shows. Remember that one hour means between 48 and 50 minutes.
3. You want material that is good for global television, cable, home video, compact disc, interactive disc, airlines, schools, promotions etc. You want material that is usable in all of these markets and not just in one or two of them.
4. One prefers that the producer contact one in the early stages of development and tell him about his project. I like the programs that are sold and not those that stay on the shelves. I hate to see a producer come into my office with a finished show, on which a fortune has been spent, and in which no one is going to be interested for any market.
5. I want to be sure about intellectual property rights. When a producer tells me "don't worry", I start to worry! I'm particularly concerned about music. It's a very complex area and, after 15 years in this business, I'm still learning about the risks. The simplest answer is to use original music and buy all the rights.
6. According to my experience, the best way to successfully market a product is to have a program with separate M&E tracks, which has attached the detailed script, photographs or filminas (for the covers of the videocassettes or the public relations of the program) and that is recorded on a master tape of Betacam SP format.
7. I like to pre-market a project I create in. The best way to achieve that is to present a well-written summary (in the terms explained above) in addition to a demo or pilot tape. I have to know the real capital needs of the producers, I don't need an inflated budget that allows the entire film crew to retire. I expect producers to defer the collection of their fees, particularly if they have their own editing teams.
8. Tell the story with pictures, not storytellers talking. Keep in mind that you are producing for cultures different from your own and that you can assume that everyone knows their local customs. Stop for a moment, as if asking yourself, "Well, know-it-all: what are you really going to sell? How are you going to get the money? What is a realistic budget? How do you recoup the investment?
