#1: Crafting the documentary story

In the episode we speak with award winning documentary filmmaker Sophie Robinson.  Sophie had great success with her first documentary feature film 'My Beautiful Broken Brain' in 2014, which was executive produced by David Lynch, nominated for an Emmy and bought by Netflix.  We chat with Sophie about what happened after the success of her first feature film and her recent journey setting up her own production company 'So&So Pictures'. Hosted by Karoline Pelikan (@PelikanPictures) and Paul Hulligan (@paulhully). ------------------------------------ Episode guide: 00:39 - Introduction, Sophie's current projects 03:05 - Making ‘My Beautiful Broken Brain’ 06:18 - Working with Netflix 09:06 - Why she started the company and ambitions for it 13:09 - Deciding the company name 15:00 - Promoting the company and why it’s led to more work 19:34 - Some advantages and disadvantages to being a company 23:56 - Using her success and company to give back, the importance of having a mentor 25:45 - The long term vision 26:36 - Top few tips when creating your own company

In this episode we meet with BAFTA award winning editor Joby Gee, who has been editing factual film and TV for over 30 years, on a wide variety of subjects. We speak with him to learn more about the process and challenges of editing feature length documentary films. Hosted by Karoline Pelikan (@PelikanPictures) and Paul Hulligan (@paulhully).

In this episode we continue our conversation with professional filmmaker Thomas Meadmore, discussing his experience of successfully raising £40k through popular Crowdfunding platform Kickstarter to fund one of his latest feature documentary films titled The Cancer Conflict. Hosted by Karoline Pelikan (@PelikanPictures) and Paul Hulligan (@paulhully). ------------------------ Episode guide: 01:10 - Synopsis of ‘The Cancer Conflict’ and it’s background 04:27 - Starting the project without funding (self financing) 05:52 - Deciding to crowdfund and approach 13:03 - Building your own niche audience, tactics 18:23 - Building the ‘machine’. Marketing tactics to gain followers and collect email addresses 35:26 - Launching the campaign, techniques 40:18 - Creating the Kickstarter ‘campaign page’ 45:48 - Thoughts on its performance and response 49:27 - Managing ‘the dip’ (when people stop contributing) 52:28 - Reflections (was it worth it?) and top tips.

In this episode we visit VICE Media in London, where we speak with their award winning lead video editor Marta Velasquez to get practical advice on editing short form documentary films. Hosted by Karoline Pelikan (@PelikanPictures) and Paul Hulligan (@paulhully). ------------------------------------ Episode guide: 00:52 - Marta's editing journey 03:04 - Opening with impact – The first shot is the most important 04:46 - The narrative structure in short docs 05:40 - The ethics of editing - taking care of your contributors 07:05 - The editing process 12:46 - Tips for the editing work 14:30 - The first rough cut screening 18:55 - Preparing the film for post production 22:00 - Top 3 Tips for editors 25:03 - Changing male structures: having diverse film teams 26:30 - How do you get a job at VICE?

In this episode we speak with professional filmmaker Thomas Meadmore about his experience being a character in his first feature length documentary film titled How to lose jobs and alienate girlfriends which was rated 4 out of 5 stars by Total Film.  In this film Tom choses to follow his girlfriend and boss as they chase their dreams to become professional musicians. He finds that his own insecurities flare while struggling to find a story, and begins challenging their flaws, on camera, jeopardising the film, his relationships and career. Hosted by Karoline Pelikan (@PelikanPictures) and Paul Hulligan (@paulhully). ------------------------- Episode guide: 00:52 - Introductions 03:00 - Synopsis of the film and process 09:29 - Where it went wrong 11:05 - Intentions for the film 12:23 - What he would do differently 16:06 - The turning point; realising he should be the central figure in the film 20:21 - The general reaction to him being the central character of his own film 22:35 - What it’s like editing yourself 29:40 - Advice for anyone who might make themselves part of the story 34:41 - How close friends, family and professional critics reacted to the film 40:43 - Doing the right thing by your contributors

In this episode we’re back at two time Oscar nominated documentary film production company Spring Films. We meet again with their Head of Global Development Figs Jackman, this time to discuss the distribution process for documentary films. Hosted by Karoline Pelikan (@PelikanPictures) and Paul Hulligan (@paulhully). ------------------- Episode guide: 01:44 - The difference between commission, acquisition and distribution 06:55 - What is distribution 10:24 - How the film is sold, working with distributors 14:48 - The importance of achieving the ‘deliverables’ for distribution 19:35 - Getting a meeting with a distributor 27:22 - The dream sale 27:40 - The value of festivals 31:14 - The importance of promoting your film via social media 34:17 - The importance of production stills and creating the marketing package 36:36 - Types of distributors 37:33 - Pairing up with production company to get it distributed 40:09 - Self distribution, platforms, advice 53:49 - Why Spring Films use distributors 58:19 - How much money can be made from traditional distribution 01:02:47 - Top 3 tips for getting your film distributed

We visit two time Oscar nominated documentary film production company Spring Films. This is the first of two conversations we have with their Head of global development Figs Jackman about commissioning documentary films. Hosted by Karoline Pelikan (@PelikanPictures) and Paul Hulligan (@paulhully). ----------------------- Episode guide: 00:32 - Introductions 01:14 - Getting to know Fig's: backstory, advice and current role at Spring Films 08:36 - Identifying your audience and who you are going to sell it to 14:34 - What makes a good story 17:22 - Selling foreign films 19:23 - The economic realities of funding a film 21:41 - The first step, creating a teaser and package 23:46 - The importance of being flexible, having a realistic budget and an impactful teaser 26:31 - Creating a teaser before you’ve filmed anything 30:42 - What Spring Films look for when being pitched to 33:39 - More about funding your film 38:16 - Pushing the package: sales agents, pitching and getting meetings, UK and US 44:55 - The importance of compromising on your idea for the film 46:23 - Promoting your film via festivals 48:30 - The importance of self publicity / ‘social media’ 50:56 - Final advice and tips for getting your film commissioned 54:49 - The best way to approach Spring Films

In this episode we visit Spring Films who are a twice Oscar nominated London based independent production company, specialising in international co-productions and factual programming for television and cinema. We speak with their Managing Director and executive producer Richard Melman to learn about how Spring Films operate and what the opportunity is for independent filmmakers to work with them. Hosted by Karoline Pelikan (@PelikanPictures) and Paul Hulligan (@paulhully). ------------------- Episode guide: 00:57 - Introduction 02:58 - The evolution of Spring Films 08:05 - The type of films they make and films they’ve recently made 12:47 - How they operate 16:31 - How they decide a story is worth transforming into a film 19:00 - advice on getting the films commissioned 23:12 - Supporting and working with independent filmmakers 26:47 - How to approach and sell your film project to Spring Films 35:16 - Whats happens when they agree to work with you, the process 39:32 - What to prepare before approaching them 44:23 - How they try to attract independent filmmakers to approach them and more about how to approach them 45:45 - What they are looking for from an independent filmmaker 46.22 - An example of how they've worked with independent filmmakers (Cool Daddio: The Second Youth of R. Stevie Moore (2019)) 50:24 - Advice for independent filmmakers and people wanting to work in the industry

In this episode we’re back with ‘the story consultant’ Nic Guttridge to learn more about the art of storytelling - deconstructing the successful Netflix original documentary feature film Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened. Hosted by Karoline Pelikan (@PelikanPictures) and Paul Hulligan (@paulhully). ------------------- Episode guide: 02:50 - The story of "Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened" 05:40 - What kind of documentary is Fyre? 10:33 - Opening with impact 14:21 - The story arch: heading to disaster 22:33 - A successful film has to grab the audience  28:14 - The hero's journey – applicable to Fyre? 35:00 - A film about Billy McFarland - without Billy McFarland? 37:29 - Core message and theme 40:16 - How important is a film's title? 44:03 - The climax 49:36 - Breaking down the long second act 54:59 - Lessons we can learn from this film

We speak with BAFTA nominated executive producer and professional story consultant Nic Guttridge about how to craft the documentary story. Hosted by Karoline Pelikan (@PelikanPictures) and Paul Hulligan (@paulhully). ------------------ Episode guide: 00:36 - Introduction 01:26 - What a ‘story consultant’ is, and who hires one 03:25 - Favourite story that he’s worked on 06:07 - Shaping a story that’s unfolding naturally / in real time 08:12 - The importance of following your instincts 12:45 - Mapping the story 16:45 - How does a typical ‘story arc’ work 18:05 - What if there is no arc -  adding layers to the story 22:36 - Putting yourself in the film 24:20 - The importance of bringing others into the creative process 26:05 - What is a storyline, synopsis, treatment (the pitch) - examples 31:56 - How to avoid losing site of the story 32:28 - Practical advice for planning the story 33:43 - Scripting the film 35:05 - Plotting the arc 36:11 - How do you sell a foreign story 38:19 - Nic’s top crafting the story tips 45:50 - How you can find Nic ‘the story consultant’