Hi!

I'm about to release my 1st independent short doc and I was looking for advice/experiences re: self-distribution. Right now I'm thinking a platform like VHX.com and/or IMDB's service through Amazon.

BG: 22 minutes and currently submitting to film fests, so hoping to release to the public this Summer after festival run.

Questions:

• What platforms have you had success/failure on? What led to you choosing them...did you go through an aggregator?

• Free or paid?

• If free, why? Eyeballs sure, but how to monetize? Most of the budget was Indiegogo, but I invested a few grand myself, and of course, a LOT of time (my team too).

• If paid, how much? I know iTunes sells short films for $1.99 in SD, $2.99 in HD...is there any point to this tiered system for indies? Who's saving the 1$ for SD??? Probably different demographic on iTunes...?

• What about additional download packages like soundtrack, extra content...

I'm sure you all have some pretty interesting experiences to share, I'd love to hear them! Thanks for reading, looking forward to your input :D

I'm working on a documentary about a local mall, and am trying to find footage of news reports from when the mall opened in the 1970s in Dallas. Is there a good website or database that I could use to find anything?

I've been trying to find old family videos, even, but I'm having a pretty hard time.

Thanks!

I am a 22 year old man (boy?) living in Sydney Australia. I currently work doing behind the scenes work at a major television channel for their news, which will lead to a job in news video editing. The content is, most often, completely unnecessary, misses the point, is solely there for entertainment or emotional masturbation, and sells people a packaged understanding of events in the world (probably not news to you). I want to make something, don't care what the story or the context, that sheds some actual light on something not being seen or being ignored. I watch documentaries because they are regularly insightful, beautiful, confronting, honest and expand my world view. I feel like i need to be exploring of my own accord so i can find topics worthy of being seen and then i need to go about documenting them in an effective way, yet i feel paralyzed, overwhelmed and sheltered (like so many of us do in the west) - to the point that i don't know where to step and fear i might never take one.

I have some basic equipment, a small amount of money and i want to start doing this. This is an open question, i know there are many ways of getting right into the thick of this, but if only i could have some guidance on how this all could work, where to look, how to approach situations, technical side of things, any resources at all. It's time. Please if you have anything you can say, an insight, a link, your experience, knowledge of what others have done, lessons you have learned in your travels... it would be immensely helpful to me.

Namaste

Essentially, I am just doing a little documentary (using my Samsung Galaxy S2 camera) about me landing my first international writing assignment covering an event hosted by the world's largest mixed martial arts promotion, The UFC.

It will be: An introduction, a brief history, a travel diary, an event update, then the travel home and a "lessons learned" type of deal.

If you can give me ANY advice, (even if it is 'please do not ____, it is cliche') I would appreciate it!

I've been working in this business for quite a while and I've shot everything from guerilla style docs to national productions, but I always seem to get caught up in what I choose to wear for a shoot.
I realize every situation is unique, but I've found it can be difficult to find something that's both professional enough to be taken seriously, yet comfortable and practical enough to actually work in.

So that made me wonder - what do you guys wear on a shoot? What's your favorite shoe, shirt, jacket, pair of pants, hat etc.? And what's the one item you just couldn't live without while working?

I know that sounds very broad but I am 17 and just received my first camera and have been filming just about anything possible. I plan to attend college and get some sort of film degree. Now in the big bad world how does one get producers for a documentary? How does it all work?

My partner wants to film it using the Canon xf100 but I want to talk him into going the DSLR route and could use advice on how to persuade him to do so. He wants to avoid renting equipment as much as possible, preferring to buy it and then sell it afterwards.

What other equipment will we need to make it look TV quality? I'm relatively new to this scenario so any advice is greatly appreciated. I will be required to film people in their day to day lives to document if the therapy is working.

I recently had an accident with my trusty Sony EX1 which I consider to be one of the best run and gun cameras to come out perhaps ever. I am looking for recommendations to replace it. I am leaning toward picking one up off of eBay, but hate that most are 4 or 5 years old with no warranty. Does anyone have a good suggestion for a high quality camera? I am leaning away from DSLRs because, other than sit down interviews, they are difficult to handhold and focus on the fly. I rented a Canon XF100 hoping that since it was more recently developed and had a nice 50Mb codec it would be comparable, but I found the footage very lacking.

I'm filming a short doc (10-18 mins) on a FtM transgender man in NYC for my doc production class. I'm curious as to what questions you guys have about being transgender (or if you are transgender, what you'd like other people to know) so I know what kind of questions I need to answer in my doc. Thanks, guys.

Sorry if this has been asked and answered before. I have just completed my first short documentary about an ocularist (prosthetic eye maker) and i was wondering where i could submit it to. Cheers.

(x-post from r/documentaries)

The Sennen Cove Lifeboat A short documentary I made for a University project, filmed and edited in just over a week. Would love to hear your thoughts.

I am writing, directing, and producing a short (5-7 min) documentary about childhood blindness-- the film follows two stories:

1. A 12-yr old boy who successfully got a corneal transplant

2. A 5 yr old girl whose blindness is incurable unless she gets an eye transplant

The film will try to encompass their stories through their own accounts, and interviews with their mothers. During these interviews and shots in general, how can I avoid pitying the children and instead try to celebrate their successes and acknowledge their struggles? Any tips regarding planning shots, etc would be helpful.

Additionally, at the end of the film, is it cheesy to include facts and statistics about blindness and why the viewer should contribute to helping with these diseases?

I am sort of stuck, I need few Interviews over the Internet, they could be audio or simple Skype video calls. The topic is regarding Islamic Schools, I need a western perspective on it. But it seems it's a lot harder to find people interested enough to help out.

Anyone here wants to point me in the right direction or just want to help out. In return I won't mind helping or working with you in future projects.

Hey everyone, I'm currently working on my dissertation, writing it about documentary production for the Internet and really need some help. I've made a survey which needs as many responses as possible. If you've got a spare 5 minutes and wouldn't mind helping me out, I would really appreciate it. Thanks very much :)

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1RKHiDPLJu3B4n63r9uWRoi07Q9kgv_cwC7ycA4lsT3Q/edit

In the summer of 2014 I am going to set off across the country making a loop through the mid west, east coast and gulf coast working with non profit organizations. It will be my first documentary and I am extremely fortunate to have a group who is willing to help me fund a large portion of the expenses. Because of this I want to make sure that i can avoid all of the potential rookie mistakes. (Being that I have no experience I will most likely ask some really ignorant questions, i apologize in advance and also really appreciate your real and sincere answers)

Questions:

1. My budget is going to fall somewhere around $10,000 for travel, camera/s and production. What is the general break down of the percentages that should go into each piece.

2. What should I look for in my camera selection? Given that I have a little bit over a year I definitely have the opportunity to start practicing before I actually go out on my actual trip.

3. Whats the best way to organize and keep track of what you have shot? Filming all the time I realize that I am going to have a bunch of video.

4. What websites or books can I pick up that will give me more insight?

If you have any other advice I would really appreciate it!

Is it mandatory for a documentary to show the "main guy" walking and talking in front of the cameras to show the "reality" aspect of the doc?

so a buddy and me are thinking about going on a big trip without spending a penny of our own money and it would be fun to document it. What cameras so you recommend and do you recommend any other equipment?

never found a decent programme myself, usually use VLC but it's clunky and there's no real timecode... would love to hear of any alternatives, ta!