The Art of Nonfiction Movie Making

by Jeffrey Friedman, Rob Epstein, Sharon Wood

The past few years have featured such blockbusters as Super-Size Me , Fahrenheit 9/11 , Sicko , March of the Penguins , and An Inconvenient Truth . And as news articles proclaim a new era in the history of documentary films, more and more new directors are making their first film a nonfiction one. But in addition to posing all of the usual challenges inherent to more standard filmmaking, documentaries also present unique problems that need to be understood from the outset. Where does the idea come from? How do you raise the money? How much money do you need? What visual style is best suited to the story? What are the legal issues involved? And how can a film reach that all-important milestone and find a willing distributor? Epstein, Friedman, and Wood tackle all of these important questions with examples and anecdotes from their own careers. The result is an informative and entertaining guide for those just starting out, and an enlightening read for anyone interested in a behind-the-scenes look at this newly reinvigorated field of film.

264 pages, Hardcover

First published August 31, 2012

Reviews

[Maia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Practical and grounded, this guidebook on documentary film making is full of realistic advice and examples drawn from the careers of film making team Jeffrey Friedman and Robert Epstein. I watched three of their films this year ( and Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt, all movies about queer history) and having that background in their work made the book even more engaging. I enjoyed hearing the thought process behind their choices, including some projects or directions on projects which they researched and considered but ultimately abandoned due to various reasons: lack of access to material or subjects, interviews that didn't play well on film, limitations of travel or funding, etc. This book is from 2012, but I think much of it's guidance is probably just as valuable today as when it was written!