9月10日 · ビデオ

How Do You Get a Documentary Made? Ask the Woman Who Co-Runs RKO

Do you have a documentary, or do you have a Wikipedia entry? Somebody decides whether your documentary gets made. Sophia Dilley is one of those people. She runs Concord Originals, the division behind Stax: Soulsville U.S.A. on HBO, and she is Co-President of RKO, which Concord bought in June 2025 along with more than 5,000 titles including King Kong, Citizen Kane and It's a Wonderful Life. In this episode she gives away the three questions she asks before her team commits to anything. In Episode 286, Christian sits down with Sophia Dilley, Executive Vice President of Concord Originals and Co-President of RKO, to talk about how a project gets chosen, how to reach out to someone far above you, and how music rights for film work when the budget you have is the only budget there is. The spine of the conversation is a question Dilley asks before her team commits to anything: is this a Wikipedia story we're telling? If the whole thing is already available in twelve seconds of searching, there may not be a film in it. Around that sit her two other threshold questions, a working answer to why the documentary business feels impossible right now, and the plainest reassurance in the episode. "It's scary," she says. "It's scary for everybody." Along the way: a punk band that played CBGB's, a production designer father who left for set at four forty-five in the morning, Roger Deakins as a case study in how to write to someone you admire, and the difference between distribution rights and derivative rights, which is the thing almost everyone (Including Christian!) got wrong about the RKO deal. If you have ever been told that music rights for film are impossible on an independent budget, she has a different answer. In this episode, you'll learn: What Concord actually acquired when it bought RKO, and why distribution rights and derivative rights are two entirely different thingsThe three questions Sophia Dilley asks before committing to any storyHow to tell whether you have a film or a Wikipedia entryThe difference between sync and publishing, and why one song can mean two negotiations with two different companiesWhat to say to a music company when the budget you have is the only budget there isWhy a music documentary takes five years on average, and what eats the timeWhy a rejection is usually about the marketplace rather than about your filmHow to open a door with someone you admire without being, in her words, a scary, creepy fanWhat it looks like inside a company that generates most of its projects out of its own catalog CHAPTERS 0:00 What Concord Actually Bought With RKO 5:34 From CBGB's to Running a Studio Division 11:42 Reaching Out to People Above You 16:32 Why Distribution Is Scary for Everybody 21:26 Who Are You Really Competing With? 26:02 Music Rights for Film: Sync and Publishing 29:49 Why a Doc Takes Five Years 34:54 How Does She Decide What Gets Made? 41:44 Women, Allies, and Your Replacement 46:05 What if You Can't Afford the Song? 50:05 Closing Argument and DocuView Deja Vu FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS How do you get music rights for a documentary? You need permission from more than one owner. The song belongs to a publisher and the specific recording belongs to a label, so most documentaries need both a sync license and a master use license. On Stax: Soulsville U.S.A., that meant clearing more than thirty artists, multiple publishers and several estates. Concord Originals EVP Sophia Dilley says the first step is acknowledging you need those rights before you build the film around them. What if I can't afford to license a song for my film? Call anyway, and be honest about the budget. Sophia Dilley advises independent filmmakers to say who they are, name what the film was made for, show the actual scene the song would sit under, and ask directly for help. "Behind every door at every music company, there are real people," she says. A studio with a real budget cannot use that approach. A genuine independent often can. How long does it take to make a music documentary? Longer than most filmmakers expect. Sophia Dilley of Concord Originals puts the average at five years, at least. Stax: Soulsville U.S.A. began in 2018, when a colleague walked into her office with the story, and premiered on HBO in May 2024. Much of that time goes to music rights, estates and publishers rather than to production, because every stakeholder connected to the music has to be brought on side first. Who owns RKO now? Concord Originals acquired RKO Pictures in June 2025, but the deal is narrower than it sounds. Distribution rights to the classic RKO library remain with Turner. What Concord bought are the derivative rights, meaning remakes, sequels, prequels, story and stage rights to more than 5,000 titles the studio produced in-house. Sophia Dilley serves as Co-President of RKO, which continues to operate under Concord Originals. DOCUVIEW DEJA VU PICKS Sophia Dilley's picks: [New York Doll](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0436629/) (2005), directed by Greg Whiteley. A deep cut about Arthur "Killer" Kane of the New York Dolls and his search for his own history. Dilley notes that Whiteley went on to make Cheer, and the warmth is already here.[Science Fair](https://films.nationalgeographic.com/science-fair) (2018), directed by Cristina Costantini and Darren Foster. She saw it at SXSW, where it won the Audience Award. Teenagers at the international science fair, and, in her words, so much magic in following a real human story. SPONSORED BY This episode is brought to you by [Virgil Films Entertainment.](https://virgilfilms.com/) Over 25 years of distribution experience, from Super Size Me and the Oscar-nominated Restrepo to Forks Over Knives and Speed is Expensive. If you are a filmmaker having trouble with distribution, talk to Virgil. LISTEN AND FOLLOW Listen on any podcast app: https://pod.fo/e/5ffe38 Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@documentaryfirst Support the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/DocumentaryFirst CONNECT Documentary First on all platforms: https://linktr.ee/doc1st Christian Taylor on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meetchristiantaylor ABOUT THE GUEST [Sophia Dilley](https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophia-dilley-32098612/) is Executive Vice President of Concord Originals and Co-President of RKO. Concord hired her in 2018 to build a content strategy, and in 2021 she launched Concord Originals, the company's film and television division. Her father was a production designer, so she grew up on movie sets watching what the work actually costs. Before film, she thought she would go into music: piano, violin, voice lessons, and a punk band in high school that played CBGB's in New York. ABOUT CONCORD ORIGINALS [Concord Originals](https://concord.com/originals/) is the film and television arm of Concord, developing screen stories out of one of the largest independent music and theatrical catalogs in the world. Most of its projects are self-generated, which Dilley describes as the division's whole remit: take what is already under the roof and find a new life for it. Because the catalog is the source, music rights for film sit at the center of nearly every project the division takes on. Recent and upcoming work discussed in this episode: [Stax: Soulsville U.S.A.](https://staxrecords.com/news/stax-soulsville-usa-hbo-original-series/) (HBO, 2024), the four-part series directed by Jamila Wignot. Peabody winner, nominated for two Emmys.[Billy Preston: That's the Way God Planned It](https://www.abramorama.com/film/billypreston) (2026), directed by Paris Barclay, in theaters through Abramorama.[Pretty Ugly: The Story of the Lunachicks](https://www.primevideo.com/detail/0JALRVESVNYMKZ3MWYFVVH8KV0/) (2026), directed by Ilya Chaiken, brought to Concord by Betsy West and Julie Cohen.Films on Billie Holiday, Cyndi Lauper, Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop, and Creedence Clearwater Revival, with Robert Johnson and Fania Records on the way. ABOUT DOCUMENTARY FIRST [Documentary First](https://documentaryfirst.com/) is a weekly podcast about the craft, the business, and the truth of documentary filmmaking, hosted by Christian Taylor. Nearly 300 episodes in, Listen Notes ranks the show in the top 5% of all podcasts worldwide, MillionPodcasts ranks it the number one documentary film podcast in the US, and it holds a 4.8 out of 5 on Apple Podcasts. Christian Taylor is a documentary filmmaker (The Girl Who Wore Freedom), actor, voice actor, and casting director. RESOURCES MENTIONED Soulsville U.S.A.: The Story of Stax Records by Rob Bowman, the book behind the film: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2775862Documentary First Episode 277, Teddy Cannon on music rights and licensing, the other side of this conversation: https://pod.fo/e/413f3a

8月21日 · ビデオ

How to Make a Documentary With No Film School: 5 Lessons

Who finishes your film if you can't? This episode is about how to make a documentary with no film school. Andre N. Jackson had never made a film. He had twenty years in technology and security, an idea that arrived while he was sitting in a barber's chair, and no way into the industry. He finished the film anyway, and he came on the show with three lessons for other filmmakers. Two more came out while we were talking. In Episode 285, Christian sits down with first-time filmmaker Andre N. Jackson to talk about "Beyond Banners," his film about the basketball program at Gwynn Park High School in Prince George's County, Maryland. Over a twenty-year run the team reached twelve state championships and won more than any high school in the state. The film starts there and ends up somewhere else entirely. Andre puts it plainly: "I actually learned about filmmaking through making a film." The spine of the conversation is what it takes to make a documentary when nothing is set up in your favor. Andre leaned on the research and analysis skills he built as an intelligence analyst, cold-called a Hall of Fame coach, funded it through a fiscal sponsor, used AI as a second brain, and kept going through two heart attacks that put him in an emergency room twice in three days. Along the way the film became a story about stewardship, about the people who stayed, and about what the commercialization of youth sports is doing to community public schools. In this episode, you'll learn: How an idea that arrived in a barber's chair became a finished film with no film school behind itWhy twenty years as an intelligence analyst turned out to be a filmmaking advantageWhy Andre deliberately hired a crew who knew nothing about Gwynn Park, the region, or basketballThe cold call that landed Hall of Fame coach Tubby SmithWhat a fiscal sponsor is, and how the Southern Documentary Fund made donors want to giveHow a three-hour conversation in a Brooklyn coffee shop with writer-director Marquis Smalls became his production blueprintWhat two heart attacks in three days taught him about succession, and what he changed the week he got outHow AI reenacted a co-protagonist who had died and left almost no footage behindWhy announcing the film on Instagram is the thing that made him finish itWhat NIL deals, unrestricted transfers, and year-round travel ball are doing to community public schools THE FIVE LESSONS Lean into your superpowersGet comfortable taking calculated risksGet creative about filling gapsPlan for your absenceUse AI as a second brain CHAPTERS 0:00 No Film School, No Connections 3:16 How Do You Fund a First Documentary? 6:09 When a Team Becomes a Town 11:53 The Cost of Commercializing Youth Sports 18:58 Planning for Your Own Absence 24:37 AI as a Second Brain 29:16 Cold Calling a Hall of Fame Coach 33:45 Why the Collective Should Matter FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS How do you make a documentary with no film school? Lean into the skills you already have and hire for the ones you do not. Andre N. Jackson spent twenty years as an intelligence analyst, so he built his film on research and relationship building, the two things he was already good at. Then he deliberately recruited crew members who covered his gaps in craft and experience. He learned filmmaking by making a film, not before making one. How do you fund a documentary with no industry money? A fiscal sponsor is the most common route. It is a 501(c)(3) that sits between your project and your donors, so contributions become tax deductible and donors have a reason to say yes. Andre used the Southern Documentary Fund. You apply, you are accepted, you onboard, and then you can offer donors a tax break for backing your film. He combined that with personal funds and direct fundraising. How do you get well-known people to be in your documentary? Cold call them, and be specific about who you both know. Andre landed Hall of Fame coach Tubby Smith by reaching out directly and naming a mutual connection to establish trust. He got Wake Forest star Randolph Childress through a warm introduction from a Gwynn Park alumnus. The pattern is the same either way: ask, and use the relationships your relationships already have. What happens to your documentary if you cannot finish it? Plan for your absence before you need to. After two heart attacks during production, Andre started documenting what had only ever lived in his head and briefed his executive producer and his producer on the next steps, so the film could be completed whether or not he was there. Contingency planning in film usually means backup drives. It should also mean succession. Can AI help you make your first documentary? Andre used it three ways: to learn the end-to-end production process he never went to film school for, to generate an animated reenactment of a co-protagonist who had died and left almost no footage behind, and as a second brain that challenged his assumptions and pressure-tested his interview questions. He was clear it supplemented human mentorship rather than replacing it, and credits Brooklyn writer-director Marquis Smalls, who drew him a blueprint over three hours. DOCUVIEW DÉJÀ VU PICKS "Undefeated" (2011), directed by Daniel Lindsay and T.J. Martin. Winner of the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. Andre's direct inspiration for making "Beyond Banners.""The Last Dance" (2020), ESPN and Netflix. Andre is a Michael Jordan fan and names it as the film that came before Undefeated for him. SPONSORED BY This episode is brought to you by Virgil Films Entertainment. With over 25 years of distribution experience, Virgil has released Super Size Me, the Oscar-nominated Restrepo, Forks Over Knives, To Die For, Seven Yards, and Speed is Expensive. If you are a filmmaker having trouble with distribution, talk to Virgil. https://virgilfilms.com ABOUT THE GUEST Andre N. Jackson is a first-time documentary filmmaker based in Fairfax, Virginia. He wrote and directed "Beyond Banners." He spent twenty years in the private sector in technology and security, including work at Capital One and Amazon and a brief stint at the Department of Homeland Security, and he worked as an intelligence analyst on cybersecurity and terrorism issues related to national security. He is a 1998 graduate of Gwynn Park High School, the subject of his film. He came to filmmaking with no film school and no industry connections. ABOUT THE FILM "Beyond Banners" is directed by Andre N. Jackson and follows the basketball program at Gwynn Park High School in Prince George's County, Maryland. In the words of the film's own logline: a son returns to his alma mater to carry his father's coaching legacy, only to discover that the winning tradition he grew up in was built for a world that no longer exists. The film follows an intertwined father-and-son story, Howard Matthews and Steve Matthews, and widens into a portrait of what community-based youth sports used to be and what the commercialization of high school athletics is doing to it. Produced and edited by Daniel Bowie, with animation and motion design by Henry Gretzinger. Historian Ida E. Jones of Morgan State University asks the question Andre names as his favorite line in the film: "What is it about community that makes us community?" It also features Hall of Fame coach Tubby Smith, Wake Forest star Randolph Childress, who broke ACC records, sportswriter Neil Greenberger, who spent twenty years at The Washington Post and led its local sports section, and archival footage The film is headed to the festival circuit. Website: https://beyondbannersdocumentary.com Instagram: @beyondbannersdocumentary ABOUT DOCUMENTARY FIRST Documentary First is a weekly podcast about the craft, the business, and the truth of filmmaking. Host Christian Taylor is an award-winning documentary filmmaker,...

8月13日 · ビデオ

Why Can't Your Documentary Find an Audience?

When did your audience stop being people and become a number? Most independent films and podcasts do not fail because the work is bad. They fail because no one ever felt like they belonged to them. This Deep Dive is about how to build an audience for your documentary before it is ever released, and the one ingredient that decides whether people stay with what you make. In this Deep Dive on Documentary First Episode 284 with Dutch filmmaker Jonathan de Jong, host Christian Taylor takes the idea at the heart of his film “Human Forever,” the most-watched human interest documentary in Dutch cinema history, and follows it somewhere unexpected: the same thing that makes dementia care humane is the thing that built his audience. The spine of the episode is a single word, belonging. Jonathan says the most dangerous part of dementia is not the diagnosis, it is the feeling of not belonging. Christian tests that idea against her own father’s move into memory care this month, then turns it on filmmakers through Martin Buber’s 1923 book “I and Thou” and the difference between treating a person as an “It” and meeting them as a “Thou.” The through line: build belonging before you build buzz. In this episode, Christian explores: Why the feeling of not belonging is the most dangerous part of dementia, in Jonathan de Jong’s own wordsThe one ingredient that decides whether people stay with what you makeHow Jonathan built an audience for “Human Forever” before a single frame was shotWhy building a movement beat marketing a filmWhat belonging looks like in one real room, on her father’s move dayMartin Buber’s “I and Thou” and the difference between an It and a ThouHow filmmaking goes wrong the moment your audience becomes a numberWhy you invite people to belong instead of reaching for themThe question to ask about anyone you put in front of your cameraWhat a documentary about dementia can teach any filmmaker about reach CHAPTERS 0:00 The Secret That Keeps an Audience 2:04 The Most Dangerous Feeling 5:16 The People and the Plan 7:53 Build Belonging Before Buzz 11:26 Meet Them, Don’t Aim FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS How do you build an audience for a documentary before it is released? You build belonging first. Jonathan de Jong built a movement around “Human Forever” before the film existed, a real person at the center and bestselling books out in the world, so audiences already felt part of something by release. The lesson for any filmmaker: make people feel they belong to what you are doing long before you ask them to watch, buy, or share it. What is the best way to market a documentary with no budget? Stop marketing and start including. Invite people into the mission instead of aiming promotion at them. When an audience feels seen and part of the story, they carry it for you. Belonging spreads a film further than any ad spend, which is why Jonathan filled theaters for a film about dementia without a marketing war chest. What is Martin Buber’s “I and Thou” about? “I and Thou,” published in 1923, describes two ways of relating to another person. You can treat someone as an “It,” a thing to manage, a number, a problem to handle. Or you can meet them as a “Thou,” a whole person, encountered directly. Buber argued that real life is found in the “Thou,” in genuine meeting rather than use. Why do people stop watching independent films and podcasts? Because they can feel when a creator is aiming something at them instead of making something for them. The moment an audience becomes a view count or a click to convert, the work loses the sense that it was made for real people. People stay when they feel met and included, and they drift when they feel handled. ABOUT THE FILMS AND TOPIC “Human Forever” is a documentary directed by Dutch filmmaker Jonathan de Jong through SUPER7EVEN Productions. It follows the young dementia-care nurse Teun Toebes as he lives among and travels the world alongside people with dementia, and it became the most-watched human interest documentary in Dutch cinema history. The film is one piece of a larger movement that also includes Teun’s bestselling books and the Article 25 Foundation he co-founded. Jonathan de Jong is a Dutch filmmaker and author who builds socially focused stories, and the guest on Documentary First Episode 284. SUPER7EVEN Productions: https://supersevenproductions.com. Film: https://human-forever.com. Teun Toebes is a nurse, humanitarian activist, and bestselling author who has spent years living inside dementia wards around the world. https://www.teuntoebes.com. ABOUT DOCUMENTARY FIRST: THE DEEP DIVE Each week, host Christian Taylor takes an insight from a recent Documentary First filmmaker interview and follows it through literature, philosophy, faith, and her own life. Christian is an award-winning documentary filmmaker, actor, and voice actor, and the director of “The Girl Who Wore Freedom.” The Deep Dive is built for documentary filmmakers, lovers of story, and anyone who wants to think more deeply about the work of making things. RESOURCES MENTIONED “Human Forever” (film), Jonathan de Jong, SUPER7EVEN Productions: https://human-forever.comSUPER7EVEN Productions: https://supersevenproductions.comTeun Toebes: https://www.teuntoebes.comMartin Buber, “I and Thou” (Ich und Du), 1923 Documentary First Episode 284 with Jonathan de Jong: https://pod.fo/e/50bde1 LISTEN AND FOLLOW Listen and subscribe wherever you get podcasts: https://podfollow.com/documentary-first Watch on YouTube: @DocumentaryFirst SUPPORT THE SHOW Join our community on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/documentaryfirst CONNECT WITH DOCUMENTARY FIRST All platforms: https://linktr.ee/doc1st Christian Taylor on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meetchristiantaylor

8月6日 · ビデオ

How to Fund a Documentary Without the Industry

How do you fund a documentary when the whole industry says no? How do you fund a documentary without film funds, grants, or a commissioning broadcaster, and still reach a huge audience? Dutch filmmaker Jonathan de Jong did exactly that with Human Forever, the most-watched human interest documentary in Dutch cinema history. The government pulled his funding two and a half years into production, and he still finished the film, built a movement, and put it in cinemas around the world. In Episode 284 of Documentary First, Christian Taylor sits down with Jonathan de Jong, director of Human Forever and founder of SUPER7EVEN Productions, to talk about how independent filmmakers actually fund, build an audience for, get access for, and produce a documentary that people see. Jonathan's whole approach starts from one idea: build the audience before the film exists. He grew a following through a bestselling book, The Housemates, a touring theater show, and his protagonist, the young nurse Teun Toebes, before the movie ever premiered. He funds outside the traditional market by partnering with mission-aligned organizations, he earns fly-on-the-wall access by investing years of unhurried time, and he made a hard subject impossible to look away from. In his words, “we made dementia sexy.” In this episode, you'll learn: How to fund a documentary without relying on film funds, grants, or a broadcasterHow to build an audience for your film before it is releasedHow to get access to hospitals, care facilities, and other closed institutionsHow to produce a documentary across multiple countriesWhy Jonathan approaches every film as a product, not only a passion projectHow partnering with mission-aligned organizations can both fund and distribute your filmThe “be Switzerland” method for directing a subject to get honest, real reactionsHow to keep a film earning and touring years after its releaseWhy treating a serious subject with warmth beats treating it as only seriousWhat the record-breaking success of Human Forever teaches about impact over views CHAPTERS 0:00 Breaking In Without Film School 5:06 Finding a Story Worth Telling 7:24 Build the Audience Before Release 12:21 When the Funding Fell Through 15:18 You Can't Buy Happiness 20:33 What Moldova Taught Him 26:47 Making the Camera Invisible 30:30 Directing a Neutral Protagonist 37:17 How Do You Get Access? 42:28 Where Does the Money Come From? 47:38 He Made Dementia Sexy Frequently Asked Questions How do you fund a documentary without grants or film funds? Partner with mission-aligned organizations. Jonathan de Jong funds his films by teaming with social organizations, foundations, and local and national governments that care about the subject. Each contributes a smaller amount, and together they add up to a full budget. Because those partners also have large audiences, they become the film's first ambassadors, so the same partnership that funds the film also helps get it seen. How do you get access to film inside hospitals or care facilities? Invest time and build trust before the camera rolls. Jonathan spent years present without filming, and left the camera in the room so people grew used to it. Family members had to sign consent, and because his protagonist Teun Toebes was a trusted figure in dementia care, facilities welcomed the crew. Access came from relationships and patience, not from official fixers. How do you build an audience for a documentary before it comes out? Start years early and grow the audience alongside the film. Jonathan built a following through a bestselling book, a touring theater show, and social media, and he turned his protagonist into a recognized voice in the field. By the time Human Forever premiered, the audience and a network of ambassadors already existed, so the film became, in his words, the cherry on top. How do you produce a documentary in multiple countries? Work through the local community, not official fixers. Jonathan connects with people already working in the subject area, who bring in local governments and organizations to arrange permits and logistics. He keeps a small, lean crew that can move fast, and he builds a network of ambassadors in each country. That is how he filmed across eleven countries during a pandemic. DocuView Déjà Vu Jonathan's documentary pick is Searching for Sugar Man, which he calls one of the best documentaries ever made and a reminder of what the power of storytelling can do. Sponsored by Virgil Films Entertainment This episode is brought to you by Virgil Films Entertainment. With over 25 years of distribution experience, Virgil Films helps filmmakers get their work in front of audiences on every major platform. Learn more at https://www.virgilfilms.com/. About the Guest Jonathan de Jong is a Dutch documentary filmmaker and the founder of SUPER7EVEN Productions. He directs socially driven films that reach big audiences, and he is best known for Human Forever, the most-watched human interest documentary in Dutch cinema history. Website: https://supersevenproductions.com SUPER7EVEN Productions is Jonathan de Jong's Netherlands-based company, making impact-driven documentaries on pressing social issues. Human Forever premiered around a 2023 G20 summit and is now used in more than 40 universities, including Yale and Oxford, with a US broadcast coming to PBS. Jonathan's next films explore strong communities and addiction. About Human Forever and Teun Toebes Human Forever follows Teun Toebes, a young care ethicist dubbed the “Greta Thunberg of healthcare,” who moved into the closed ward of a nursing home at 21 and traveled across four continents and eleven countries to ask how we can give people living with dementia a better quality of life. Teun's book, The Housemates, was a number one bestseller in Denmark and has been translated into English, German, Italian, and Arabic. Website: https://www.teuntoebes.com. About Documentary First Documentary First is a weekly podcast about the craft, business, and truth of documentary filmmaking, hosted by filmmaker Christian Taylor. Across nearly 300 episodes, the guest chair has held everyone from Ken Burns to first-time independents. Documentary First ranks in the top 5 percent of all podcasts worldwide on Listen Notes, is the number one documentary film podcast in the US on MillionPodcasts, and holds a 4.8 out of 5 on Apple Podcasts. Christian Taylor is a documentary filmmaker, actor, and voice actor, and the director of The Girl Who Wore Freedom. Resources Mentioned Human Forever (film): https://www.teuntoebes.com/human-foreverSUPER7EVEN Productions: https://supersevenproductions.comTeun Toebes: https://www.teuntoebes.comThe Housemates, book by Teun Toebes https://septemberpublishing.org/product/the-housemates-pb/Searching for Sugar Man (documentary)Virgil Films Entertainment: https://virgilfilms.com Connect With the Guests Jonathan de Jong: Instagram https://www.instagram.com/7onathandejong, LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-de-jong-07b670bTeun Toebes: Instagram https://www.instagram.com/teuntoebes, LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/teuntoebes Listen and Follow Documentary First Listen to this episode: https://podfollow.com/documentary-firstFollow the show: https://podfollow.com/documentary-firstYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@documentaryfirst Support the Show Patreon:...

7月30日

Who Believed in You First?

Who believed in you before you could believe in yourself? In this Deep Dive, documentary filmmaker Christian Taylor makes a quiet case that we rarely overcome self-doubt on our own. Almost no one finishes anything hard alone. Someone has to see it in you first. This is a reflection on the power of belief, on the kind of encouragement that shows up right when you are ready to quit, and on how a few honest words can help a person keep going and change the whole outcome of a life. This Deep Dive grows out of Documentary First Episode 283 with Joe Amodei, the veteran film distributor who, after forty-five years of releasing other people's films, finally directed his own: Cold War in Philly. The seed is a story Joe told about his friend Morgan Spurlock, who looked at him and said, "Yes, you are," when Joe insisted he was not a director. Morgan died before filming began. Joe made the film anyway. From there, Christian follows the same pattern through her own life and through stories you already know: the producer Sandy Gordon, who told her she could tell her own story; C.S. Lewis's belief that helped J.R.R. Tolkien finish The Lord of the Rings; Emmy Werner's forty-year Kauai study on the power of one caring adult; Fred Shero and the 1976 Philadelphia Flyers; the BELIEVE sign in Ted Lasso; and the Christmas her young son Hunter talked her out of quitting The Girl Who Wore Freedom. The throughline: belief usually arrives from outside before it grows from within, it works by being repeated at the moment you want to give up, and it is something you can hand another person for the price of a sentence. In this episode, Christian explores: Why we so often cannot see in ourselves what other people can see plainlyThe difference between belief that gets you to the starting line and belief that gets you to the finishWhy encouragement has to be repeated, not announced onceHow Morgan Spurlock's belief outlived him and finished Joe Amodei's first filmWhat C.S. Lewis's encouragement had to do with Tolkien finishing The Lord of the RingsThe single factor that most helped at-risk children thrive in the forty-year Kauai studyWhat the 1976 Flyers and the BELIEVE sign in Ted Lasso have in commonThe Christmas her son Hunter believed in her when she was ready to walk away from her filmThe strange math of belief: nearly free to give, and one of the most powerful things we doTwo things to do this week: remember who believed in you, and become that person for someone else CHAPTERS 0:00 Before You Believe in Yourself 2:49 Someone Has to See It First 5:37 Encouragement When You Want to Quit 8:34 Belief That Outlives Us 11:14 How to Believe in Others FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Why is it important to have someone believe in you? Because most of us cannot see our own potential clearly. We are too close to our own doubts. Belief from a credible person on the outside fills that gap and raises both effort and persistence, especially at the moment someone is ready to quit. Research on self-efficacy and on childhood resilience points the same way: one steady person who believes in you can change what you attempt and what you actually finish. How do you keep going when you want to quit a creative project? You borrow belief until you can make your own. Nearly everyone who finishes a hard project hits a wall where they are sure it is over. What carries people through is usually not one pep talk but someone who reminds them, again and again, that they can do it. Christian Taylor finished her documentary after her young son repeated his belief in her until she could go back to work. How do you believe in yourself when no one else does? You usually do not have to do it entirely alone. The honest move this episode offers is to remember that someone has already believed in you, even if you have forgotten them, and to borrow that belief until it becomes your own. Recall what they saw in you. And if you feel truly without support right now, become the encourager you needed: the same words that steady other people can steady you when you say them to yourself. Can one person really change your life? Yes. In Emmy Werner's forty-year Kauai study of nearly 700 children, about a third of the high-risk kids grew into capable, caring adults, and the strongest protective factor was having at least one steady adult who believed in them. One was enough. The same pattern shows up in creative work, where a single believer often decides whether a project is abandoned or finished. What does it mean that belief can outlive the believer? It means the encouragement someone gives you keeps working even after they are gone. Morgan Spurlock told Joe Amodei he could direct, then died before filming started, and Joe finished the film anyway. Fred Shero's line to the Flyers, "Win today and we'll walk together forever," names the same truth: the people who believe in us walk with us long after the moment itself has passed. ABOUT THE FILMS AND WORKS IN THIS EPISODE Cold War in Philly, directed by Joe Amodei (Virgil Films): the story of the night in 1976 the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Soviet Red Army. https://coldwarinphilly.com The Girl Who Wore Freedom, directed by Christian Taylor: the documentary referenced throughout this episode. Also referenced: La La Land (2016, written and directed by Damien Chazelle); Man of La Mancha; Ted Lasso (Apple TV+); The Lord of the Rings and the friendship of J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis; Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom; and "Wind Beneath My Wings," popularized by Bette Midler. ABOUT DOCUMENTARY FIRST: THE DEEP DIVE Documentary First: The Deep Dive is the companion to Documentary First, where host Christian Taylor takes one insight from a recent conversation and follows it wherever it leads. Christian is a documentary filmmaker, actor, and voice actor, and the director of The Girl Who Wore Freedom and Heroes of Carentan. RESOURCES MENTIONED Documentary First Episode 283 with Joe Amodei: [add episode URL] Cold War in Philly: https://coldwarinphilly.com Virgil Films: https://virgilfilms.com Emmy Werner, the Kauai Longitudinal Study The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien Tuesdays with Morrie, by Mitch Albom La La Land (2016) Man of La Mancha Ted Lasso (Apple TV+) LISTEN AND FOLLOW Listen on any podcast app: https://podfollow.com/documentary-first YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@documentaryfirst Support the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/DocumentaryFirst CONNECT Documentary First Linktree: https://linktr.ee/doc1st Christian Taylor on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meetchristiantaylor

7月23日 · ビデオ

7 Filmmaking Tips From the Distributor Who Directed "Cold War in Philly"

What does it really take to make a documentary that finds an audience and earns its money back? “You have to have the passion for the story and the passion to do the work, because it will not be easy.” — Joe Amodei If you want to make a documentary, the hardest questions are not the ones about cameras. They are about access, money, and whether anyone will ever watch it. In Documentary First Episode 283, a distributor who has spent more than forty-five years releasing films, and has now directed his first one, gives 7 filmmaking tips that cut straight to those questions, from getting access to a famous subject to setting a budget that can actually earn its money back. In Episode 283, Christian Taylor sits down with Joe Amodei, the founder of Virgil Films and a film distributor of more than forty-five years, who has released hundreds of documentaries including Super Size Me, the Oscar-nominated Restrepo, and Forks Over Knives. After decades of releasing other people's films and learning from the mistakes he watched filmmakers make, Joe finally made his own: Cold War in Philly, the story of the night in 1976 when the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Soviet Red Army. He came to find out whether his own advice would hold up. The throughline is simple and a little daring: a career distributor became a first-time director, determined not to repeat the mistakes he had watched other filmmakers make. Along the way he explains how he got access to a legendary NHL team through its alumni association, why he kept the budget under $250,000, why a built-in audience mattered so much, and a first documentary that sold out theaters across Philadelphia. Running underneath it is the Cold War itself: the KGB minders, the players who hated the government but not each other, and the heroes Joe got on camera before they were gone. IN THIS EPISODE, YOU'LL LEARN: How to get access to famous people and organizations, through the alumni associationWhat Joe did once he was in the room: prove yourself, be yourself, and be honestThe deals he had to clear before filming, the team, the owner, and the league, and that they took nearly a yearWhy a built-in audience is what decides whether an indie film succeedsWhat to budget for a documentary, and why Joe will not spend more than $250,000 on an indie docHow Joe made sure to get the players on camera, including two who passed away after their interviewsWhy his first film took two and a half years, and what he would do differently next timeThe qualities that make a film distributor worth trusting: answering calls, paying on time, being honestThe two things Joe says it takes to finish a filmWhy Joe believes the work is worth it, from the players' gratitude to a film that outlives everyone CHAPTERS 0:00 Becoming a First-Time Director 2:42 How Do You Get Access? 9:33 Capturing Heroes in Time 13:04 Structuring the Documentary 21:20 The Grind of Production 28:11 Selling Out Theaters 38:32 What Makes a Film Succeed? 41:37 What Should a Doc Budget Be? 44:48 How Do You Keep Going? 47:38 Is Filmmaking Worth It? FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS How do you get access to famous people or organizations for a documentary? Go through the alumni association. Joe Amodei got the Philadelphia Flyers by working with the team's alumni group, which controls appearances for former players. Nearly every major sports team and league has one, usually run by one or two people. Find that person, earn their trust, and they can open the door to the whole roster. Then be ready to handle the separate contracts with the team, the owner, and the league. How much does it cost to make a documentary? For an independent documentary, Joe Amodei's rule is not to spend more than $250,000. The reasoning is about return: know what the film can realistically earn back before you set the documentary budget, and understand the market you are spending against. A built-in audience and disciplined spending give a documentary a real chance to make its money back. What makes an independent film succeed in today's market? A built-in audience. Joe Amodei says a film does best when people already care about the subject before it exists. Cold War in Philly had Flyers fans waiting for it, and the sold-out theatrical run followed. If you cannot name the audience for your idea, Joe's view is you might not want to make it. When you can, the film has a base to launch from and can cross over to viewers beyond the core, people who told Joe they were not even hockey fans. What does it take to succeed as a documentary filmmaker? Two things, according to Joe Amodei: passion and willpower. Passion for the story carries you through a process that will not be easy, and willpower keeps you going when the edit stalls and the work is not moving as fast as you wanted. You owe it to your investors, your subjects, and the people who gave up their time to sit for you. His advice is simple: you cannot give up. What should you look for in a film distributor? Christian describes what makes Joe a distributor worth trusting: he answers calls and emails, pays on time, sends the reports that are due, and is honest. She notes that this basic reliability is rarer than it should be in the business, and it is exactly what separates a distributor you can trust from one you cannot. DOCUVIEW DÉJÀ VU PICKS In the DocuView Déjà Vu segment, Joe Amodei highlighted two documentaries from the Virgil Films slate: She Was Here, about the young actress from Poltergeist, and Broken Brothers, directed by Jeff Levine, a future Documentary First guest. Both are available on Amazon and Apple TV. SPONSORED BY Virgil Films Entertainment. With more than twenty-five years of distribution experience, Virgil releases documentaries and indie features and works directly with every major platform. Learn more at https://virgilfilms.com. ABOUT JOE AMODEI Joe Amodei is the founder of Virgil Films and a film distributor with more than forty-five years in the industry. He started in retail, worked in live entertainment for Ted Turner and Barry Diller, and went on to release hundreds of documentaries, including Super Size Me, the Oscar-nominated Restrepo, and Forks Over Knives. Cold War in Philly is his directorial debut, the story of the 1976 game in which the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Soviet Red Army. Learn more at https://coldwarinphilly.com. ABOUT VIRGIL FILMS Virgil Films and Entertainment is an independent distributor known for documentaries and indie features, with a catalog that includes Super Size Me, Restrepo, Forks Over Knives, To Die For, Seven Yards, and Speed is Expensive. The company works directly with every major transactional platform and offers filmmakers a range of deals, from standard distribution to service arrangements. Recent and upcoming releases include She Was Here and Broken Brothers. Learn more at https://virgilfilms.com. ABOUT DOCUMENTARY FIRST Documentary First is the show where we dig into the craft of filmmaking, the business, and the truth of it. Host Christian Taylor is a documentary filmmaker, actor, and voice actor, and the director of The Girl Who Wore Freedom and Heroes of Carentan. Each week she sits down with the people who make documentaries and pulls out what actually works. RESOURCES MENTIONED Cold War in Philly (film site): https://coldwarinphilly.com/Cold War in Philly is available to rent or buy on Amazon, Apple TV, Vudu, and YouTubeThe Girl Who Wore Freedom (Christian Taylor, distributed by Virgil Films)Films referenced: Super Size Me, Restrepo, Forks Over Knives LISTEN AND FOLLOW Listen to this episode and follow Documentary First on your favorite app:...

7月16日 · ビデオ

Finding the Heartbeat of Your Story | A Lesson From Normandy

How do you make people care about your documentary? Facts alone rarely make an audience care. The emotional core of a documentary lives somewhere else. In this episode of Documentary First, filmmaker Christian Taylor tells the story of how she found the heartbeat her film about the Battle of Carentan was missing. It was not in the archives. It was in the memories of a man who was six years old when the war came for his town. For months, Christian’s film Heroes of Carentan felt stuck in what one WWII veteran called the “data of history,” the maps, the dates, and the military maneuvers. Everything shifted when she met Yves Marchais. In June 1944, Yves was a small boy living under German occupation in Carentan, France. This year he sent Christian thirteen letters recording what he remembered, and those letters gave the historical record a soul. It comes down to a lesson every documentary filmmaker learns the hard way: audiences do not connect to issues or information, they connect to people. Anchored by a line from Pfc. John E. Fitzgerald, a runner for Medal of Honor recipient Lt. Col. Robert Cole, this episode argues that the essence of history is not its record but its heartbeat. Yves calls his own account his “hummingbird’s share,” not the whole war, but the small, vivid pieces that passed before a child’s eyes. His story becomes a lesson in telling a big historical event through one small, personal one. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why facts and figures alone rarely move an audience How to find the emotional core, or heartbeat, of a documentary Why audiences connect to people, not to issues or information How to tell a big historical story through one small, personal one What Pfc. John E. Fitzgerald meant when he warned that history can lose its heartbeat Why one person’s story can carry an entire historical event What the “hummingbird’s share” is, and why small memories matter more than big ones How the Battle of Carentan looked through the eyes of a six-year-old boy How Yves Marchais and his family survived the occupation and liberation of Carentan Why the story a filmmaker starts with is often not the story worth telling What the series Band of Brothers has to do with the real Battle of Carentan How to know when your film has finally found its emotional core Chapters: 00:00 Meeting a survivor of Carentan 01:15 13 letters and Band of Brothers 02:26 Life under German occupation 04:01 D-Day and the kitchen sink 05:27 Fleeing an empty Carentan 06:59 The trench and liberation 08:45 Colonel Cole and the runner 10:57 The lesson: find your heartbeat Frequently Asked Questions: How do you find the emotional core of a documentary? Facts and chronology rarely move an audience on their own. The emotional core, what host Christian Taylor calls the heartbeat, usually lives in one person’s specific, lived experience rather than in the broad historical record. In this episode she describes finding it in the memories of Yves Marchais, a French civilian who was six during the Battle of Carentan, and building the film’s meaning around his point of view. How do you make an audience care about a documentary subject? Audiences connect to people far more than to issues or information. The most reliable way to make viewers care about a large subject, a war, a movement, a crisis, is to tell it through one specific person whose experience makes the bigger story personal. In this episode, Christian Taylor builds her film about the Battle of Carentan around a single child’s memories rather than the broad military record. What was the Battle of Carentan? The Battle of Carentan was a June 1944 fight for the town of Carentan in Normandy, France, a key objective linking the American forces landing at Utah and Omaha beaches. The 101st Airborne Division, including units later made famous by Band of Brothers, fought to take the town, which was liberated on June 12, 1944. Who is Yves Marchais? Yves Marchais is a French man who, as a six-year-old boy, lived through the German occupation and the 1944 liberation of Carentan. Decades later he recorded his childhood memories of the war in a series of letters, which became the emotional core of Christian Taylor’s documentary. He calls his account his “hummingbird’s share,” the small, true pieces of history he witnessed firsthand. What did Pfc. John Fitzgerald mean about history losing its heartbeat? Pfc. John E. Fitzgerald, who served as a runner for Medal of Honor recipient Lt. Col. Robert Cole, wrote that the data of history should not lose its heartbeat as it becomes information, or all that remains is the record without the essence. Christian Taylor uses that idea as the key to her film: the facts of a battle matter, but the human story is what makes people care. About the Film and the Story: Heroes of Carentan is Christian Taylor’s in-production documentary about the 1944 liberation of Carentan, Normandy, told through the people who lived it. Yves Marchais was six years old during the battle. His firsthand account of the occupation, the bombing, his family’s escape through a deserted town, and the moment of liberation forms the emotional center of the film. This episode is the second part of Christian’s story about finding that center. About Documentary First: Documentary First is a weekly podcast about the craft, business, and truth of documentary filmmaking. Host Christian Taylor is a documentary filmmaker (The Girl Who Wore Freedom), actor, voice actor, and podcast host based in the United States. Each week she explores what it takes to tell true stories that move people, through interviews with filmmakers and solo episodes drawn from her own work. Resources Mentioned: The Colonel and the Runner, by Pfc. John E. Fitzgerald (a recollection of Lt. Col. Robert G. Cole, 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division) Band of Brothers (Episode 3 follows the Battle of Carentan) The Girl Who Wore Freedom, Christian Taylor’s award-winning D-Day documentary Watch or Listen to Part 1: https://pod.fo/e/4405a5 Listen and Follow: Documentary First: https://podfollow.com/documentary-first YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@documentaryfirst Support the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/DocumentaryFirst Connect: Documentary First on all platforms: https://linktr.ee/doc1st Connect with Christian Taylor on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meetchristiantaylor

7月2日 · ビデオ

13 Letters That Saved a Dying WWII Documentary I on Heroes of Carentan Pt 1

Can thirteen letters from an 88-year-old stranger bring a dead film back to life? For two years, Heroes of Carentan, Christian Taylor's documentary about the 101st Airborne Division and the June 1944 liberation of Carentan, sat on a shelf, half made. In this episode she tells the honest story of why a WWII documentary stalls, what it costs to keep going, and the thirteen letters from an 88-year-old man in France that finally gave the film its heartbeat back. In Episode 281 of Documentary First, Christian Taylor takes listeners inside her upcoming film for the first time. Part 1 is how Heroes of Carentan fell apart, and how it came back. Part 2 travels to Normandy, where the letters came to life. Christian walks through the three walls that stalled the film: a story that had all its pieces but none of the feeling, a modern-to-historical framing device that turned into a cage, and the reality of self-funding a documentary, including a Covid disaster loan she wished she'd never taken. Then comes the breakthrough, hidden in two years of research, and the moment she remembered Yves Marchais, who was six and a half years old when the 101st Airborne liberated his town. In this episode, you'll learn: Why a documentary can have every piece in place and still feel dead on the screenHow a timely framing device can quietly become a liability that dates a filmWhat self-funding a documentary can mean, and the loan no one talks aboutWhy the story of the Battle of Carentan was not workingHow going back to the research, not the footage, broke a two-year blockWhy pointing the camera at the people the soldiers saved changed everythingWho Yves Marchais is, and why his memories reframed the whole filmHow thirteen letters from an 88-year-old man gave the film its heartbeatWhat separates Heroes of Carentan from The Girl Who Wore FreedomWhy the cost of war, carried in one person, became the true subject CHAPTERS 0:00 A letter from Carentan 0:32 Why this episode is for you 1:19 Heroes of Carentan and The Girl Who Wore Freedom 1:50 Normandy's gratitude, and where this show began 2:46 Two years on the shelf: the three walls 2:57 Wall 1: all the pieces, none of the feeling 3:41 Wall 2: the framing that became a cage 4:34 Wall 3: self-funding, burnout, and the loan no one talks about 5:48 The breakthrough hiding in the research 6:32 Point the camera at the ones they saved 7:08 Meeting Yves Marchais 8:27 Thirteen letters from a child of war 10:25 The heartbeat, and off to Normandy Frequently Asked Questions What was the Battle of Carentan in June 1944? The Battle of Carentan was fought from June 10 to 14, 1944, days after the D-Day landings. The U.S. 101st Airborne Division fought to take the Norman town of Carentan, which linked the Utah and Omaha beachheads. After crossing an exposed causeway under fire, the Americans forced the German defenders out on June 12, then held the town against a counterattack with help from the 2nd Armored Division. Who liberated Carentan in World War II? Carentan was liberated by the U.S. 101st Airborne Division, the Screaming Eagles, in June 1944. The 501st, 502nd, and 506th Parachute Infantry Regiments and the 327th Glider Infantry Regiment spearheaded the fight, with Lieutenant Colonel Robert Cole leading a famous charge along the road nicknamed Purple Heart Lane. In addition, tanks from the 2nd Armored Division helped repel the German counterattack on June 13. What is the documentary Heroes of Carentan about? Heroes of Carentan is a feature documentary by filmmaker Christian Taylor about the liberation of Carentan, France, in June 1944, told through the people who lived it. After a two-year production stall, the film was rebuilt with the help of Yves Marchais, who was a six-year-old child during the battle and later wrote thirteen letters recounting his memories. It is Taylor's second feature, following The Girl Who Wore Freedom. Why do documentary filmmakers self-fund their films? Documentary funding is famously hard, and self-funding is common because otherwise many projects would never get made. Filmmakers often cover early costs themselves to show commitment before grants or investors come in. The current climate is tougher than usual, with the closure of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and cuts to PBS shrinking traditional support, so many filmmakers now rely on personal savings, credit, and small donor communities. Who is Yves Marchais? Yves Marchais is a French civilian who was six and a half years old when the U.S. 101st Airborne Division liberated his town of Carentan in June 1944. Now 88, he wrote thirteen letters to filmmaker Christian Taylor recounting his childhood memories of the occupation, the bombing, and the American soldiers who saved his family. His testimony became the emotional center of the documentary Heroes of Carentan. About Heroes of Carentan Heroes of Carentan is Christian Taylor's second feature documentary, currently in production. It tells the story of the liberation of Carentan, France, in June 1944 by the 101st Airborne Division, seen through the eyes of French civilian Yves Marchais, who lived through it as a six-year-old child. About The Girl Who Wore Freedom Christian Taylor's award-winning first documentary, about the gratitude the people of Normandy still carry for the American soldiers who liberated them. This episode includes a short clip from the film featuring Valerie Cardin and Marie-Pascal Legrand. Website: https://www.thegirlwhoworefreedom.com About Documentary First Documentary First is a weekly podcast about the craft, business, and truth of documentary filmmaking. Host Christian Taylor is a documentary filmmaker, actor, and voice artist with more than four decades in entertainment. Each week she sits down with documentary filmmakers and nonfiction storytellers, and The Deep Dive companion series explores a single idea from a recent conversation. Resources Mentioned The Girl Who Wore Freedom: https://www.thegirlwhoworefreedom.com Listen & Follow Listen and follow Documentary First: https://podfollow.com/documentary-first YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@documentaryfirst Support the show on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/c/DocumentaryFirst Connect Documentary First on all platforms: https://linktr.ee/doc1st Christian Taylor on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meetchristiantaylor

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Documentary First

エピソード

How Do You Get a Documentary Made? Ask the Woman Who Co-Runs RKO

How to Make a Documentary With No Film School: 5 Lessons

Why Can't Your Documentary Find an Audience?

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Who Believed in You First?

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13 Letters That Saved a Dying WWII Documentary I on Heroes of Carentan Pt 1

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