Writing, Directing, and Producing Documentary Films and Digital Videos

In a new edition of this popular guidebook, filmmakers Alan Rosenthal and Ned Eckhardt show readers how to utilize the latest innovations in equipment, technologies, and production techniques for success in the digital, web-based world of documentary film.

All twenty-four chapters of the volume have been revised to reflect the latest advances in documentary filmmaking. Rosenthal and Eckhardt discuss the myriad ways in which technological changes have impacted the creation process of documentary films, including how these evolving technologies both complicate and enrich filmmaking today. The book provides invaluable insights for the filmmaker from the film’s conception to distribution of the finished film. Topics include creating dynamic proposals, writing narration, and navigating the murky world of contracts. Also included are many practical tips for first-time filmmakers. To provide context and to illustrate techniques, Rosenthal and Eckhardt reference more than 100 documentaries in detail.

A new appendix, “Preparing for Your Career Using the Web and Social Media,” guides filmmakers through the process of leveraging social media and crowdsourcing for success in filmmaking, fund-raising, and promotion. A day-to-day field manual packed with invaluable lessons, this volume is essential reading for both novice and experienced documentary filmmakers.

Alan Rosenthal, a professor emeritus of communications at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, is a documentary filmmaker with sixty films to his credit as writer, director, or producer. His books includeSucceeding as a Documentary Filmmaker: A Guide to the Professional World andFrom “Chariots of Fire” to “The King's Speech”: Writing Biopics and Docudramas. His docudramaThe First Fagin, about the transportation of convicts to Australia in the nineteenth century, was invited for special feature presentation at the Melbourne International Film Festival 2012.

Ned Eckhardt, a professor and founder of the television and documentary production program at Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey, is the author ofDocumentary Filmmakers Handbook. His most recent film is Seabrook Farms Remembered. He served as an executive producer for Pact5, a national sexual assault awareness and prevention campaign that featured college student documentaries.