Emotional Intelligence is the most important soft skill to have.
In doc filmmaking, you’re going to encounter a lot of little fragile moments. There are ethical dilemmas, and you need to be emotionally intelligent to navigate sensitive situations. You’ll be hit with a scenario you’ve never been put in before. Your primary featured person starts breaking down in an interview, sobbing. Do you hug them? Do you shut the camera off? You’re going to film a funeral. Who do you get permission from? The grieving parents? You are living in a world of grey where you sometimes need to ignore normal human behaviors for the sake of your project—but you also need to be able to discern when to be human. My advice is to have the most emotionally intelligent person you know on speed dial, and call them for advice when faced with an unusual and peculiar dilemma. Also, emotional intelligence is a learned skill. Keep working that muscle and getting better.
Be a problem solver.
Documentary filmmakers are also known as problems solvers. At every step of the process, all we’re trying to do is solve a problem. How will we get the next round of funding? How can we make this pitch better? How do we enroll this character? How do we get around this? How do we pivot? If you want a job that is smooth sailing, this is not the one. If you like a good challenge, documentary filmmaking a great career for you.
Hire people who are more talented than you.
In the words of Tina Fey, hire people that are more talented than you and get out of their way. I think sometimes egos prevent this from happening. We think we can do it all ourselves. But I’ve practiced this since day one. Many filmmakers I love shoot their own stuff—but I know I’m not passionate about cinematography and I don’t love shooting. So, whenever I can, I hire someone who is passionate and talented to do that for me. I don’t care that I’m not getting credit, because the project will be better for it. With my first feature, I owned what I was good at: directing, producing and editing. For everything else, I hired people. Local people. Intelligent people. Passionate people. Don’t be afraid to delegate.
Get ready to spend a lot of time not filming.
Indie doc filmmaking is a lot of not filmmaking. It’s creating budgets, researching topics, researching grants, funds, foundations, writing proposals and a ton of emails. It’s pitching and marketing and explaining. It’s crafting and collaborating and listening. It’s scheduling, booking, coordinating, and communicating. Filming and editing are the fun part, but I’d say that’s about 25% of documentary filmmaking. Moving forward in my career, I’m sure this will change as I work with production companies—but if you’re in independent film, this is the reality.
Don’t take all the advice you hear.
Looking back, I got some really horrible advice while making my first feature. From people I thought were “better than me” telling me I should narrate the film, change the films name, be IN the film, etc. I had people (especially for some reason, many women) tell me I shouldn’t be embarking on something so ambitious this early in my career—it wasn’t realistic. You’re going to get a ton of advice—and that’s great. But before you take any piece of advice you hear, consider who’s saying it and maybe their intentions. Now think, would you bring them on as a producer? Or as a creative partner? Would you allow them to make this film? If not, then take it with a grain of salt.
Hire local.
Can’t stress this one enough. If you’re making a film about a place where you and/or your family is not from, hire as much local crew as you can. Not only is this the ethically correct thing to do (and many, many production companies fail to do this), but its oftentimes cheaper and will make the value of your project skyrocket. Hiring local means that your team is now full of fixers. They know the ins and outs of the region. They know subtle cultural cues that you don’t. They will add to the quality of your story in so many ways that you never would have expected. And even in post-production—try as much as you can to hire local.
Be tenacious.
Obstacles are going to come your way. Rejection after rejection after rejection. Distributor said no, film festival passed, executive producer turned down the project. All of these things happen not just to the little guys—but to the big guys too. Learn to not take things personally. Oftentimes your project is rejected for things entirely out of your control. Maybe they already programmed a film about that topic—or gave a grant to someone in your zip code. Be gritty, grow a thick skin, and never give up. There’s always a way around. The people who succeed are the people who never gave up.
The internet is the most powerful piece of equipment you can own—use it.
The internet gives you access to everything. Interviews with your favorite filmmakers, potential subjects, infinite research on your topic, technical tutorials for editing/coloring/cameras, etc. There’s literally no excuse for not improving yourself everyday when the internet is available to you. Now, this has also leveled out the film industry a bit and made everything more accessible to everyone. It’s not as much “who you know” as it used to be (although it still is very much like that). This just means you need to work harder than the next guy or girl.
Prioritize your mental health.
This is one tip that I didn’t truly learn until my film was already released. Documentary filmmakers put everything they have into their films. We handle incredibly sensitive and hot-button topics. We have to become immediate experts. We sit through filming and then spend countless hours editing content that is triggering and difficult. It can make us completely exhausted without even knowing it. Take time to separate yourself from your project. Remind yourself that you are a filmmaker—you are a journalist. This is your job, this project is something you are doing—but it is not who you are. Making the film is going to knock you down—whether it be the subject matter or the actual process, but most likely a combination of both. Then after the film is released, you may receive a little criticism. Many filmmakers choose to not read reviews—and they don’t list a contact form on their website. The more success you receive, the more critics you’ll have. Take healthy breaks wherever you need them. If you don’t, you will become fatigued, and even in some cases, depressed and anxious. Understand the projects you work on are just that—projects. They will be completed, released, and then you will move on. Find a therapy—meditation, yoga, exercise, etc.—and be dare to move forward! Be brave.
Be organized.
Documentary filmmaking is particular is extremely messy. These productions can go on for years, so make sure in the beginning you create an organized system where everything has its place and is backed up. Have dedicated hard drives to all of your footage backed up and labeled. Have all your spreadsheets in one place (I like Google Drive). Have your email always cleaned up and ready to go. If you’re an indie filmmaker, have all your loglines, grant proposals, summaries, synopsis, releases, etc. all organized. Being organized on the front end means less stress down the road. And yes, this means your desktop should be clean. If you’re an editor like me, you know the chaos “I’m just going to save this file to the desktop real quick” can cause. Do yourself a favor and put in the work early.
Happy filmmaking!
xx Erin