Writing, Directing and Producing Documentary Films and Videos

"I can hardly praise this book enough. Should every documentary student read it? Certainly. Should every documentary filmmaker, no matter how experienced they are, read it? Certainly." - Film Quarterly "This book should be called the 'Documentary Filmmaker's Guide to the Galaxy.' The moral, ethical, aesthetic, and communicative problems of documentary filmmaking are explored through knowledge and experience in the field, the studio, the editing room, theater, and television." - Donald E. Staples, University of North Texas "The book is a major contribution to the literature of film teaching." - International Documentary"

As Alan Rosenthal states in the preface to this new edition of his acclaimed resource for filmmakers, "Writing, Directing, and Producing Documentary Films and Videos" is "a book about storytelling - how to tell great and moving stories about fascinating people, whether they be villains or heroes." In response to technological advances and the growth of the documentary hybrid in the past five years, Rosenthal reconsiders how one approaches documentary filmmaking in the twenty-first century. Simply and clearly, he explains how to tackle day-to-day problems, from initial concept through distribution. He demonstrates his ideas throughout the book with examples from key filmmakers' work. New aspects of this fourth edition include a vital new chapter titled "Making Your First Film," and a considerable enlargement of the section for producers, "Staying Alive," which includes an extensive discussion of financing, marketing, festivals, and distribution. This new edition offers a revised chapter on nonlinear editing, more examples of precise and exacting proposals, and the addition of a complex budget example with explanation of the budgeting process. Discussion of documentary hybrids, with suggestions for mastering changes and challenges, has also been expanded, while the "Family Films" chapter includes updated information that addresses rapid expansion in this genre.