Documentary First: Conversations on Documentary Filmmaking

Creating a film is exhausting. Is it even possible to take a break when you're in the midst of creating a feature-length documentary? And what do you do when you want to finish the film, but don't have the money to pay the editor and other team members to get the work done? In this episode, Christian Taylor, director of The Girl Who Wore Freedom, shares the struggle through fatigue and satisfying rewards that shine through it.

Getting any kind of feedback is hard. If the feedback is only positive, you worry that they're just trying to make you feel good and not being authentic. But it's also really difficult to receive negative feedback! In this episode, podcast host Josh Lindsey and director Christian Taylor talk about how the Chicago focus group event went and how real-world feedback has influenced the development of the film.

In this episode, host of the podcast Josh Lindsey asks director Christian Taylor a series of questions to better understand what went on at the Normandy focus group screening of The Girl Who Wore Freedom. We'll hear about things she would have done differently and hear about some emotional and impactful moments.

Social media is an important part of promoting any project, but particularly films. In this episode, we meet Anne Evans, our first social media lead and sister of Director Christian Taylor. Anne shares how she got started in this role and dissect her plan for raising money for The Girl Who Wore Freedom.

What does it take to run a focus group screening? In this episode, Director Christian Taylor shares how the eleven screenings were planned for Normandy to gather feedback from the five-hundred people who have seen the film.

Director Christian Taylor is in France preparing to screen the film, but the drive doesn't work. In this episode, we celebrate the first focus group event of The Girl Who Wore Freedom in Normandy, France, discuss the struggle to make it a reality, and share first impressions.

In this episode, Director Christian Taylor shares an update after visiting Mississippi and screening for veterans with dramatically moving results. Because we've been so busy with that, we're also reairing Episode 2 of the Documentary First podcast in lieu of a new episode. Check out normandystories.com for the latest information about our film.

In this episode, Director Christian Taylor shares an update after running a focus group for The Girl Who Wore Freedom in Normandy for D-Day Celebrations. Because we've been so busy with that, we're also reairing Episode 1 of the Documentary First podcast in lieu of a new episode. Check out normandystories.com for the latest information about our film.

Director Christian Taylor looks ahead to the next steps for “The Girl Who Wore Freedom” and speculates about what it will be like to watch the film at the first focus group events.

Working with footage and audiences that represent at least two distinct languages is no small task. Director Christian Taylor talks about the complexity of subtitling and her project’s tight turnaround for sound and score.