Some misguided directors think the message of “see how awful it is” will spur audiences into actionable awareness. But viewers can get paralyzed by bad news.

Thankfully, when co-producers Shannon and Patricio Cohn asked me for a story consultation, they already had a name for this problem: “suffering fatigue”.

Below the Belt ( to be released in 2022) is a well-directed, verite-style documentary. It follows four women seeking treatment for endometriosis, a painful uterine condition. 

In Act Three of their film, there’s a glimmer of hope when one protagonist goes to Washington to meet  Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D) and  Sen. Jesse Helms (R), whose grand-daughter suffers from endometriosis. It’s an inspiring scene: the senators work in a bi-partisan way to help to fund medical research.

But how could we keep viewers watching through the first two acts when the characters were suffering so relentlessly?

Shannon had also identified another problem: test audiences complained of “information overload”.  And she had lost perspective about which parts were essential. How could we simplify the exposition without cutting the important stuff?

Listen in as we solve these wicked problems!

EPISODE 3 TAKEAWAYS

• Three ways to mitigate “suffering fatigue”
• Cull information overload
• Overestimating viewer comprehension
• Bring clarity to confusing sections
• Use title cards to set the stakes – What’s to win? What’s to lose?
• Importance of solution-oriented endings

QUOTABLES

“Ideally the film’s intro gives viewers a birds-eye glimpse of the journey they’re about to take.”

-       Karen Everett, Story Consultant

“Shannon may be resisting ‘spelling out’ a solution. But it's important for a documentary to connect the dots and point a way out of suffering.”

-       Karen Everett, Story Consultant

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

Film trailer and website 

Director’s Bio

New Doc Editing, LLC

Karen Everett IMDb

A Quick Intro to Integral Theory

PERMISSIONS

Permission to use the content of this podcast is provided by Shannon Cohn, Producer/Director of Below the Belt.

Music provided by award-winning composers Gunnard Doboze and William Ryan Fritch.

BIO

Karen Everett is one of the world’s leading documentary story consultants. Her business New Doc Editing helps filmmakers structure and edit compelling films. Karen taught editing for 18 years at the #1-ranked U.S. documentary program, at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism.