By London Documentary Network
5
44 ratings
The podcast currently has 10 episodes available.
In the episode we speak with award winning documentary filmmaker Sophie Robinson.
Sophie had great success with her first documentary feature film 'My Beautiful Broken Brain' in 2014, which was executive produced by David Lynch, nominated for an Emmy and bought by Netflix.
We chat with Sophie about what happened after the success of her first feature film and her recent journey setting up her own production company 'So&So Pictures'.
Hosted by Karoline Pelikan (@PelikanPictures) and Paul Hulligan (@paulhully).
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Episode guide:
00:39 - Introduction, Sophie's current projects
03:05 - Making ‘My Beautiful Broken Brain’
06:18 - Working with Netflix
09:06 - Why she started the company and ambitions for it
13:09 - Deciding the company name
15:00 - Promoting the company and why it’s led to more work
19:34 - Some advantages and disadvantages to being a company
23:56 - Using her success and company to give back, the importance of having a mentor
25:45 - The long term vision
26:36 - Top few tips when creating your own company
In this episode we meet with BAFTA award winning editor Joby Gee, who has been editing factual film and TV for over 30 years, on a wide variety of subjects. We speak with him to learn more about the process and challenges of editing feature length documentary films.
Hosted by Karoline Pelikan (@PelikanPictures) and Paul Hulligan (@paulhully).
In this episode we continue our conversation with professional filmmaker Thomas Meadmore, discussing his experience of successfully raising £40k through popular Crowdfunding platform Kickstarter to fund one of his latest feature documentary films titled The Cancer Conflict.
Hosted by Karoline Pelikan (@PelikanPictures) and Paul Hulligan (@paulhully).
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Episode guide:
01:10 - Synopsis of ‘The Cancer Conflict’ and it’s background
04:27 - Starting the project without funding (self financing)
05:52 - Deciding to crowdfund and approach
13:03 - Building your own niche audience, tactics
18:23 - Building the ‘machine’. Marketing tactics to gain followers and collect email addresses
35:26 - Launching the campaign, techniques
40:18 - Creating the Kickstarter ‘campaign page’
45:48 - Thoughts on its performance and response
49:27 - Managing ‘the dip’ (when people stop contributing)
52:28 - Reflections (was it worth it?) and top tips.
In this episode we visit VICE Media in London, where we speak with their award winning lead video editor Marta Velasquez to get practical advice on editing short form documentary films.
Hosted by Karoline Pelikan (@PelikanPictures) and Paul Hulligan (@paulhully).
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Episode guide:
00:52 - Marta's editing journey
03:04 - Opening with impact – The first shot is the most important
04:46 - The narrative structure in short docs
05:40 - The ethics of editing - taking care of your contributors
07:05 - The editing process
12:46 - Tips for the editing work
14:30 - The first rough cut screening
18:55 - Preparing the film for post production
22:00 - Top 3 Tips for editors
25:03 - Changing male structures: having diverse film teams
26:30 - How do you get a job at VICE?
In this episode we speak with professional filmmaker Thomas Meadmore about his experience being a character in his first feature length documentary film titled How to lose jobs and alienate girlfriends which was rated 4 out of 5 stars by Total Film.
In this film Tom choses to follow his girlfriend and boss as they chase their dreams to become professional musicians. He finds that his own insecurities flare while struggling to find a story, and begins challenging their flaws, on camera, jeopardising the film, his relationships and career.
Hosted by Karoline Pelikan (@PelikanPictures) and Paul Hulligan (@paulhully).
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Episode guide:
00:52 - Introductions
03:00 - Synopsis of the film and process
09:29 - Where it went wrong
11:05 - Intentions for the film
12:23 - What he would do differently
16:06 - The turning point; realising he should be the central figure in the film
20:21 - The general reaction to him being the central character of his own film
22:35 - What it’s like editing yourself
29:40 - Advice for anyone who might make themselves part of the story
34:41 - How close friends, family and professional critics reacted to the film
40:43 - Doing the right thing by your contributors
In this episode we’re back at two time Oscar nominated documentary film production company Spring Films.
We meet again with their Head of Global Development Figs Jackman, this time to discuss the distribution process for documentary films.
Hosted by Karoline Pelikan (@PelikanPictures) and Paul Hulligan (@paulhully).
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Episode guide:
01:44 - The difference between commission, acquisition and distribution
06:55 - What is distribution
10:24 - How the film is sold, working with distributors
14:48 - The importance of achieving the ‘deliverables’ for distribution
19:35 - Getting a meeting with a distributor
27:22 - The dream sale
27:40 - The value of festivals
31:14 - The importance of promoting your film via social media
34:17 - The importance of production stills and creating the marketing package
36:36 - Types of distributors
37:33 - Pairing up with production company to get it distributed
40:09 - Self distribution, platforms, advice
53:49 - Why Spring Films use distributors
58:19 - How much money can be made from traditional distribution
01:02:47 - Top 3 tips for getting your film distributed
We visit two time Oscar nominated documentary film production company Spring Films.
This is the first of two conversations we have with their Head of global development Figs Jackman about commissioning documentary films.
Hosted by Karoline Pelikan (@PelikanPictures) and Paul Hulligan (@paulhully).
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Episode guide:
00:32 - Introductions
01:14 - Getting to know Fig's: backstory, advice and current role at Spring Films
08:36 - Identifying your audience and who you are going to sell it to
14:34 - What makes a good story
17:22 - Selling foreign films
19:23 - The economic realities of funding a film
21:41 - The first step, creating a teaser and package
23:46 - The importance of being flexible, having a realistic budget and an impactful teaser
26:31 - Creating a teaser before you’ve filmed anything
30:42 - What Spring Films look for when being pitched to
33:39 - More about funding your film
38:16 - Pushing the package: sales agents, pitching and getting meetings, UK and US
44:55 - The importance of compromising on your idea for the film
46:23 - Promoting your film via festivals
48:30 - The importance of self publicity / ‘social media’
50:56 - Final advice and tips for getting your film commissioned
54:49 - The best way to approach Spring Films
In this episode we visit Spring Films who are a twice Oscar nominated London based independent production company, specialising in international co-productions and factual programming for television and cinema.
We speak with their Managing Director and executive producer Richard Melman to learn about how Spring Films operate and what the opportunity is for independent filmmakers to work with them.
Hosted by Karoline Pelikan (@PelikanPictures) and Paul Hulligan (@paulhully).
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Episode guide:
00:57 - Introduction
02:58 - The evolution of Spring Films
08:05 - The type of films they make and films they’ve recently made
12:47 - How they operate
16:31 - How they decide a story is worth transforming into a film
19:00 - advice on getting the films commissioned
23:12 - Supporting and working with independent filmmakers
26:47 - How to approach and sell your film project to Spring Films
35:16 - Whats happens when they agree to work with you, the process
39:32 - What to prepare before approaching them
44:23 - How they try to attract independent filmmakers to approach them and more about how to approach them
45:45 - What they are looking for from an independent filmmaker
46.22 - An example of how they've worked with independent filmmakers (Cool Daddio: The Second Youth of R. Stevie Moore (2019))
50:24 - Advice for independent filmmakers and people wanting to work in the industry
In this episode we’re back with ‘the story consultant’ Nic Guttridge to learn more about the art of storytelling - deconstructing the successful Netflix original documentary feature film Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened.
Hosted by Karoline Pelikan (@PelikanPictures) and Paul Hulligan (@paulhully).
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Episode guide:
02:50 - The story of "Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened"
05:40 - What kind of documentary is Fyre?
10:33 - Opening with impact
14:21 - The story arch: heading to disaster
22:33 - A successful film has to grab the audience
28:14 - The hero's journey – applicable to Fyre?
35:00 - A film about Billy McFarland - without Billy McFarland?
37:29 - Core message and theme
40:16 - How important is a film's title?
44:03 - The climax
49:36 - Breaking down the long second act
54:59 - Lessons we can learn from this film
We speak with BAFTA nominated executive producer and professional story consultant Nic Guttridge about how to craft the documentary story.
Hosted by Karoline Pelikan (@PelikanPictures) and Paul Hulligan (@paulhully).
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Episode guide:
00:36 - Introduction
01:26 - What a ‘story consultant’ is, and who hires one
03:25 - Favourite story that he’s worked on
06:07 - Shaping a story that’s unfolding naturally / in real time
08:12 - The importance of following your instincts
12:45 - Mapping the story
16:45 - How does a typical ‘story arc’ work
18:05 - What if there is no arc - adding layers to the story
22:36 - Putting yourself in the film
24:20 - The importance of bringing others into the creative process
26:05 - What is a storyline, synopsis, treatment (the pitch) - examples
31:56 - How to avoid losing site of the story
32:28 - Practical advice for planning the story
33:43 - Scripting the film
35:05 - Plotting the arc
36:11 - How do you sell a foreign story
38:19 - Nic’s top crafting the story tips
45:50 - How you can find Nic ‘the story consultant’
The podcast currently has 10 episodes available.