Make a Documentary from Scratch

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Taught by David Sauvage

David Sauvage is an award-winning documentary director and hardscrabble producer. He has produced several projects from scratch: everything from carrying the tripod to negotiating television agreements. He recently completed “Soundcheck,” a film about the new band of music legend Bill Laswell. His previous film, "Carissa," was Executive Produced by Davis Guggenheim, director of "An Inconvenient Truth" and sponsored by Virgin Mobile. After winning multiple jury prizes, it was licensed to Current TV. David has a BA from Columbia University and an MBA -- yes, a master's in business -- from UCLA.

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In the first session, we're going to cover PITCHING and FINANCING. Pitching means distilling your idea into something that gets people excited about it. Financing means finding the money. I will share my experience reaching out to individuals and corporations. I will also touch briefly on crowdfunding and grants. My goal for the first session is to inspire you to GET STARTED.

In the second session, we're going to cover MAKING THE FILM. This means PRODUCTION and POST-PRODUCTION. I'll go through the basics of shooting a documentary from the most practical perspective. What equipment do you really need? How do you hire and manage a crew? Most importantly, how do you handle your subjects? How does editing work? What about music, color correction, sound design? What do I need to worry about?

In both sessions, we'll do plenty of Q&A. Random, specific questions are welcome. I want to help you get your project off the ground.

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