Documentary Storytelling

Still from TOWNSHIP TO THE STAGE


One of the great challenges every year is finding documentaries that fulfill our expectations of great narrative storytelling. Real life is very rarely interesting; it takes a great documentarian to take hours and hours of footage and turn them into a cohesive and compelling story. Whether you're interested in tackling your own documentary project or simply opening a door into another person's life, we've got the schedule for you.

BY DAY

SATURDAY 10/22
9:00am–10:15am
Independent Filmmaking: Getting Started
Stephen F. Austin Hotel, Assembly Room
You have a great script that you want to turn into a film. What should your next step be? And the 10 steps after that? Join a conversation with three filmmakers who share their independent filmmaking experiences. This panel will offer the motivation you need to bite the bullet and will cover the basics and overlooked hurdles first-time filmmakers often encounter when making their films.
Jeremiah Jones, Eric Schaeffer, Ya’Ke Smith
Moderated Chet Garner

10:45am–12:00pm
Independent Filmmaking: Budget and Funding Sources
Stephen F. Austin Hotel, Assembly Room
Anyone can get their hands on a video camera these days, but that doesn’t mean you won’t still need a budget and an overall plan. Micro-budget and low budget films (under $50,000) require some creative strategies to be successful. This panel will cover formulating and determining a budget that can serve as an outline for your production and impress potential investors (hint: don’t forget music licensing, festival fees, and travel and marketing costs!). In addition, the panel will offer ideas on how to raise and save money, including in-kind support, donations, tax breaks and incentives, grants and foundation support, fundraisers, and crowdsourcing.
Noel Paynter, Stu Pollard, Susan Kirr
Moderated by Jason Wehling


12:30pm-3:30pm
Independent Filmmaking: Pre-Production and Production
Stephen F. Austin Hotel, Assembly Room
This session will cover the nuts and bolts of starting production on your feature film, beginning with organizing a detailed plan to implement your idea and achieve your goal. From here, the panelists will walk you through all the legal stuff you need to know— crew agreements, releases, libel, privacy, right of publicity, copyright and trademark, music licensing, and more. They will also discuss the arts of identifying essential crew needs and the resources to find them; determining locations and equipment needs; creating a shooting schedule; preparing for a typical day of production; starting your marketing campaign (yes, now); working with your editor (yes, also now); and tips on how to have a successful production, stay on schedule, and keep your crew intact and positive (hint: food).
Kat Candler, Martin Guigui, Scott Meyers, Bryan Poyser, Eric Weissman
Moderated by Tom Copeland

3:45pm–5:00pm
Independent Filmmaking: Post-Production
Stephen F. Austin Hotel, Assembly Room
This panel will cover the various elements of post-production for your film—editing (whether editing your own film or working with a hired editor), color correction, post-sound editing (cleaning and mixing), scoring, etc. It will also include information on finding and working with good, affordable people; putting together your trailer; and tricks for achieving high production value on a limited budget.
Mark Coffey, Eric Friend, Melissa Shea, Marcus van Bavel
Moderated by Alan Berg

SUNDAY 10/23
1:15pm–3:15pm
Documentaries 101
Driskill Hotel, Hogg Parlor
Join these notable documentary filmmakers as they walk you thorough the production steps of a documentary feature. From an inventive idea to a marketable trailer to the time you’ll need to spend filming and editing, these experts will relate their own experiences and offer insight on how to maintain control of your concept while staying true to your real-life subject.
Karen Bernstein, Vince Clemente, Henry Corra, Vanessa Roth, Michael Urie
Moderated by Paul Stekler

BY NIGHT

Ecstasy of Order: The Tetris Masters (USA , 92min)
Director: Adam Cornelius
WORLD PREMIERE
Tetris. We've all played it. It may have been decades ago or today on the latest smart phone. But everyone has spent time rotating the pieces, dropping them in place, or despairing over that piece that just won't fit. But what about the people who've truly mastered Tetris? Are they out there; great champions who've dedicated their minds to solving these intricate puzzles?' Ecstasy of Order tracks down such a group of record-holding Tetris players as they prepare to compete in the 2010 Classic Tetris World Championship. The film gives us an intimate look at the Masters as they reveal their secrets, recount their decade-long obsessions with the game, and take us to the transcendental state required to reach the highest levels known as the 'Ecstasy of Order'.

One Night Stand (USA , 74min)
Director: Elisabeth Sperling, Trish Dalton
REGIONAL PREMIERE
It takes a lot of creativity, hard work, and talent to put together a musical. But is it possible to do this in under 24 hours? One Night Stand is a funny, intimate, behind-the-scenes documentary following top Broadway and television writers, actors, and directors as they invent four short musicals, from the blank page to the live stage, all within 24 hours. It's A Chorus Line meets Project Runway-- a window into the creative process intensified by a tight deadline: the spark, the camaraderie, the sheer panic, and the ultimate thrill of expression. Cheyenne Jackson, Rachel Dratch, and Richard Kind among many other talented actors, composers and directors come together one night to unleash their creative minds and talents in One Night Stand.

Township to the Stage (USA, 85min.)
Director: David Meyer
WORLD PREMIERE
In South Africa 's emerging world of stand-up comedy, comedians of color have only recently started performing on stage. With the opportunity to finally command the attention of a large audience, they go beyond just settling for easy laughs and confront the legacy of apartheid head on in their material. Against the backdrop of this volatile environment, twenty-five year old Trevor Noah attempts his first one-man show, despite his lack of experience performing on stage. Revisiting his past, he creates material from memories of growing up in the township under apartheid. Yet as he prepares, Trevor faces a multitude of challenges: an underdeveloped comedy scene, criticism from other comics, strained personal relationships, lingering racial tension, and a shocking family tragedy. They combine to form a crisis that threatens not just the success of the show, but Trevor's dreams of lifting himself and the South African comedy scene to the global stage.


Thank You For Judging (USA , 91min.)
Directors: Michael Urie, Sean Fornara, Selma Al-Faqih, Travis Flournoy
WORLD PREMIERE
In the spirit of Spellbound and American Teen, actor Michael Urie returns to his former High School to document a unique form of speech competition referred to as oral interpretation. Thank You For Judging tracks a group of teens with determined hearts and minds, not to mention talent, as they train and compete in hopes of winning first place at theTexas State Finals Tournament in Plano, Texas. Each year, the best from across the state come to be judged. Join Urie as he follows this young, passionate group of teens on a quest for more than just a trophy, but for a way to express themselves. Thank You for Judging is inspiring in how it gently reminders us of how commonplace events can be immeasurably influential in developing character and instilling values in today's youth.

When Dreams Take Flight (Canada, 54min)
Writer/Director: Sheona McDonald
WORLD PREMIERE
Through a series of fascinating stories about brilliant, obsessed and often courageous characters, spanning six centuries and two continents, When Dreams Take Flight explores the genesis, myth and reality of why humans are compelled to fly like birds and what six hundred years of failed experiments have taught us. But one man is determined to make it happen. Todd Reichert is a determined student at the University of Toronto who is set on building and flying the first human-propelled ornithopter. He and a small team workout diligently to accomplish what Da Vinci only dreamt of - pilot a human powered flying machine. If successful, this small group of Canadians will have a place in the aviation history books. This exciting film begins with the myth of Icarus, then travels through the dreams of DaVinci before moving into the 19th century with pioneers like Otto Lilienthal and Alexander Lippisch and finally landing with modern day characters like Yves Rousseau. When Dreams Take Flight is a film about dreams and dreamers, a film about people who are willing to risk life and limb to follow their hearts and chase a dream that has existed since the dawn of man.

Darwin (Switzerland , 98 min)
Writer: Taylor Segrest
Director: Nick Brandestini
REGIONAL PREMIERE
Darwin is an isolated community at the end of a weathered road in Death Valley , California with a population of 35 people . Propelled from society by tragic turns, the people of Darwin must now find ways to coexist in a place without a government, a church, jobs, or children. This near-ghost town's survival depends on a fragile, gravity-fed waterline that descends from the mountains where top-secret weapons are being tested. One 'accidental' drop of a bomb, they half-joke, could wipe out their entire town. Come and meet the people of Darwin.

Stories From An Undeclared War (USA , 82 min)
Director: Dennis Rice
REGIONAL PREMIERE
Stories from an Undeclared War is a feature-length documentary about The Freedom Writers Diary, a collection of journal entries written by 150 'at-risk' students from Long Beach , California who were once considered 'unteachable.' Encouraged by teacher Erin Gruwell and inspired by the writings of Anne Frank, the students discovered a new way to express themselves and began to care more about history, humanity, and perhaps most importantly, their futures. This new documentary follows their story from the first day of Freshman Year in 1994 to the present day. Containing intimate accounts from the students of Woodrow Wilson Hight School's Room 203, Stories from and Undeclared War exposes the truth behind this extraordinarily inspiring story.

Goold’s Gold (USA , 90 min)
Director: Tucker Capps, Ryan Sevy
REGIONAL PREMIERE
Jonathan Goold has discovered gold! Or so he thinks. Convinced that there's gold hidden in the recently exposed hills of the Alaskan wilderness due to the melting glaciers of global warming, Goold sets in motion events to find his treasure. With heart, a reckless adventurous spirit, and a group of supportive pals, Goold sets out on a quest to find gold. Set against the backdrop of the breathtaking Alaskan wilderness, Goold's Gold is an offbeat global warming adventure that takes us on a journey not only for gold, but one of self-discovery, friendships, and of course, hidden treasure. Join Jonathan Goold as he hunts for gold where no man has ever set foot.

The Art of the Pitch by Max Adams

In anticipation of the bevy of AFF Pitch Sessions, VH-1 Pitch Sessions, High School Pitch sessions, bar pitches, standing in line at the theater pitches and, of course, the old - and sometimes effective - elevator pitches about to hit this city, we asked Max Adams to share some of her best tips on pitching. Read on and good luck!

The Art of the Pitch by Max Adams

Pitching is story telling. It is also, however, selling. And it is the "selling" part that makes people crazy. Perfectly normal people will go into a meeting to pitch, or pick up the phone to pitch, or be standing in an elevator or supermarket line and suddenly have the opportunity to pitch -- and choke. This is in part being nervous, thinking too much is riding on performing well. It is also an unfamiliarity with what needs to be said, which results in people being unsure of themselves and the bottom dropping out when they are in the hot seat.

Pitching really is not that hard if you simply think of it as story telling. Which is exactly what it is: You telling someone your story. And if you can relax, and just fall into what it is you like about your story -- and presumably you do like it, it is your story and if you do not like it who will? -- you can tell your story to anyone. All you have to do is put faith in the story and tell it.

That’s the story telling part. But there is that other part: The selling part.

There are several different types of pitch. One is the full on meeting pitch. That lasts anywhere from a half hour to forty-five minutes -- and less is better. One is the short one liner pitch. That’s what goes in query letters or what you spit out over the phone, essentially the premise statement. Another is a sort of in-between pitch, what you could call the elevator pitch. You’ve got one to three minutes from floor one to floor ten -- ready, get set, go!

We’re going to talk about the basic executive meeting pitch here. We will come back to the shorter pitches later on.

When you pitch an executive or a producer, he or she is going to have to be able to tell someone else the same story you just told him or her. And if it goes well, the person he or she tells the story to will tell it again, to someone higher up the ladder, and if it keeps going well, the story will slowly make it up the food chain in the studio system all the way to the president of the studio. And if the president of the studio likes it, and “gets” the “movie,” feels like this story is a movie, and a good one -- he or she can buy the pitch.

If he or she doesn’t feel like it is a movie, he or she won’t buy the pitch. And notice, to get to the president of the studio, the pitch had to go from your mouth through a sort of telephone game all the way up to the studio president, remaining more or less intact, and had to “feel” like a “movie” when it got there.

The difference between a pitch feeling like a movie as it goes from one person to the next, being told on its way up the food chain – or not feeling like a movie -- is whether or not you have included the necessary story elements in a pitch that a producer, and later an executive, and later still a studio head, needs to hear in a pitch. There are five elements that have to be there:

The Five Pitch Elements:

•Premise Statement
•Opening
•Characters
•Turning Points
•Climax

Premise Statement: A premise statement is, essentially, the title, the genre, the protagonist, the protagonist’s story goal, and story stakes if there are big stakes. For example, Jaws is an action drama about a sheriff who must hunt and kill a monster Great White shark that is terrorizing his small island community -- before the shark wipes his community off the map. Lord of the Rings is a fantasy action adventure about a hobbit who must transport an evil ring of power across the land and destroy it in the fiery pit is was forged in -- or the ring’s evil creator will plunge the hobbit’s world into darkness forever.

Premise statements are pretty easy if you remember the parts that go into them:

[Title] is a [Genre] about [Protagonist] who must [Protagonist’s Goal] or else [Stakes if Protagonist Fails].

That’s a plot driven action picture. There is another kind of story: The situational story. In a situational story, there are no big stakes if the protagonist fails, but there is a defined central problem for the protagonist in the story. Moonstruck is a situational story. Moonstruck is a romantic comedy about a woman who falls in love with her fiancé’s brother. Note the goal is not mentioned there. It could be. I could say Moonstruck is a romantic comedy about a woman determined to marry a safe man she does not love – there is a definite goal in Moonstruck. But that does not define the conflict in Moonstruck, which is the protagonist falls in love with her fiancé’s brother. Kind of a big problem if you are planning to get married to your fiancé.

The defining difference between a plot driven premise statement and a situation driven premise statement is, where is the conflict in the story? Generally, in a quiet character driven piece, it will be in the situation, whereas, in an action driven piece, it will be in the goal versus stakes.

Opening: The opening of a film is the first clue about the story world an audience is entering. Likewise, describing a script’s opening scene in a pitch visually sets the person who is hearing a pitch in the story world. Think about pitching Jaws. Who in their right mind wouldn’t set the stage with that opening in the pitch? Openings do not always have to be in the pitch, but they are a nice way to open a pitch and set a visual tone for the hearer. And if you’ve got a big cinematic opening – always a plus – use it.

Characters: Characters absolutely have to be in the pitch. Not every character in the story. You want to focus on the protagonist first, and then any important secondary characters in the story. And you don’t go into huge details, you just give someone enough information to get a handle on the character. This is a lot like a character’s introduction in the script. If I were introducing Marshal Gerard from the fugitive, I might give him almost verbatim the introduction he gets in The Fugitive. Buzz saw hair cut. Clothes that spell cop. Shoes that have been shined a million times – and still shine in spite of the miles on them. A cop without a single vice, and one who always gets his man.

Turning Points: Once you’ve introduced the central dilemma in the premise statement, set the stage with an opening scene, and segued into the most important characters in the piece, it is time to start turning the story. Turning points are points in the story in which there is a shift in power/story dynamics. For example, in Die Hard, John McClane is trapped in a high rise with bad guys – so he sets off the fire alarm. That’s a shift in power, help is on the way. But the bad guys disable the alarm and call off the fire department. Oops. Another shift in power, this time power has shifted to the bad guys.

You can think of turning points in terms of a good news/bad news joke. Good news, the fire department is coming. Bad news, the fire department isn’t coming. Good news [sticking with Die Hard], the police are coming. Bad news, the police are leaving. Good news, the police are staying. Bad news, the bad guys are kicking police ass.

Those are turning points. Good news, bad news, when power in the story shifts. You only want to use the big turning points. You wouldn’t, for example, if you were pitching Die Hard, describe every fight in the script. There are lots of fights. Telling them all would take two hours and you haven’t got two hours, with a full story pitch which is what I am defining here, you’ve got between half an hour and forty-five minutes so you have to use the big turning points that really drive the plot, and leave the rest out.

Climax: After you’ve beaten out the big story points for your listener – which are hopefully escalating and building up to a big pay off – you want to close your pitch with the big climax. In Moonstruck, this would be when the fiancé shows and says he can’t marry Loretta and Loretta is objecting, “A promise is a promise!,” while the brother is sitting there ready for a stand off with his brother and now agog the woman he loves is fighting over being set free to marry him. In Die Hard, it’s the big stand off with Hans Gruber who is holding the protagonist’s wife at gunpoint – only to get himself knocked out a window and try to take the protagonist and the wife with him when he falls.

Never close a film pitch without the big ending.

*Excerpted from The Art of the Pitch, a lecture series from Max Adams & The Academy of Film Writing, http://theafw.com

Thanks, Max!

Conference Intern Katherine Freeman's Schedule!

Hey guys! My name's Katherine Freeman and I'm a conference intern at the 2011 Austin Film Festival. I am currently a student at Southwestern University in Georgetown, TX pursuing a degree in English with a minor in film studies. I am an aspiring screenwriter and would love to be able to visit and watch all of the panels we have scheduled this year during our Conference (October 20-23). However, I'm an intern and there's much work to be done during the Festival so I won't have time to go see the panels I would like to.

If I wasn't working though, I would buy a Conference Badge so that I'd have unlimited access to all of the panels for the entire conference, entry into all eight days of festival screenings, along with many more benefits. The following would be my schedule:

Roundtable: The Creative Side
Complex Characters: A Conversation with Lawrence Kasdan
Comedy - The Hardest Genre?
The Art & Craft of Screenwriting
The Creative Career: What You Need to Know
Writing for Animation: The Writers’ Perspective
A Conversation with 2011 Outstanding Television Writer Awardee Hart Hanson
A Conversation with 2011 Extraordinary Contribution to Filmmaking Awardee John Lasseter
A Conversation with 2011 Distinguished Screenwriter Awardee Caroline Thompson
The Art of Storytelling with the 2011 Awardees
Script-to-Screen: Veronica Mars with Rob Thomas
Exclusive Staged Reading of “The Nice Guys”

The films I am most looking forward to are: EDWARD SCISSORHANDS, METROPOLITAN, BENEATH THE DARKNESS, SMALL AND CREEPY FILMS, ALBERT NOBBS, AMERICAN TEACHER, THE DESCENDENTS, JEFF WHO LIVES AT HOME, LET GO, SHAME, AND LOREN BOUCHARD AND JIM DAUTERIVE'S PILOT BOB'S BURGERS

Conference Intern Christina Burlison's Festival Schedule

Hello all! Meet me: Christina Burlison. I'm a screenwriter, a graduate from UT Austin's Graduate Screenwriting program and I'm currently interning with the Austin Film Festival, which I love, by the way.

This year, my feature YEAR OF THE COCK a romantic comedy about a heartbroken lesbian who wants to know what's so special about the opposite sex, made it to the second round in comedy. My pilot DREAM SCREEN, a police procedural about a man who dreams of murder 48 hours before it occurs made it to the Second Round also.

If I weren't a Second Rounder, and didn't have the opportunity to attend all the Second Rounder panels, my schedule would include:


A Conversation with Alec Berg
Roundtable: The Creative Side
Roundtable: The Business Side
Raising Stakes, Reversals, and Payoffs: A Conversation with Shane Black
A Shot of Inspiration
Script-to-Screen: FIGHT CLUB with Jim Uhls
Roundtable: Television
In the TV Writers' Room
A Conversation with 2011 Distinguished Screenwriter Awardee Caroline Thompson
The Art of Storytelling with the 2011 Awardees


The films I am most excited to attend include: BUTTER, THE DESCENDENTS, DESPICABLE DICK AND RIGHTEOUS RICHARD, EDWARD SCISSORHANDS, JEFF WHO LIVES AT HOME, THE RUM DIARY, and Kyle Killen's Pilot "Awake."

What are you going to attend?