The Mentoring Room - Ask the Working Pros

Hi there

Im in the process of coordinating a long distance endurance event in
Africa raising money for HIV/AIDS orphans in Africa. I am looking at
approaching documentary production companies to film the event.
However, I am unfamiliar with documentary companies and am looking
for advice on who to approach. In particular i need to approach a
company with expertise in sports, social issues and simultaneously
capture the beauty of Africa.. anyone with suggestions pls help! thanks

Deirdre, do you have the option to dub from your new Panasonic camera
into the editing system? I wouldn't use Panasonic tapes in a Sony
deck. Not sure about using Sony tapes in a Panasonic camera, but I
am sure somebody around here will pipe up about that soon.

Didi, I highly recommend you contact David Jammy or Harriet Gavshon
at Curious Pictures in Johannesburg. They're considered the top doc
producers in SA and are great to work with. Please say hi from me:

http://www.curious.co.za/

Thanks so much Doug, i will do so.

Didi

Ask Don Edkins of Day Zero in Cape Town. He produced "Steps for the
Future", a series of films about life in Southern Africa in the
presence of HIV/AIDS.

http://dayzero.co.za/steps/

Thanks Ben, I will do so as well. Thanks for all the help, really
appreciate it.

Didi

I'm nearing the end of my production of my first documentary. And
I'm looking into clearing some songs to include in the festival
release. I'd like to get a Guster song (smaller band on the Warner
label) and I'd like the rights to cover a Talking Heads song, not
one of their big hits. (I've already got a band working on it.)

Does anybody have any experience doing this? I've read that it's
very diffucult to do, and it's easier to go through a music
clearance company. Does anybody have any advice on how to go about
this? Any music clearance company recommendations? Any guess at
how much this will cost me? I've got an extremely small budget.

Thanks guys.

ross, it's tricky stuff and i'd consult an entertainment lawyer. most
do a free consult with the first call. a d-word member, denise ohio,
wrote a good article about music clearances:
http://www.holytoledo.com/clear_music.htm

Thanks Doug, this was the sort of site I've been looking for but
have been unable to find. And now that I've read it, man... what a
pain in the ass.

you mean you thought making docs was EASY???

Never thought it was easy. But I enjoy the creative part of it.
This legal stuff makes my mind go numb. It's something I'm doing
completely on my own. So I'm just taking it kind of slow, learning
as I go, making sure I get it right the first time. Next time
around it'll be easier cause I'll have much better idea of what I'm
doing. And hopefully I'll have some partners to help me out.

Ross: From the website of entertainment lawyer Mark Litwak:
http://www.marklitwak.com/faq/music.html. Do a search on his home
page for "music" and you might get some other answers. Good luck!

Hi,

Can any Pros help point me into the right direction?

I'm planning out (writing script, gathering resources, etc.) a
documentary/drama and am interested in finding resources on what you
can / can't include in documentaries from existing works, and how to
go about purchasing licenses for copyrighted works. For example: How
do you include a news clip about current news? How do you get the
rights to include a clip from an old John Wayne movie, etc.

Thanks in advance for the help!

Cliff

Cliff: It's a tricky area. You're wise to tread carefully. There's a
concept of "fair use" which says you can use *limited* copyrighted
material, if certain conditions are met, in a new work. Those
conditions include how big a percentage the copyrighted stuff will
be in the new project, how the use will affect the market for the
material you include and whether you're likely to make any money off
of the new work (as a doc maker, the answer to that last question is
probably "no").

It is a grey area. Your best bet is to hire an attorney who's
familiar with the subject. Lawyers for the Creative Arts does pro-
bono work, I believe. Other than that, check the U.S. Copyright
Office's page on fair use (http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html),
the Cornell Law School page
(http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode17/usc_sec_17_00000107
----000-.html) or see if entertainment lawyer Mark Litwak has
information on his site (http://www.marklitwak.com/resources/). As
the Copyright Office says, your safest bet is to get the OK from the
copyright owner, which generally isn't hard if it's a local station.
A John Wayne movie would be tougher.

Thanks. I'll check down those avenues and see how much public
domain / original stuff I can use.

Any resources for licensing music that you would recommend? I would
like to use a Louis Armstrong song in the opening credits. Is there a
central company that can get this license or do I have to go directly
to whoever currently owns the rights to it?

Cliff

BMI and ASCAP are the biggies. I'll bet they have websites.

Hello, I`m planning on starting a wildlife documentaries producing
company, have several ideas quite advanced, and I am now facing the
more costly (in money terms) part of the project which is buying the
initial camera and sound equipment. I`m on a tight budget, looking
for a reasonably priced camera which is "professional" enough to
achieve high quality images. My inmediate target is local TV, which
is not that quality-demanding (I`m from Uruguay, SAM), but I don`t
want to throw away my chances of going international through
cable/satellite TV just because I use lower end equipment.

I been going through the Canon XL1S and the Sony PD 150 and VX2000
models. Do you think they are enough? Do you think I could be fine
with less than that? Which camera equipment do the big ones (BBC,
Discovery Channel, NatGeo) use?

Any guidelines will be greatly appreciated, cheers

ok i should post here i guess..
im working on my thesis on Pennebakers Monterey Pop(1968) anyone
any advice??any links, books on direct cinema or even the film
itself(im too optimistic i know..) thx in advance!!
maria

Maria, there's this thing called Google...

Hello,

A two part question:

I've been searching out archived news clips (mostly local) and feel
like there's more out there than I find. I've tried: Lexis Nexis,
Vanderbilt, Google (of course), and searching engines on each local
news station. Any other places come to mind?

For acquiring the footage: I'm looking for two local news segments
from 2003 (Pittsburgh WTAE, Cleveland WKYC) and I've tried the
stations (won't release them) Multivision, and an assortment of
local archive houses. Any other ideas? Anyone know of any ways (by
hook or by crook) to get the stations to hand them over? I know
that this must be a common problem for doc film makers.

Much thanks in advance, -Jon and the Resurrect Dead film crew

Jon, what's their reason for not releasing the clips? Money?
Privacy? Too lazy to dub them? Is there an organization that studies
your subject and might have clips or access to them? If you're
talking about the crop-circle project, how about the Coast to Coast
radio show which looks into a lot of mysterious phenomena?

Hello, we are considering producing a feature length doc that
utilizes dramatic Alaskan landscapes and wildlife as major
characters. We are novices and so don't think we can go with film
and instead think HD will be more realistic. Are there different
types of HD? What is a good example of a doc or program recently
shot on high-end HD?

I don't mean to be disrespectful, Joshua, but if you're novices, can
you afford HD shooting and editing? I haven't worked in that medium
and will defer to people who have, but I know it's high-end stuff.
So I don't seem to be just a naysayer, here's a place for info. on
HD: http://www.hdnnc.org/index.php. It's a group that promotes the
use of HD. You might get some answers there.

No worries about disrespect. We've made one 50-minute doc, shot on
location in China, Montana, Seattle on widescreen digital beta. It's
had a good amount of success at the second-tier festivals and we are
currently looking at broadcast deals. We still think we are novices,
but have an opportunity, story and some connections to make a leap
into the feature-length doc world. From what little we know about
HD, it seems a great option for capturing the details of vast
landscapes and wildlife. Maybe not for interviews or indoor footage,
though. Thanks for the info!

Hello. I forgot my user info last fall, and am finally back.

I was/am making a documentary about an Iraq War veteran, and am in the post-
production stages. I was curious, as I was sent here last fall for a discussion, lost my login
info (and my job, moved, etc.), and am now back.

At the time, I asked a bit about grants and producers. I've been turned down by a few
grants, mostly because I suppose this is the *wrong* time to be making a film about a
veteran, given the timeliness and the vastness of films about this subject. Oh well.

I've self-financed this project from beginning to end and have spent under $1000. I have
no distribution or festival plan, and work most of my time so I am unable to edit as I'd
like. I know this sounds, well, like alot of other filmmakers doing the same thing. But I
was wondering if there might be a few pointers someone would consider offering. I have
no experience or helpful people around me regarding this, even though I know
filmmakers who have found distribution. When I ask them, I get a cold shoulder or my
question ignored, as if they're protecting their precious resources.

I've tried some local fundraising, and haven't found any organizations or individuals
willing to put any financial backing. I've offered clips and a small edit (like 20 minutes)
and nothing still. I don't hope to change minds about the war and refuse this idea of fair
and balanced reporting about the war, because this project isn't about that at all. Could it
be that, given how most feel about the war, that putting money behind a project with this
subject matter is considered fruitless, given most disagree with the war and my subject as
well?

Sorry for the ramble, but I've about given up finding any funding at all, or a producer. At
this point should I do everything myself?