Calendar – Past Event

Join fellow documentary filmmakers for a two-day event held inside the loop at Chicago's premier filmmaking institution, Colombia College. Each day details cutting edge and contemporary documentary filmmaking techniques, strategies and success stories, from conception through to completion.

DATE: APRIL 21st and 22nd (Saturday/Sunday, 9.00am to 6.00pm)
VENUE: Film Row Cinema at Columbia College Chicago, Chicago. U.S.A.
PRICE: $149.00 (Early Bird: $99 until March 16th, 2012).

The Documentary Summit is led by Los Angeles based filmmaker and author of THE DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKERS HANDBOOK, Andrew Zinnes. He will be joined by a group of distinguished industry guest speakers covering all aspects of documentary filmmaking in 2012 and beyond.

Click here for a full list of speakers.

Documentaries are often pioneered by a single person, or a partnership. That’s great as doc teams need to be lean and dynamic. But making a documentary requires such a broad and diverse skill set that very few people can cover all the bases. There are always blind spots and weaknesses in your plan.

And that’s where we come in.

THE DOCUMENTARY SUMMIT will take you through EVERY step of the process, discussing the more important aspects with our visiting industry experts.

You will…

• Learn how to turn your good idea into a worldclass killer proposition.
• Go through the whole process, step by step.
• Documentaries are not facts, they are truths, and therefore stories, so we will teach you about story structure.
• Figure out the best technology for your documentary, camera, editing, sound.
• Find out where to get crew and partners.
• Get your legal questions answered and leave with form contracts and releases, the paperwork you need.
• Learn what attracts broadcasters to invest in your film, or buy it.
• How to bypass traditional routes to funding and distribution (and why you should)
• How to get your film into cinemas and on TV
• What to do next, this is a career!