Scripting and Pitching Your Documentary
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About this Self-Paced Course
Think documentaries don't need a script? Think again.
In this self-paced course, award-winning documentary filmmaker Mark Monroe guides you through the writing process for a documentary feature film. Monroe has writing credits on more than 60 documentary projects, including:
- Jim Henson: Idea Man (2024 Emmy Award winner)
- Lucy and Desi (2022 Emmy Award winner)
- Icarus (2017 Academy Award winner)
- Chasing Ice (2012 Academy Award nominee)
- The Cove (2010 Academy Award winner)
In this four-week course, Monroe reveals the strategic art of shaping hundreds of hours of raw footage into compelling cinema. This course builds upon a previous Sundance Collab Master Class and features exclusive insights and conversations with established documentary storytellers Morgan Neville (Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, Piece By Piece), Geeta Gandbhir (The Perfect Neighbor), and Kavery Kaul (The Bengali).
Participants will learn Monroe’s secrets in mastering:
- Narrative Architecture: How to structure suspense, emotion, and momentum, no matter the genre.
- Collaboration: His exact methods for collaborating with directors and editors to serve the story.
- Character Creation: The process for forging audience connection by defining the heroes and antagonists of true events.
In this course, you will learn:
- The work of a documentary writer.
- Additional creative roles in documentaries, and when a writer is needed.
- How to approach writing documentaries using a narrative approach.
- The importance of treatments, story maps, timelines, and interview preparation.
- Tips for working with directors and editors.
- An illustration of key concepts through Monroe’s films The Cove, Fantastic Fungi, The Biggest Little Farm, Icarus, Dogtown, Z-Boys, and Eight Days a Week.
Who this course is for: This course is ideal for aspiring and established documentary filmmakers looking to shape the story of their next project.
Additional Benefits: Your enrollment includes a workbook and access to several additional videos from Sundance Collab's Video Library.
Live Interaction and Support:
- Weekly Group Office Hours: Join our live online sessions with a Sundance Collab Advisor. This is your opportunity to ask questions, discuss challenges, and get real-time feedback in a supportive group environment.
- 1-on-1 Sessions (Additional $150): For more personalized support, you can book a 60-minute, 1-on-1 meeting with another Sundance Collab Advisor to receive guidance on your documentary project.
Sundance Collab provides accommodations and support services to participants with disabilities. Accommodations and services are designed to meet the needs of each participant. Please email us at accessibility@sundance.org to arrange for services.
Self-Paced CourseOutline
Topics covered include:
- Course Overview
- Creating the Narrative
- Finding Your Story Engine
- Q&A on The Writing Process
Topics covered include:
- Communicating Your Story
- Working with Directors and Editors
- Creating Your Artistic Process
Topics covered include:
- Character-Driven Storytelling
- Interview Techniques
- Refining Your Story in Post-Production
Topics covered include:
- Pitching Your Documentary
- Next Steps in Your Documentary Filmmaking Journey
Team
Mark Monroe
Instructor
Writer, director, producer, and co-founder of Diamond Docs, Mark Monroe is a two-time EMMY winner, three-time WGA award winner, and BAFTA nominee, whose credits include ICARUS and THE COVE, which both won the Academy Award for Best Documentary. Other notable credits include JIM HENSON IDEA MAN with Ron Howard, Grammy winner THE BEATLES: EIGHT DAYS A WEEK with Ron Howard, Peabody nominee LUCY AND DESI with Amy Poehler, THE BEE GEES: HOW CAN YOU MEND A BROKEN HEART with Frank Marshall, PAVAROTTI with Ron Howard, BECOMING COUSTEAU with Liz Garbus, BEFORE THE FLOOD with Leonardo DiCaprio, THE DISSIDENT with Bryan Fogel, WATCH THE SOUND with Mark Ronson & Morgan Neville, and TALES FROM THE TOUR BUS with Mike Judge. A journalism graduate from the University of Oklahoma, Mark began his career as a writer for CNN.
Xan Aranda
Advisor
Xan Aranda is an Emmy-nominated filmmaker who builds international storytelling and production teams all over the world. She worked on AppleTV’s OMNIVORE, directed by Cary Fukunaga, served as showrunner and Co-Executive Producer of Netflix’s MY LOVE, and is an Executive Producer of HBO’s ROOM 104. Xan co-produced BLUE JAY starring Sarah Paulson. Her directorial debut ANDREW BIRD: FEVER YEAR premiered at Lincoln Center with the New York Film Festival and received numerous awards. She recently adapted a bestselling novel slated to become a drama series for Exile Studios.
FAQ
Sundance Collab’s Self-paced courses provide flexibility to complete the work on your own time, but also within a structured timeline that helps you to advance your project. You will travel through the course with a cohort of creators like yourself, and - if applicable - are given assignments with due dates during key weeks of the course:
- Each week you will view pre-recorded lectures by the instructor structured around key topics.
- Post-Video Activities after each session are designed to apply concepts to your own work, and move your project to the next stage.
- If assigned, a course advisor will give you feedback on elements of your work.
- You will have the opportunity to join live class exercises or group office hours, hosted by Sundance Collab Advisors, at critical points in the course to ask questions and discuss concepts.
- In some courses, you will have the opportunity to purchase a 1-on-1 Zoom session with your assigned course advisor.
All members of the Sundance Collab community are welcome to take Sundance Collab Self-paced courses. Please review the course description to ensure the course is a good fit. If you have any questions about a course, please email collab_courses@sundance.org.
Note that each Self-paced course has a registration deadline, so please check the date and time to ensure you don’t miss the cut-off. If the registration window is open, you will see a "Register” button on the course page.
We do not allow creative partners to do our Self-paced courses as a team. However, both creators can individually register for the course.
We often offer a limited number of need-based, full or partial scholarships. Check the course description to see if that course currently has scholarships available. Scholarships are prioritized for one per person per year (from the date of issue). Scholarship applications are available up to one week before the registration deadline. To apply for a scholarship, complete the registration form by clicking the REGISTER button above and selecting the scholarship option, if available.
Applicants will be notified about their scholarship decision prior to the first day of the course. Due to the volume of applicants, we are not always able to provide a scholarship, but we may still offer a spot in the course.In this case, depending on the course, payment plans may be available and can be selected at checkout.
Yes, we offer two or three-part payment plans for Self-paced courses, depending on the length of the course. In all cases, the first payment is due at the point of registration. The remaining payment(s) are spread out throughout the course term. For specific payment plan dates for a course, please reach out to our team at: collab_courses@sundance.org.
In courses with live class exercises or group office hours, the sessions are recorded and usually made available within two business days. The videos will also contain the chat and transcript from the session, viewable in the video playbar.
Participants will have access to the lecture recordings and course materials for one year following the last class session.
All participants will receive a Certificate of Completion. The certificate will include the name associated with your Collab account.
You can find any courses that you are enrolled in or have already completed in the profile section of your Collab account under “Courses.”
You can access the course videos via a computer or mobile device. All of our live class exercises and group office hour sessions are conducted via Zoom.
Download and set up the Zoom software (https://zoom.us/download) and make sure you have the latest update. Here are some great resources from Zoom’s Knowledge Base to take a deeper dive into using Zoom:
- Watch Zoom's Video Tutorials or review training materials on the Getting Started page
- Join a Live Training from Zoom
If you have any further questions, please email collab_courses@sundance.org.
Sundance Collab provides accommodations and support services to participants with disabilities. Please contact us at (435) 776-7790 or email us at accessibility@sundance.org to ask any questions or to discuss your specific needs after you have been accepted into the course.
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