The art of documentary filmmaking: Insights from industry leaders
Discovering a lifelong passion
Morgan Neville, the acclaimed director of Steve! (Martin): A Documentary in Two Pieces, always had a deep love for movies and writing. However, upon graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, he found himself at a crossroads. Writing seemed too serious, while movies felt too frivolous. It wasn’t until he embarked on his first documentary, Shotgun Freeway: Drives Through Lost L.A., that he realized he had found his true calling.
“I remember sending my parents a note two weeks into starting my first documentary saying, ‘This is what I’m going to do for the rest of my life,'” Neville recalls. “I instantly knew that documentary was all these different things I liked—the storytelling, the writing, the research, the interviewing, all of it.”
A panel of documentary visionaries
As part of a recent virtual TV festival, Neville joined a panel of esteemed documentarians, including Andrew Jarecki, director and executive producer of The Jinx – Part Two; Mary Robertson and Emma Schwartz, directors and executive producers of Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV; and Justin Wilkes, president of Imagine Entertainment and producer of Jim Henson Idea Man. The discussion was moderated by a senior TV features editor, providing a platform for these creators to share their insights and experiences.
The evolving landscape of documentaries
In the age of streaming, documentaries have taken on various forms, from five-part limited series like Quiet on Set to two-part features like Steve!. This flexibility allows filmmakers to have more control over how they structure their narratives. For Jim Henson Idea Man, Wilkes and his team opted for a single, cohesive film to mirror Henson’s innovative storytelling techniques and the natural three-act structure of his life.
“Early on, Ron [Howard] thought, ‘Well, we should make the doc feel like it’s Jim telling his story, like how Jim would want to tell his own story,'” Wilkes explains. “So if you see it, we use a lot of those same techniques with stop-motion animation and syncopated editing. I think somewhere, because of that, we also felt like there was a very natural beginning, middle, and sort of, unfortunately, untimely ending to his story, that sort of fit naturally into a three-act structure.”
The art of editing
One of the most critical aspects of documentary filmmaking is deciding what to include and what to leave out. Jarecki, while working on The Jinx – Part Two, had nine years’ worth of material to sift through. To ensure he was telling the story effectively, he relied on the opinions of trusted friends and family.
“A big part of that was making a list of all the people that we trusted, and then some random people, like my kids’ friends, or people that we just know are smart viewers, and getting them packed into a screening room early,” Jarecki says. “You’ll put something in that you think is important. I remember a friend of ours who was an editor said, ‘No, yeah, I got that. It was great. It was like a remnant,’ and we’re just like, ‘Oh, my God, that’s out.'”
The personal connection
Documentary filmmaking often involves a deep, personal connection between the filmmaker and their subject. Neville found this to be particularly true while working on Steve!. He saw parallels between his own life and the story of Steve Martin.
“We don’t often talk about autobiography in our films, but I see so much of what I think about and deal with in my own life reflected in the choices I make, in the films I make, and in the way I make them,” Neville shares. “So in a way, I feel like, with Steve, a lot of what he was working through were things I’ve worked through in my own life too. In that way, it really feels like a two-way street.”
Watch the conversation
For those interested in delving deeper into the world of documentary filmmaking, the entire panel discussion is available to watch online. This conversation offers a unique glimpse into the minds of some of the industry’s most innovative creators, providing valuable insights for aspiring filmmakers and enthusiasts alike.
For more information on the documentaries mentioned, check out the trailers and information pages: