How to find documentary stories without travelling

Some of the world’s most stunning documentaries come from… stunning places.

From untamed nature like Mt. Everest or the Bornean jungle to bustling cities like Barcelona, it’s hard to beat a great location. 

But often, it is too expensive or too difficult to film a story in those places, especially when you are just starting out.

Building a portfolio is crucial to getting those bigger opportunities, and for that you will often have to stay close to home. And you might think that limits the quality that you can produce, but I might have some news for you on that. 

Some of my favourite short-documentaries I have ever made were shot 10 minutes from my house. There were no mountains involved, or historical buildings. Instead, I shot in a workshop with a Japanese woodworking designer. The film turned out stunning, and it was no exception either.

So today, I want to focus on finding local documentary stories that are cinematic, tell a great story and most importantly, are enjoyable to make for you.

As always, feel free to skip ahead using the headings below

Chapters:

• What is the best topic for a local documentary

• 7 ways to find local documentary story subjects

• How to pick the best characters for a documentary

• How to reach out to potential documentary characters

What is the best topic for a local documentary

Most mid-sized towns contain thousands of individuals, businesses or organisations, all of which could result in a good film. It’s pointless trying to reach out to them all. Because let’s be honest, most of them are rather boring. 

First, you need to be asking:

‘ What do I actually want to make?’

A good way to think about is to list industries or fields in your circle of competence and circle of interest. Aka: what you are good at, and what interests you.

For me, this list looks something like this:

Competence: Travel, Tourism, Environmental Science, Agriculture, Wellness and Meditation

Interest: Hiking, Camping, Classical Music, Boardgames, Video Games, Reading, Manual crafts

From all of these, you can start writing down types of businesses, organisations or people that could be interesting to you. For me, this list includes:

• Woodworking, Guided Hiking, Musicians, Bookstores, Meditation retreats, Ecotourism, Academic research, Farming etc.

The list goes on and on, and this gives me virtually endless ideas of people and businesses I could approach.

7 ways to find local documentary story subjects

Once you have a long list of potential industries and areas that interest you, it is time to look for people, organisations or businesses in those areas. There are many ways to go about this, but below I have listed my most common methods for finding people to reach out to:

1. Google Maps – Simply jump on google maps and search for keywords such as ‘restaurant’ or ‘woodworking business’ and see all the businesses that come up.

2. Google – you get the picture. Just make sure to include the location in your search

3. Facebook Groups and Events – check for upcoming events in your area

4. Existing Blogs or Review Websites – a great source to find consolidated lists of businesses, people or events in your area of interest

5. Instagram – people and brands that are active on here will be more excited to work on a film with you, because they already value visual communication

6. Industry Events – most mid to large size towns will have industry events for different fields like agriculture or tech

7. Walking through town – whenever you are out and about, pay attention to organisations and businesses around you, and what they do

Make a list of at least 50, this will give you plenty of options to choose from.

How to pick the best character for a local documentary

Once you have a looooong list of people or organisations, it is time to prioritise. The easy way would be to ask yourself: which one of these sounds most exciting to work with.

But there are actually a few other questions to ask yourself:

• Is the location aesthetic ?(a workshop can have a great aesthetic)

• Is there a story here, or just a business? (e.g. do they care about what they do, do they have an interesting story or are doing something grand?)

• Are they likely to be excited about a documentary? (e.g. if they post a lot of videos, or photos, they are more likely to agree)

• Do they have time, capacity and/or money to pursue this idea? (money depends on whether you want to earn anything here)

Obviously most of this is guesswork. You won’t know until you reach out, so I would only cross people off the list if they are very obviously a bad fit. The REAL prioritisation begins when you start talking to people.

How to reach out to potential documentary characters

Now you have a great list of potential people, and it’s time to reach out. For this I would divide my list into two parts

1. People you would LOVE to make a film with

2. People you might want to make a film with

Now it is time to write some emails. Keep it fairly short (2-3) paragraphs and use this rough structure:

1. Introduce yourself and your credibility (e.g. briefly mention previous work and what you generally focus on in your films)

2. Explain how you found them and what about them fascinates you.

3. Propose setting up a call about a potential film project. 

Do not include specifics yet, such as length, price, or the extent of the commitment. After all, you don’t know them and they don’t know you. This initial email is only to peak their interest and get a conversation going. If all goes well, this project will take a few months anyway. 

For anyone in category 1, I would substitute this phone call with a visit in-person. This will build a much stronger connection and likelihood of success.

And that’s it. Follow this approach and I am sure you’ll find some stunning local documentaries to shoot in no time!