One thing that documentary filmmakers often fail to do before they embark on a filmmaking journey is to set their goals and intentions for their films.
It's understandable.
We're so busy connecting to our creative energy, putting our story ideas together and getting prepped to start filming, that we rarely sit to think consciously about where we want our project to end up and what we hope to achieve with it.
However, as I stated in the introduction, I believe this is a big mistake.
Why you should define your goals and intentions
Having clarity on our goals and intentions is an important thing to accomplish for almost any task we endeavor to undertake, but certainly not least the creation of a documentary film.
Knowing why you are making it helps you to maintain clarity on your 'why' so that when times get hard you can reconnect to the focus and drive that you began the project with.
Defining our goals and intentions
To start to define your goals and intentions I recommend you ask yourself these questions:
• Why do you want your film to be seen?
• What do you hope to achieve with your film?
• Who do you hope will watch your film?
• What do you want them to do after watching it?
• What are your key objectives in distributing your film?
• What would deem your film a success for you?
Start to make notes of the thoughts and ideas you're having. This may not being something you have thought about before in any detail so this will be an interesting exercise. If you find this challenging to do on your own (or would simply just prefer) then have a conversation with a friend or other filmmaker where you explore these ideas.
Are these your primary objectives?
Take a closer look at three common, primary objectives and see if they resonate with your own goals and intentions.
1. Your Film's Impact
Ask yourself the following:
• Do you want your film to bring some awareness to a particular subject or topic?
• Do you hope your film will educate people on an unknown or misunderstood issue?
• Do you want to bring about some direct change?
• Do you want your film to have a social impact, to incite a movement and develop a community?
• Will you be trying to start or propel a movement with an impact campaign?
• Are you trying to change people’s lives for the better?
And therefore, is your film’s potential impact one of your key goals and intentions in making it and getting it out into the world?
Examples of this, include:
A. One only has to look at documentaries like The Thin Blue Line, where a man was wrongfully convicted. There was so much publicity that arose from the film, that the case was re-opened, and indeed the wrongfully imprisoned man was exonerated of all charges.
B. How about another legendary documentary filmmaker, Frederick Wiseman, and his film Titicut Follies, which not only brought greater awareness of the terrible conditions of mental health facilities in the U.S. and, in fact, had direct influence on the closing of the facility depicted in the film, but, also had an effect on American privacy laws, when the film was initially banned, but not for reasons of obscenity or security reasons.
It has been proven out that documentary films can create awareness and change in the world! Is this why you are making your film?
2. Your Financial Sustainability and Profit
And, of course, a very very understandable reason – and a practical one – is the compensation, income or profit you would like to generate or receive from your film.
Ask yourself the following:
• Are you looking to make a financial gain from your film? (And let’s be clear, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t).
• Are you looking to recoup costs for the making of your film? (This makes sense, documentary filmmaking is not an inexpensive venture after all).
• Are you looking to financially sustain yourself through the making of your documentary films?
• Are you looking to make money to fund your next project? Do you have an idea of how much that will be?
Your fiscal vibrancy and strength in both your personal life and with regard to your production company or filmmaking endeavors, has huge consequences on your ability to not only produce documentary films, but also directly impacts the production value, access to content and who you are able to bring on and how long you yourself can work on the project.
Gone are the days of the starving artist as the way to create exciting, innovative or valuable content.
We are now in the age of the entrepreneur and as independent documentary filmmakers we have an opportunity to support ourselves while making our films and make money from them when they are complete.
If you have any reservations about having ‘making money’ be one of your key objectives for producing and getting your film out into the world, we’re here to tell you to leave those reservations behind.
Embrace the potential for generating money and run with it.
Make millions of dollars with your films and then make even more films the world needs to see. You will have a greater reach and potentially even greater impact if you do. Is this why you are making your film?
3. Your Filmmaking Career
How important is it to you to build a career around documentary filmmaking? Let's find out.
Ask yourself the following:
• Are you, at least in part, making this film because you want to make a name for yourself as a documentary filmmaker? (And we don’t necessarily mean ‘a name’, in the sense of celebrity, but more so that you wish your name to be ‘synonymous with’ a concept, an issue or simply as a known person who makes great documentary films).
• Are you hoping to build a sustainable career as a documentary filmmaker? (Whereby creating documentary films is your primary or only job).
• Are you looking to collaborate with other filmmakers, utilizing your current project as your calling card?
• Are you looking to gain credibility or notoriety as a doc filmmaker and be acknowledged for your work?
• Do you want to be recognized as an authority on a certain subject?
• Or be a name that is recognized for creating quality work on very specific types of films?
• Do you intend to make several films on the same topic, providing content for a core group of fans?
• Is your goal to build a large and engaged fan base that you can take with you from film to film and throughout your career?
• Are you looking to build a team or network of people that you can continue to work with again and again in the future?
Making a one-off film or making films as a hobby versus becoming a career filmmaker may necessitate focusing on very different objectives.
Having clarity on this is important, because if you do wish to continue to produce viable and quality content then decisions you make throughout your film's production, but not least in your distribution strategy, should be reflective of this. Is this why you are making your film?
What's Next?
Using the questions that we have provided above as a starting point to begin to generate ideas and thoughts, you can continue to brainstorm what you believe your goals and intentions to be.
Whatever shows up, it's important to be honest and true to yourself. That is the only way you can reach and meet your true goals.
Having said that, don't put too much pressure on yourself to have all the answers. Like everything involving your film, ideas may evolve over the course of making it. New possibilities may surface that lead you to restructure and reform your main objectives.
Mind mapping can be a really powerful way to process your ideas, visualize your thoughts and articulate your intentions. You can use a sheet of paper and a pen, or a tool like Mindmeister to work through a brainstorming session.
Takeaways
By forming a clear concept of why you are making your film and what you are hoping to achieve, you will be much more likely to be successful.
Before you get too carried away with making your film (which is very easy to do), sit down and contemplate what your ultimate goal for it will be.
There can be a number of goals and intentions you have for your film, which can be one in particular or combination of many.
These can include, but are not limited to: Your film having an impact or creating social, educational or other change, providing monetary compensation and financial gain for you, the filmmaker or an organization or individual, or the establishment of yourself or your production company as a documentary filmmaking entity or professional.
Your goals and intentions can change over time so be sure to review and reconsider your objectives from time to time to stay in alignment.