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What Is A Great Doc, When it Comes To Politics?


Hello my friend, My name is Terrence Freeman and this is my first topic here and looking forward to make a connection here in this community. Also if you like to read blogs I would love to share my blog page with you @ http://tfreeinspires.com

Thank you!
Would love to see and looking forward to your answers!

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Hey there,

I saw your question about what might be a good documentary on politics. I happen to be in the process of filming one right now. I am new to the process of documentary filmmaking, however I am trying to inform everyone about the film I'm doing and I am also reaching out to anyone who can possibly help navigate me through the process of completing it.....

The film is called "The Uninformed States of America." It is a documentary where I try to discover the causes, effects, and possible solutions to political apathy and ignorance in the United States.

You can take a look at a the trailer here: www.theusafilm.com

I have tried to fund the film through grants, investments, and crowd funding. I launched a PR campaign, gathered a ton of footage and managed to get a few donations, but now I'm a bit perplexed on where to go next.

My name is Mike. I am filmmaker from LA. Let me know what you think and if you happen to be in the film world, let me know. The subject matter of the film happens to be a very strong passion of mine, so I truly feel as if the message of the film can really make a difference. Even if only a small one.

Well... if you made it this far in the letter, I appreciate it! lol Let me know if you have any questions and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Cheers,
Mike Riley

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Looks like a terrific project. I signed up to get updates and if I can at some point will make a donation.

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The War Game (1965) / Peter Watkins
The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara (2003) / Errol Morris
Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism (2004) / Robert Greenwald
An Inconvenient Truth (2006) / Davis Guggenheim
An Unreasonable Man (2006) / Henriette Mantel and Steve Skrovan
The Unknown Known (2013) / Errol Morris
Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia (2013) / Nicholas D. Wrathall
Best of Enemies (2015) / Robert Gordon & Morgan
Where to Invade Next (2015) / Michael Moore

mf

Trust me. I’m The Doctor.

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Hi there.
I tried checking out your link but it didn't work...looks like your domain registration recently lapsed.
You can check out Transmission 6-10 as a documentary steeped in politics, and yet is not a political documentary.
It is freely available on:
www.transmission610.com

Some good examples already posted by others. Not sure if I saw...
The War on Democracy
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1029172/

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Thank you so much!!! I truly appreciate it.

Cheers

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Hi Mike
Great looking project.
I signed up to be kept informed.

It sounds to me like you are in the same place I was in 2007 with my own documentary:
www.transmission610.com

All ideas, passion, drive etc but no funding.
At the same time as I was making Transmission 6-10, a guy I knew was looking to do a project on the same subject. He focused all his time and effort on securing a large amount of funding...I focused all my efforts on just making the documentary. In 2011 I had finished mine...he never even started his.

My advice:
-Your passion and dedication will see your project to fruiting if you never give up
-Reach out to your friends, family, peers etc and tap in to their network to see if there are skilled people amongst them who can help (I got myself a top notch VFX editor that way)
-Learn. Learn. Learn. In the end I did most of the project myself...it meant it took longer but at least my vision of the piece came to life. It was hard trying to just describe to others how I saw it...so I kept making examples until in the end I found myself actually making it
-Be flexible. Transmission 6-10 (read about the production on the website) was a very different finished article from where it started...let the piece take you where it will, with a life of its own. One interview led to another for me and then the styling was born out of my own inability to edit properly in the early days! Naha
-Send out samples. The turning point for project T610 was when Oscar winning director Kevin Macdonald met us and hired his editor to work on the piece...that came from sending out a 10min short version to lots of people in the industry who might have been interested in the subject matter
-Farm work out to students. I didn't do that in the end, but it could be a good option to get work done for no money, as the students will enthusiastically work (I imagine) with the promise of creditating their efforts

Best of luck!!
Apathy is killing humanity. I have seen that with my own work which has been running for 15 years.
Keep me informed of how you get on. Watch Transmission 6-10...and...inform others....

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Hey there,

I truly want to thank you for your response and your advice. I will definitely make a note of it all. I checked out your documentary and really enjoyed what I saw. I will be sure to leave a comment on it. I will definitely keep you updated on the progress of the film and how things are developing as we move forward.

Thank you so much once again.

Cheers,
Mike Riley

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Hi Mike.
Only too glad to be of assistance.
Projects like yours need to see the light of day and get noticed by a wide audience.
Let's connect through email and see what we come up with.
I've mentioned your efforts on my website - but I'm not launching it until the new year...but at least you are on there:
[email protected]

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