Is there an aftermarket for your media? Vicky Collins shows documentary makers how to find educational, nonprofit and niche buyers after the festival run.
Many filmmakers come into the craft with a fire in their belly to tell documentary stories of people and organizations making a difference in the world. There is a wealth of material in the characters, non-profits and NGO’s who devote their time to improving the lot of the poor, the sick, and the disenfranchised. Although this work fills the soul, it often does not fill the pocketbook, and producers find themselves maxing out their credit cards and scrounging for money to fund their passion. At the end of the day, the effort is always worth it, but there are things you can consider to make the work more profitable for you and the organization. Is there an aftermarket for your media? Can you produce stories for others with the material you have accumulated? Can your blogging, photography and social networking help draw more attention to the cause?
In 2006, my production partners and I took our first trip to Kampala, Uganda to do work on behalf of an NGO called BeadforLife. BeadforLife is an income generating project where desperately poor women in the slums of Kampala make bead jewelry out of recycled paper. BeadforLife buys the jewelry at fair market value then sends it to North America where women have parties in their home and sell it. The profits return to Uganda for health care, housing and education. Since its inception in 2004, BeadforLife has been very successful in helping families come out of extreme, life-threatening poverty.
We had approached the organization with the proposal to do a documentary, but once we got to the bottom line, founders Torkin Wakefield, Ginny Jordan and Devin Hibbard had another idea. What they really needed were three short videos to help them accomplish BeadforLife’s goals. One was to show at parties to encourage connection and bead sales, the next was an overview video to encourage fundraising, and the final video was one to get people to dig into their pockets for school fees for children. We agreed to do the work for one third the cost of our documentary proposal and four of us were off to Africa. We traveled with two small format HDV cameras which allowed us to create network quality audio and video but would allow us to fly under the radar without attracting attention.
As you would expect, the time we spent in Uganda was life altering. What took our breath away was the generosity of spirit among people who are among the most impoverished in the world. Before BeadforLife, many of the women were working in a rock quarry crushing stones from morning until night for less than a dollar a day. Their children were hungry, sick and uneducated. Many of them had HIV/AIDS and were survivors of the brutal civil war up North. But all of them had hope. They sang and danced through their poverty and worked hard to rescue their families from despair.
We came home with amazing character-driven material which more than met BeadforLife’s needs. But we took it a step further. We shared it with colleagues at NBC Network News. Realizing a good story when they see it, NBC Nightly News decided to do a story for their “Making A Difference” segment. It aired in May of 2007 and 11 million viewers watched. That first week, BeadforLife’s website had 60,000 hits. Thousands of people signed up to have parties and sales grew exponentially. It was a tipping point for BeadforLife and an “aha” moment for us. How could we continue to attract the interest of the news media with the story of an NGO? Anyone telling the story of non-profits knows how difficult it can be to make one stand out from the rest. How would we do things differently next time?
Fast forward to the fall of 2008, when once again we headed to Uganda to do more storytelling for BeadforLife. This time we were going to produce about 15 short videos to be used for an updated website. There was a smaller budget this time around, so only two of us traveled. We were there for fewer days and through a contact found a local director of photography who said he would work as a sound person and second camera to cut our costs. Once again, we traveled lightly with two HDV cameras, a couple of tripods, audio gear, a small player so we could ingest and log, laptops, tapes, batteries, and accessories, etc. A lot of our gear was rented from a colleague who gave us a rate that was one third the cost of the local production house. Our goal was to not incur any baggage overages, and miraculously, we spent only $60 extra as we traveled around the world. Traveling lightly is a must on a small budget, as baggage overages can make your costs spiral. It also helps you appear to be tourists rather than professionals who need to involve customs.
Besides the beader profile videos for the website, there was another story we wanted to tell. BeadforLife had bought land outside of Kampala to create a village. During early interviews with their clients, BeadforLife ascertained that more than anything, the women wanted a home of their own. Home ownership is considered a step out of poverty forever. The beaders saved their money, and when they had a million shillings or $685, they could make a down payment. They spend the next couple of years paying off their mortgage by trading beads. Not one defaults on the loan for the house. Friendship Village, as it is called, has over 100 homes now. The contrast between where these women were in 2006 and where they are today is incredibly compelling. We knew we had a newsworthy story with an aftermarket. We also met a young woman on that trip named Juliette who was the victim of a brutal acid attack. Once again, we thought we could interest the news media as part of a larger report on this horrible human rights abuse.
Our calculations have been correct. We returned to America with two opportunities besides the material for BeadforLife. So far, HDNet’s World Report has told the story of Friendship Village and will soon air an “in their own words” piece about Juliette’s acid attack. As the producer of both stories, I was able to make some money above and beyond what I was paid by BeadforLife. When The Newshour with Jim Lehrer saw the story on Friendship Village, they decided to also produce one using the tape we shot. It really is a win-win. Newshour gets a story that they can produce cheaply, and BeadforLife gets publicity that sustains it and introduces its work to viewers who otherwise might be unaware of their deeds. The Today Show is doing a story, too, again using the videotape we brought to the table. This helps them get a story on Africa while keeping their production days to a minimum. It is very helpful as the networks and local broadcasters slash budgets in these difficult economic times. Stories have also appeared on my blog, and photos taken on the trip have been displayed in Denver galleries. Our work in Kampala even caught the attention of noted travel expert Peter Greenberg who featured a story in the Grateful Traveler section of his blog. With each hit, we cross promote our success on Facebook, Linked In, and Twitter. We’re drawing people in, too, at networks and social networks. It’s a blessing for BeadforLife and the women it serves.
You have to be well-prepared going into your story to recognize the potential in the field. You also have to be nimble enough on location to be able to change course when a story like Juliette’s presents itself. We captured her story knowing it would not be part of the material we produced for BeadforLife. Our opportunity to help women like her is completely based on our ability to get the news media engaged in her story. Make sure you build time into your shooting schedule so that you can change course if necessary. You don’t want to miss opportunities like Juliette. As many times as I have said, “I’ll go back for that,” one seldom finds the time. Finally, you need to know that broadcasters and viewers on the internet for that matter are looking for the same thing; well-produced, character-driven stories that are topical and visual. If you find good stories, you will be able to get networks and social networks on board especially as budgets tighten. It takes patience to find eyeballs, but there are many interested in seeing what you have. We returned from Uganda with a wealth of material that can be repackaged to fill the needs of broadcasters and social networking alike; and with every hit, BeadforLife benefits, and it helps lift more and more families out of extreme poverty.
BeadforLife’s website is www.beadforlife.org.
Colorado television production company, Teletrends (www.teletrendstv. com)
and producer, Vicky Collins (www.vickycollinsonline.com), create programming for domestic and international audiences.
Teletrends specializes in television production for broadcast, cable, national syndication, corporate, non-profit and internet clients. Teletrends provides producing, directing, field production, writing, editing and all pre- and post-production of full-length programs, segments and web content. Achievements include four prestigious National Emmys, two Telly Awards, an Iris Award, a Cine Golden Eagle, and the UPI/Lee Nelson Award for Outstanding Newscast in New England.
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