As I’ve mentioned before documentary films offer thought provoking, incisive perspectives on some of societies global challenges (and oddities!), but too often these films “sing to the choir.” Their audiences are self selecting: this is a case of the educated simply reaffirming their knowledge and beliefs.
The challenge, then, is to broaden the scope of the audience.
Sounds like a social marketing challenge.
In search of an answer, I discussed the issue with Roberta Osler Sachs, a former journalist and producer at Dateline, NBC in the US. She lectures widely on the role of documentaries and media as tools for social change. The complimentary perspectives of a seasoned journalist and a charity alumnus generated the initial criteria necessary for what we dubbed “the modern documentary.”
First, we had to clarify the difference between advocacy films and documentaries. Advocacy films are normally sanctioned by an interest group and offer a compelling, yet fundamentally biased (or singular), perspective on an issue. A true documentary is an unbiased collection of facts that lead the film maker to “document” their findings without a pre-ordained point of view.
To summarize: in documentaries the message is distilled from the research and footage, and in advocacy films the footage and research confirm the message.
However, we humans are dreadfully flawed. Even the most altruistic among us will invariably have a perspective on an issue, and reinforce whatever perspective we believe to be the truth.
And therein lies the massive grey area in which, I argue, most documentaries exist.
Documentaries are not unbiased, and they direct a viewer’s understanding of an issue. Assuming this implicit bias to be true, then presumably the film maker would like to see something change as a result of their “findings.”
Roberta and I agreed that the landscape in which modern documentaries are being developed is changing, and changing rapidly. We felt there are several factors:
1. Peoples’ attention spans are shorter. A nine-hour epic documentary like Shoah (1985) would likely be a futile artistic endeavor in today’s world.
2. There is a sense of “tragedy overload” and that creates a changing landscape where many viewers want to avoid reality rather than learn more about the failings of humanity.
3. Nobody accepts one point of view. We have become a world of skeptics, who presume that there is an agenda behind every action. We know that the world is neither black nor white, but a million shades of grey and messages that don’t acknowledge both sides of a story may be quickly dismissed.
4. There is a rise in “citizen journalism.” Who needs a production team, a director, or an editor when we have the internet? Anyone with a handheld camera and a computer can document their perspective on the human condition. This is where the world of social media increases both the development and distribution of the sublime to the ridiculous. With this change, there is a demise in the use of some traditional media (especially newspapers!) and less reliance on funding sources, and arguably less focus on quality, and more on quantity.
5. Associated with shorter attention spans is the increased “noise” on issues. In order to compete with this information apocalypse, there is a literal and metaphorical miniaturizing of worthwhile messages; does truncating the content also marginalize the message?
To address this new world, the documentary needs to at least acknowledge these trends. Documentaries are the result of the vision, passion, conviction (and often bravery) of the film maker(s) and creative control must remain in their hands, but for the documentary to light a social spark, the audience needs to be consulted (or at least addressed).
Given our jaded analysis of the landscape, we propose a few features necessary for the success of the “modern documentary” in generating social change:
1. Give balanced options for action. The documentary must offer the audience a variety of activities as an outlet. The film experience can’t stop when the lights come up. The action doesn’t necessarily need to be a charitable toll free number for donations, but there must be a set of proposed actions for the newly informed. Not only does this propel the viewer to employ their newly discovered information, it also engages them, and makes the film more interesting as a holistic experience. The key to this is to present several, simple options: further reading, Third Sector partners, ways to contact decision-makers/government, directions to further discussions, or even alternative perspectives on the issue.
2. Segment the film. In marketing terms, audience segmentation refers to generating different messages or using different media to reach different audiences (by age, demographics, education, gender, etc). Documentary films, historically, are edited to be one length (with a possible trailer for marketing purposes), and shown on the big screen. The modern documentary ought to have several cuts featuring material for different audiences that are varying in length. For example, there may be a 5 minute children’s version, a 9 minute web version that can be downloaded to a portable media player for tweens and teens, a 23 minute (½ hour on commercial TV) version for the cable station audience, and the full 90 minute version for the big screen.
3. Integrate with other media. Documentary films don’t draw audiences by themselves. There needs to be a buzz about a film that generates a viral effect. This buzz can be accelerated by some creative blogging, media engagement, film festivals, interactive web content, online challenges or contests, petitions, or even marketing swag for the film: T-shirts, downloadable screen savers, signed scripts, etc. The purpose of the swag is not to generate revenue, but to generate audience ownership of the film’s brand. (the film title or a symbolic image needs to become cool in a kind of “alternative way,” like Hush Puppies, or the Sex Pistols)
4. Avoid advertorials or obvious advocacy films. Intelligent audiences want to be skeptical and criticize your art. Don’t give them an easy target. Encourage them think about all sides of the issue.
5. Embrace citizen journalism. If the movie is about the strength of women in adversity (keep an eye out for Resilience which is currently in production), then encourage viewers to submit their own stories about strong women in their lives. Let the viewer add their voice to the film’s message through “develop your own film for our site” campaigns. This is just one suggestion on how to encourage your viewers to become integral to the issue in your film. If you make it matter to them, then they will want to make it matter to others.
As a last note, I watched a film at HOTDOCs call Sergio, based upon the book Chasing the Flame by Samantha Power, which documented the dramatic life and death of one of the most extraordinary international citizens, Sérgio Vieira de Mello.
In doing my part to practice what I preach, I encourage you to view this film because it speaks about all of our responsibilities in a global society, the roles of the international actors like the US and the UN, and about the need to take risks to bring about social change. You can also visit this site to learn about ways in which you can participate in honoring Sergio’s legacy and speak your mind about the issues raised in the film. Or you can make financial contributions to support ongoing efforts to build peace through the international community here.
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