Rough Cut

Latest Episodes:

Poh Si Teng on What Makes a Strong Grant Application Dec 19, 2021

Show notes

Poh Si Teng is a documentary filmmaker and the Funds and Enterprise Program Director at IDA, one of the largest documentary grant funders. Before IDA, Poh worked as an independent filmmaker in India, a staff reporter at the New York Times, and as the documentary commissioner and senior producer for Al Jazeera English’s flagship strand Witness. She also commissioned and produced the Academy Award-nominated St. Louis Superman.
In this episode, Poh gives advice on what makes a strong grant application, what documentary filmmakers should think about when they're starting a new project, and how her experiences as a filmmaker and journalist inform her work at IDA.
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Joe Posner on Building Vox Video Oct 14, 2021

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Since it launched in 2014, Vox Video has amassed nearly 10 million subscribers on YouTube, and has expanded to platforms like Netflix, HBO, and Quibi. Its new docu-series Level Playing Field, about the intersection between sports and politics, is now streaming on HBO.
Joe Posner is the Co-founder and VP of Creative Development at Vox Video. In this episode, we discuss how Vox built its unique brand of explanatory journalism, and it kept this distinctness while scaling to other platforms.
Joe Posner on Twitter
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The Power of VR Documentaries Aug 15, 2021

Show notes

What kinds of stories are best told in virtual reality? Why is VR so effective, and how can emerging filmmakers get started with VR?
Gary Yost and Adam Loften lead The WisdomVR Project, a library of VR documentaries and experiences. One of their latest projects, Inside COVID-19, was nominated for an Emmy Award in 2021.
Adam Loften is a documentary filmmaker producing award-winning 360/VR films and multimedia stories that highlight pressing social and environmental issues. His projects have screened at film festivals around the world and have been featured on PBS, National Geographic, Emergence Magazine, The Atlantic and the New York Times.
Gary Yost led the team that invented Autodesk 3ds Max, the world’s most popular 3D visual effects production system, and is an award-winning filmmaker with unique expertise in the combined fields of computer imaging, filmmaking and immersive storytelling. He founded the WisdomVR Project in 2018 with Ram Dass as the inaugural subject and is the president of the board of directors.
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How to Negotiate a Fair Rate Jun 27, 2021

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As a freelancer, how do you negotiate a rate? What should you consider when setting a price? Doc filmmakers from both sides of the negotiation share their expertise in this special episode.
Guests:
Rebecca Davis (NBC News, Vox, NY Daily News)
Lea Khayata (Pushpin Films)
Javier Briones (Freelance Documentary Filmmaker)
Enter your salary/wage into the Video Pay Transparency Project
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Jennie Butler on Instagram
Sky Dylan-Robbins on Instagram
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Hao Wu on Directing a Film Remotely May 30, 2021

Show notes

Hao Wu is an award-winning documentary filmmaker born and raised in China. His most recent film, 76 Days, documents Wuhan’s COVID-19 outbreak. The film is shot completely vérité with no interviews, and gives viewers a first-hand account of Covid's impact through the stories of healthcare workers, patients, and their families.
Hao directed the film remotely in the U.S. while his co-directors Weixi Chen (Esquire China) and a second reporter who wished to remain anonymous filmed inside four of the city's hospitals.
In this episode Hao talks about his experience directing a film remotely, why he chose to make the film completely vérité, and the challenges he faced in completing the project.
Hao Wu on Twitter
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Geeta Gandbhir on Authorship and Working with Editors Apr 28, 2021

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Geeta Gandbhir is a documentary director, producer, and editor who has been nominated for three Emmy Awards and has won two. As editor, she won a Primetime Emmy for Best Editing for Spike Lee's HBO documentary series When the Levees Broke and also for the HBO film By The People, The Election of Barack Obama.
Her short film Call Center Blues, about US deportees and their loved ones struggling to rebuild their lives in Tijuana, was shortlisted for the 2021 Academy Awards
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Producer Sky Dylan-Robbins on Instagram

Jeremy Workman: The Art of Trailer Editing Feb 28, 2021

Show notes

Jeremy Workman is a documentary filmmaker and founder of Wheelhouse Creative, a company that makes trailers for narrative films and documentaries. In this interview, Jennie and Jeremy discuss the three acts of a trailer, why trailers are so important, what makes an effective trailer, and why trailers for docs can often be more challenging than for narrative films.
Links from the interview:
Lily Topples the World (new documentary premiering at SXSW)

The World Before Your Feet
Coded Bias trailer
Gatekeepers trailer
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Emily Strong: Sound in Documentary Jan 31, 2021

Show notes

Emily Strong is an NYC-based documentary filmmaker and freelance location sound mixer. She's contributed to Taylor Swift: Miss Americana and New York Times the Weekly, and was just listed in Doc NYC's 40 under 40. Her newest project, We Are the Brooklyn Saints, debuts on Netflix in January 2021.
In this episode, Emily talks about how she came up in the sound world, why sound is so important in documentaries, and how first-time doc filmmakers can achieve great sound.
Emily recommends:
Production Sound Mixing: The Art and Craft of Sound Recording for the Moving Image

The Location Sound Bible
The Freelance Manifesto: A Field Guide for the Modern Motion Designer

Location Sound Podcast

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Emily can be reached at emilymstrong@gmail.com

Uptin Saiidi: What Works on Social Media Dec 30, 2020

Show notes

Uptin Saiidi was a multimedia journalist for CNBC for 7 years based in Singapore and Hong Kong. His videos about business and tech like this one about Singapore's Airport and this one about 'digital nomads' have received millions of views on Facebook alone. Uptin recently left CNBC and moved to LA to develop his own channels. His family is from Iran and he grew up in Reno.

In this episode, Uptin shares why he thinks some videos go viral on social media, how legacy media companies should pivot to digital, and why he left his job at CNBC to go freelance.

You can find Uptin on Instagram, Twitter, and Youtube.

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Rough Cut on Instagram
Host Jennie Butler on Instagram
Producer Sky Dylan-Robbins on Instagram

Julie Cohen on Making a Commercially Successful Documentary Nov 15, 2020

Show notes

Julie Cohen is a documentary filmmaker and television news producer. Most recently, she directed and produced RBG about Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, along with Columbia J school professor Betsy West. Cohen is now directing the upcoming documentary Julia about chef and TV personality Julia Child.
Before she was a documentary filmmaker, Cohen was staff producer at Dateline NBC, where she was nominated for four national Emmy Awards and won the Individual Achievement Award for Best News Producer from American Women in Radio and Television (Gracie Award).
In this episode, Cohen talks about how working in broadcast news made her a better doc filmmaker, her approach to archival footage, and how she was able the compelling opening montage of RBG.
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