As someone who has always been fascinated by movies and storytelling, I can deeply resonate with Morgan Neville’s journey. Like him, I too once grappled with the notion that writing was serious while movies were frivolous. But then I stumbled upon my first documentary, and just like Neville, I knew instantly that it was where my heart belonged.
As a movie enthusiast myself, I’ve always harbored a deep affection for both films and storytelling, dating back to my childhood days. Upon graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, I was at a crossroads, uncertain about how to channel these passions effectively. The world of writing seemed weighty, while movies appeared too lighthearted to venture into the show business realm. However, once I embarked on my first documentary, “Shotgun Freeway: Drives Through Lost L.A.,” it became crystal clear that I had discovered my lifelong passion.
“Neville recalled writing a note to his parents around two weeks into making his first documentary, expressing, ‘This is what I’ll be doing for the rest of my life.’ He immediately felt that the documentary combined everything he loved – storytelling, writing, research, and interviewing.”
During the EbMaster’s Virtual First-Year College Television Festival, Neville took part in a panel discussion with Andrew Jarecki, who is both director, executive producer, and writer of “The Jinx – Part Two”; Mary Robertson and Emma Schwartz, who are directors and executive producers of “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV”; and Justin Wilkes, president of Imagine Entertainment and producer of “Jim Henson Idea Man”. Emily Longeretta, a senior TV features editor, led the engaging conversation as moderator.
Today, with the advent of streaming platforms, documentaries vary greatly in format. Ranging from a five-episode limited series such as “Quiet on Set,” to two-part features like “Steve!”, documentarians now have greater freedom to structure their films. In the case of “Idea Man,” Wilkes and his team opted for a standalone film, enabling them to replicate Jim Henson’s unique filmmaking methods and mirror the three distinct acts of his life.
“Initially, Ron Howard decided to make the documentary feel as if it’s Jim Henson narrating his own tale, just as he would have wanted. This is reflected in the frequent use of similar techniques like stop-motion animation and rhythmic editing. I believe this approach also gave us a seamless three-act structure, where the beginning, middle, and unfortunate end seemed to naturally unfold.”
As a movie enthusiast, I can attest that when crafting a documentary, what a director chooses to leave out is just as crucial as what they decide to include. In my case, while working on part two of “The Jinx,” a docuseries revolving around the unsolved murders of Robert Durst, I found myself swimming in nine years’ worth of footage. To ensure I was conveying the story in an impactful manner, I sought advice from trusted confidants – friends and family.
“A significant aspect involved creating a list of reliable individuals, along with some additional people such as our children’s friends or knowledgeable viewers. We then gathered them in a screening room early to watch it,” Jarecki explained. “We would insert something we deemed important. One friend, who was an editor, commented, ‘Ah, I understood that. It was excellent. It felt like a leftover,’ and we were shocked, saying, ‘Oh my goodness, that’s out!'”
A less frequently explored aspect in documentary filmmaking is the bond between the filmmaker and their creation. While working on “Steve!”, Neville found that his personal narrative was just as intertwined with the film as Steve Martin’s story.
Neville rarely discusses autobiography in his films, but the themes and decisions he makes, as well as the filmmaking style he employs, often mirror aspects of his personal life. This is why, when working on Steve, it felt like Neville was grappling with issues that he had also dealt with in his own past. Consequently, it seems that the process was not just one-way, but more like a mutual exchange or two-way street.
Watch the entire conversation above.
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2024-08-15 00:16