Our final excerpt from Jessica Edwards’ new book Tell Me Something: Advice from Documentary Filmmakers comes from Michael Moore:
Here is my advice for those who want to make a documentary film that people will flock to the movie theaters to see:
The first rule of making a documentary is, don’t make a documentary. Make a movie. Nobody wants to see a documentary. To the often-posed question “Hey, honey, what do you wanna do tonight?” nobody responds with “Let’s go see a documentary!” People do, though, want to see a movie. And when they go to the movies, they want to be entertained. I know. I said the E-word. No serious documentary filmmaker would claim to be making something “entertaining,” because that would not only pack the theaters but also diminish the Seriousness and Importance of the Message he or she is trying to impart to the audience.
Well, guess what—nobody wants to sit in a movie theater and feel like he’s being taught a history lesson or preached to or scolded or told he must care about the plight of this or that. People don’t want the invisible wagging finger of the “documentarian” (a word invented for us because we don’t make movies) pointing at them and telling them to take their medicine. That’s why the theatrical audience for documentaries remains so low. It’s Friday night, you’ve worked hard all week, and now you want to relax and go see a movie about … Fracking! Pedophile Priests! My Father Who Deserted Me When I Was 9! Don’t get me wrong—we need to be alarmed about the first two, and the third one, well, I can’t help you with that. I got my own problems.
It’s like this: You can make a movie about nutrition—or you can make Super Size Me. You can make a movie about the power of the religious Right—or you can make Religulous. You can make a movie that is “fair and balanced” so some channel won’t be afraid to air it—or you can make Hearts and Minds or 5 Broken Cameras or Citizen Koch or The Times of Harvey Milk (that’s right, Milk’s killer did not get “equal time” in the film). If the film you’re making feels necessary or noble or precious, stop making it. Nobody cares. If you’re making something dangerous or subversive or funny (God forbid), then shoot it, cut it, and get it out there to a public that’s dying see a good movie!
That’s my advice. Oh—and keep it under 90 minutes. Most people are out on a date and hoping they’re going to get laid when this fracking thing is over.
Photo: Gary L. Howe (Traverse City, Michigan)
Selected Filmography: Roger & Me (1989), Canadian Bacon (1995), Bowling for Columbine (2002) Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004) Sicko (2007), Capitalism: A Love Story (2009).
