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The Documentary Life
by The Documentary Life
The Documentary Life is a podcast about building a life in nonfiction storytelling.Hosted by documentary filmmaker Chris G. Parkhurst, the show explores what it really means to make documentaries—not just as a craft, but as a way of moving through the world with greater curiosity, observation, and empathy.Each episode features thoughtful conversations with filmmakers, editors, cinematographers, producers, journalists, festival programmers, and other storytellers who have dedicated themselves to telling true stories. Together, we explore the creative process, the realities of production, the ethical questions that arise when working with real people, and the personal challenges of sustaining a meaningful creative life.But The Documentary Life isn't only about cameras, funding, or film festivals.It's about learning to listen more carefully. To sit with complexity instead of rushing toward certainty. To embrace uncertainty, contradiction, and the deeply human stories that exist all ar
Episodes
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Episode 148 | Managing the Chaos: Releases, Metadata, and Legal Must-Haves | With Lisa Califf
Episode Summary What if getting a lawyer involved in your documentary earlier could actually give you more creative freedom—not less? For many documentary filmmakers, the legal side of filmmaking is something we'd rather deal with later. Releases, licensing, copyright, fair use, permissions,...
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Episode 147 | The Sound of Story: What Documentary Filmmakers Need to Hear | With James LeBrecht
Episode Summary What if documentary filmmakers thought about sound with the same intention they bring to images? We spend enormous amounts of time thinking about cameras, lenses, lighting, and composition. But sound is more than something we need to capture cleanly. It can create emotion…
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Episode 146 | Wearing Every Hat: Surviving as a One-Person Crew | With Dandan Liu
Episode Summary What does it really take to make a documentary when you’re the entire crew? Working as a one-person crew can offer documentary filmmakers an extraordinary kind of freedom. With less equipment and a smaller footprint, we can move quickly, respond to unexpected moments, and…
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Episode 145 | AI and the Documentary Filmmaker | With Philip Shane
Episode Summary How can documentary filmmakers actually use AI—and where does it belong in the creative process? Artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming part of the filmmaking toolkit, but beneath the hype and anxiety are practical questions: What can these tools genuinely help us do? Where…
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Episode 144 | The Ethics Lab: Access, Consent & Trust | With Alan Berry & Mark Enochs
Episode Summary What does it mean when someone trusts you with their story? Access may get a documentary filmmaker through the door, but it is only the beginning. The deeper responsibility lies in earning trust, maintaining it throughout production, and making ethical decisions about another...
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Episode 143 | How Do I Sustain My Documentary? | With Jilann Spitzmiller
Episode Summary What happens when the money runs out—but the film isn't finished? For many documentary filmmakers, securing initial funding feels like the biggest hurdle. But as the months stretch into years, a different challenge begins to emerge: how do you sustain both your film and yourself...
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Episode 142 | How Do I Fund My Film? | With Liz Nord
Episode Summary How do documentary films actually get funded? It's one of the most common questions filmmakers ask—and one of the least honestly answered. While conversations often focus on grants, pitch decks, and crowdfunding campaigns, the reality is that funding is rarely a single…
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Episode 141 | Building a Sustainable Documentary Life | With Ondi Timoner
Episode Summary Episode 141 marks the beginning of a new chapter for The Documentary Life — not as a relaunch or reboot, but as a recommitment to the questions that matter most. After a five-year hiatus, host Chris G. Parkhurst reflects on the realities that shaped both his filmmaking and his…
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All Good Things Must Come to An End
Can you believe that it was over four years ago that we first began producing episodes of The Documentary Life?? Well, neither can we. But as they say, all good things must come to an end! It has been a great ride this here podcast over the past four years! Which is why this is not our typical...
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Winning an Oscar for Your Documentary Film
Imagine stepping up to the podium to accept your award for Best Documentary Feature for the film that you have put your heart, soul, blood sweat tears into. What would you say? Who would thank? Where would you even start? Well, Steven Bognar, of this year's American Factory knows precisely what...
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Cinematography in Documentary Film
In the past, documentary cinematography has been in the shadow of narrative feature's, overlooked because of certain, perhaps unfair assumptions about the craft. Well, that is no longer the case since the American Society of Cinematographers, as of this year, has an award for Outstanding...
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Reality Television and the Documentary Filmmaker
It wasn't that long ago when reality television was a dirty word that incited some pretty strong feelings among the documentary filmmaking crowd. However, non fiction television has come a long way in the past few years. Of course, don't take my word for it. Take it from fellow documentary...
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Documentary Filmmaking During a Pandemic
Documentary filmmaking during this time of a pandemic is something that so many of us doc filmmakers are contemplating. Or doing. Or not doing. Today's episode is filled with both a discussion on the ethics of documentary production during this time as well as best practices & safety protocol for...
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Race in the Documentary Filmmaking Community
Questions of race and who has the right to tell another person's or culture's or race's stories have recently been at the forefront of the documentary community's collective consciousness. More than that, it's been the subject of recent debate and discussion, whether in industry-led panels, major...
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The Online Film Festival for the Documentary Filmmaker
Lyndon Stone is the founder and festival director of Melbourne Documentary Film Festival. Melody Gilbert is a documentary filmmaker well acquainted with the world of film festivals. In light of Covid events, both the festival director and filmmaker, have had to pivot their approaches to…
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Spirituality in Documentary Filmmaking with Mickey Lemle
Mickey Lemle has made documentary films about some of the most brilliant individuals in the modern world. From His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama to Ram Dass to Sir Laurens van der Post, Lemle has been rubbing shoulders with great minds who all have very spiritual & compassionate ways of living....
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Personal Trauma in Documentary Film with Sasha Joseph Neulinger
Sasha Joseph Neulinger endured some of the most traumatic events a child can experience. He is a survivor of childhood sexual abuse. And he has now turned those events into one of 2020's more extraordinary documentary films, Rewind. Neulinger sits down with TDL to discuss his journey making…
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Doc Filmmaking in the Mountains with Eric Becker
Eric Becker has been taking on extreme challenges since he can remember. If it's not racing bikes it's climbing mountains. If it's not climbing mountains, it's making doc films about people climbing mountains. Tune into this week's episode where we celebrate International Everest Day by welcoming...
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YouTube For the Documentary Filmmaker with David Hoffman
It's hard to refute the power and potential of the second biggest search engine in the world, YouTube. Especially for the independent doc filmmaker. Here at TDL we have long talked about the importance of you, the doc filmmaker, in fully embracing and becoming your best entrepreneurial self. The...
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Making the Sports Documentary with Gotham Chopra
Sports documentaries have really come into their own as a documentary genre. The truth is that the built-in drama and sometimes off-the-field shenanigans make for some really compelling stories. Entities like ESPN's 30 For 30 series, HBO Sports, Netflix and Hulu's ventures into sports docuseries,...
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Documentary Film and the Music Composer with Nainita Desai
When it comes to documentary film - and really film, in general - one of the forgotten heroes is often the film's music composer. And yet, it's often the music that truly elevates a film from good to greatness, making the storyline and all of its visuals just a bit more rich, complex, and...
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Mental Health and the Documentary Filmmaker with Rebecca Day
We doc filmmakers are no strangers to mental health. Whether by the very nature of being doc filmmakers or from the subjects of our documentaries, we're often dealing with levels of anxiety, stress, and/or depression on a daily basis. Still it's not something that we often openly talk about. That...
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Finding Yingying with Jiayan Shi
When it comes to being affected by the coronavirus, we doc filmmakers, of course, are no exception. Whether we work in tv broadcasting, run video productions, or are freelancers, we are all feeling the impact of the massive shutdowns happening due to Covid-19. So in today's episode I'd like to...
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Fire in Paradise with Drea Cooper
One of the most compelling, intense, and well done documentaries that I saw in all of 2019 wasn't even a feature length film. In fact, its run time was only 39 minutes. But it was 39 mins of riveting documentary that was financed and distributed by Netflix, and it came from ZCDC's Zachary…
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Documentary Film Promotions & Marketing with Jon Reiss
The playing field for distribution, promotions, and marketing for independent documentary filmmakers seems to be changing daily. But one thing that remains, is Jon Reiss, the veritable guru on all things film distro, promotions, and marketing. And for this week's episode he weighs in on this...
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First Time Doc Filmmaker Wins the Stanley Cup, with Joshua Riehl
Joshua Riehl was a first time doc filmmaker when he decided to make a film about his passion for the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League. So how exactly did he manage to pull this feat off, including getting actor Jeff Daniels and some of the world's most recognizable names in hockey…
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Film Travel Tips and Gear Insurance
Are you thinking of traveling for your doc any time soon? Awesome. You know how much we love to travel for our doc filmmaking. And Chris has got some super useful tips for your doc filmmaking travel adventures! And whether you're traveling abroad or just down the street for your next bit of...
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Your Breakthrough Year and #Doclifer, Josh Davidsburg
Shouldn't you be making 2020 your breakthrough year in documentary filmmaking? We all know how difficult, sometimes frustrating, it can be getting our doc films made. And how trying it can be living our doc lives. No one knows this better than I. Which is why in this episode I have decided to...
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Season Two TDL BONUS!
Welcome to your Season Two BONUS episode! In which you'll find selections from five of some of my favorite conversations that I've had with documentary filmmakers over the past 120 episodes of the show. Below, you can click on the full episodes to listen to the conversations in their entirety.…
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Documenting Your Family with Irene Taylor Brodsky
Filming the ones that we love and making documentaries about them can be a challenging, but ultimately very rewarding experience. It can be full of emotional pitfalls. It can bring families closer together . And no one knows this better than Academy Award-nominated and Emmy Award-winning…
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Editing For Documentary Filmmakers with Paddy Bird
One of the most popular topics on The Documentary Life deals with post production. More specifically, editing your documentary film. And not surprisingly one of the most popular guests on the program is industry expert, Paddy Bird. Because of this we've decided to make this week's episode an…
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Filming Behind Bars with Lynn Novick and Sarah Botstein
Two veterans of Ken Burns films, Lynn Novick and Sarah Botstein, have recently completed work on their documentary film, four-part PBS series, College Behind Bars. And I had the pleasure of speaking with the both of them about some of their experiences working on Ken Burns’ films as well as what…
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How to Raise $8k Quickly and Bring Scriptwriting Principles to Your Documentary Film
How can you raise a quick $8k in 18 days for your documentary film? Steph and I recently did this on our doc project, Elvis of Cambodia. We’d like to share a few things that worked well and one thing that we wished we’d done! How can you bring feature narrative scriptwriting principles to my...
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Sculpture, Breast Cancer, and Documentary Film with Prune Nourry
How does one combine the expanse of one’s artistic works and their personal journey with breast cancer into their first documentary film? This is what was on my mind as I spoke with French sculptor, installation artist, anthropologist, cancer survivor and now documentary filmmaker, Prune Nourry....
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Email Marketing for the Documentary Filmmaker
What if there was a viable way for the independent documentary filmmaker to build and sustain an audience to support your doc films for the duration of your career? And what if there was a straight forward way that you, the doc filmmaker, could do it without having to break the bank on marketing...
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Documentary Filmmaking Abroad with Edward Watts & Waad Al-Kateab
If you were subjected to daily bombardment from the air, you were entrenched in a make-shift hospital, and you’d just recently had a baby, would you still be able to pick up your camera and film events? Well, if you’re Syrian doc filmmaker, Waad Al-Kateab, you would. And she did, while living in...
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The Fundraising Houseparty For the Documentary Filmmaker
What if there was a pretty straightforward way for the independent documentary filmmaker to raise a quick infusion of funding for their documentary film… simply by holding a party? Well, there is. It’s called the fundraising houseparty. And there is a science to it. And we’ve got film fundraising...
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Lean Team Documentary Filmmaking with Rustin Thompson
Ever noticed just how many barriers there seem to be to this documentary filmmaking thing? Funding. Equipment. Live pitch presentations. Distribution platforms. You name it, everywhere you turn as a doc filmmaker, there seems to be something keeping you from actually doing the thing that matters...
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The Doc Filmmaker’s Money Mindset & Blue Collar Filmmaking
So many of us doc filmmakers think that we’ll never make any money from our films. Or that we’re incapable of raising money for them. And that’s wrong. There is actually no reason that any of us should assume that those statements are true. This is all about our money mindset! You see, a lot of…
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Melbourne Documentary and Chasing the Jet Stream
So many doc filmmakers are doing the one person crew documentary. For many, it’s a necessary evil due to financial constraints of the doc filmmaker. But for some, like doco Claudio von Planta, it’s the preferred way of shooting his films. And it also just so happens to be the reason that he’s…
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Make Great Documentaries From Where You Are with Billy Corben
How many times have you been approached by a friend or family member with another “great idea for a documentary”, when they find out that you’re a doc filmmaker? Well, if you’re anything like Miami doc filmmaker, Billy Corben – director behind such docs as Cocaine Cowboys, ESPN 30 for 30’s The U,...
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Maiden and Archival Storytelling with Alex Holmes
Ever wonder what it might be like to discover a treasure trove of archival footage that lay untouched for over thirty years for your documentary film? That’s exactly what happened for veteran BBC and multi-award winning filmmaker, Alex Holmes on his latest film, Maiden, a documentary about 26…
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Meta Filmmaking and Framing John DeLorean
When filmmakers Don Argott and Sheena M. Joyce met, it was a match in doc filmmaking heaven. Their first documentary film, The Art of the Steal, was a Netflix hit that would lead them to their next doc projects, and ultimately to their lives as full-time documentary filmmakers. Their current…
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Making a Documentary Series in China with Dominic Johnson-Hill
Entrepreneur, Dominic Johnson-Hill, has just spent the last year traveling China and presenting for the documentary series, Seasons of China. But the journey to becoming one of China’s most recognizable tv presenters was a unique one, and certainly not without its challenges. When Dominic...
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Doug Block and The D-Word
Doug Block has made a living out of the personal documentary style, including films like Home Page, 51 Birch Street, and The Kids Grow Up. He is also the pioneer behind one of the largest online documentary filmmaking communities, The D-word, which has just recently had its twentieth anniversary....
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Crowdfunding Your Documentary Film with John Trigonis
Few people know the crowdfunding game like John Trigonis. He is considered to be one of the leading experts in the game. And with good reason, since he has been leading some of the most impressive crowdfunding campaigns for film companies and independent filmmakers over the past decade, worked…
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Doc Filmmaking, Festivals, and Podcasting with Thom Powers
Thom Powers has been more in touch with documentary filmmaking and filmmakers than most anyone I know. Which makes sense, since he made docs for about a decade, programs for two of the most prestigious film festivals (TIFF and DOCNYC), and is now the host of the podcast, Pure Nonfiction . Please...
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On the FRONTLINE with Doc Filmmakers, James Jones and Olivier Sarbil
Doc filmmaking duo, James Jones and Olivier Sarbil, have been making their doc living on the frontline of some of the world’s most dangerous areas. But they didn’t necessarily always intend it to be this way. Join us for a powerful and engaging conversation with two filmmakers who are making some...
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The First Female Director with Pamela B. Green
We’re back! Season 2 of the TDL podcast has officially begun… Pamela B. Green has made her first documentary feature, Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy Blache. And it is about one of the true pioneers of cinema, Alice Guy Blache. You’ve probably not heard of her. You’re not alone. Even…
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100 – Happy Thanksgiving Finale From The Documentary Life
It is the week of giving thanks, as we celebrate Thanksgiving here in the U.S. Coincidentally, it is episode #100, our last episode of Season One of the podcast. And I am joined by my better half, the producer for the show, Stephanie Vincenti. And we have a lot of gratitude for what we have...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
The Documentary Life is a podcast about building a life in nonfiction storytelling.Hosted by documentary filmmaker Chris G. Parkhurst, the show explores what it really means to make documentaries—not just as a craft, but as a way of moving through the world with greater curiosity, observation, and empathy.Each episode features thoughtful conversations with filmmakers, editors, cinematographers, producers, journalists, festival programmers, and other storytellers who have dedicated themselves to telling true stories. Together, we explore the creative process, the realities of production, the ethical questions that arise when working with real people, and the personal challenges of sustaining a meaningful creative life.But The Documentary Life isn't only about cameras, funding, or film festivals.It's about learning to listen more carefully. To sit with complexity instead of rushing toward certainty. To embrace uncertainty, contradiction, and the deeply human stories that exist all ar
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The Documentary Life
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does The Documentary Life have?
The Documentary Life currently has 148 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is The Documentary Life about?
The Documentary Life is a podcast about building a life in nonfiction storytelling.Hosted by documentary filmmaker Chris G. Parkhurst, the show explores what it really means to make documentaries—not just as a craft, but as a way of moving through the world with greater curiosity, observation, and...
How often does The Documentary Life release new episodes?
The Documentary Life publishes regularly with 148 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to The Documentary Life?
You can listen to The Documentary Life on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts The Documentary Life?
The Documentary Life is created and hosted by The Documentary Life.
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