Investigative Documentary Production
What You Get
Investigative documentaries take time. You're not covering daily news—you're spending weeks or months on a single story, digging through documents, building trust with sources, and crafting a narrative that holds attention for 30 to 60 minutes.
This program covers the full production cycle. You'll learn how to identify stories worth investigating, develop source networks, conduct on-camera interviews that reveal new information, and structure long-form narratives that build tension and maintain clarity.
Research and pre-production
Most of the work happens before you touch a camera. We cover records requests, database research, document analysis, and how to organize complex information. You'll learn interview techniques that go beyond surface questions—how to prepare, how to listen, and how to follow up when someone dodges an answer.
The production phase involves different shooting strategies than daily news. You're capturing observational footage, building visual sequences, and recording sync sound that supports cinematic editing. We discuss camera choices, lighting for interviews that feel natural rather than corporate, and audio recording that meets broadcast standards.
- Developing investigative story ideas and securing access
- Managing sensitive sources and protecting their identity
- Conducting in-depth interviews that generate news
- Shooting observational documentary footage
- Structuring long-form narratives in the edit
- Legal review and fact-checking processes
Good investigative work often means sitting with uncomfortable silences and following leads that go nowhere. Not everything makes the final cut.
Post-production for long-form work is iterative. You'll go through multiple rough cuts, test screenings, and revisions. We cover narrative structure, pacing, music choices, and how to present complex information visually through motion graphics and archival integration.
Workshop Structure
Learning path
- Phase 1: Story development (3 weeks)
- Identifying investigative angles, preliminary research, evaluating feasibility, pitching to editors or funders, creating production timelines and budgets
- Phase 2: Research and access (4 weeks)
- Public records requests, database journalism, building source relationships, legal considerations, developing interview strategies, location scouting
- Phase 3: Production (5 weeks)
- Documentary cinematography, multi-camera interview setups, recording production sound, observational filming techniques, managing archival materials, maintaining production logs
- Phase 4: Post-production (6 weeks)
- Logging and organizing footage, transcript-based editing, narrative structure development, rough cut assembly, incorporating graphics and archival, music selection and sound design
- Phase 5: Finishing and legal review (2 weeks)
- Fact-checking processes, legal review for defamation and privacy, final color correction and audio mix, creating distribution versions, preparing press materials
Workshop Price
20-week program with mentorship from working investigative journalists. Includes production insurance and legal consultation hours. Equipment checkout available.
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