Yeah it looks easy. Sure, anybody can pick up a camera, follow a story for a long period of time, and stitch the footage together. After all, documentaries are low-budgeted and unscripted. No need for location scouting, diva actors, high-maintenance directors, ego-driven producers. Just film an interesting storyline, keep it simple and there you have it–a documentary film. But, is worthwhile documentary filmmaking all that simple as it’s cut out to be? Does it look as easy as it sounds or looks?

Well, I can tell you with my seasoned, decade-long experience the documentary film journey from concept to completion is anything but easy. Sorry to disappoint the outsiders. Documentary filmmaking requires a master thesis, Ph.D doctoral dissertation focus for months if not years. New and old filmmakers’ patience will be tested to the core. Access will often be denied.

For the most part documentaries are often born as a passion project, driven by inspired pursuit. Pitches for these kinds of films don’t come with glowing business proposals. There’s not exactly a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow once it’s done. Marketing for documentaries aren’t easy deliveries. Documentaries are evolving works of art that unravel in the journey even after the film finally makes it into the can. Producers and directors of this genre naturally get enmeshed in the characters of the film whether it’s on camera or off. This changes the film business surrounding documentary film storytelling which, in many ways, lends itself to raising awareness on issues and exposing stories that don’t usually make it in the mainstream.

Far too often I see new executive producers, directors, cinematographers, and even editors walk into various phases of documentary filmmaking with an underrated approach. Their deadlines for delivering a film to completion are oftentimes way off. They are unrealistic about the cost to a documentary–despite how low the figures are in a given budget compared to films of other genres. Music video directors who often allow behind-the-scenes footage to be made while directing their music videos believe they can spill over their approach to such content in short-form and long-form documentaries. Editors of promo videos and broadcast television news are confident their creative, informative approach can make for an easier transition in documentary film work. And, while the approach and attempts at executing are commendable it’s the underrating, underlooking approach to the arduous journey of putting a documentary film together that needs to be squashed.

The far too often saying goes: “If it was easy everybody would do it.” But the better saying is: “If it was easy, who would want to do it?” Perhaps, this underrating approach taken by new documentarians will be enough for them to appreciate the art form and platform documentary film represents. Even with not-so-good documentaries being created ad nausem and distributed everywhere the better documentaries that get the recognition it deserves will be the example of why the creation of documentaries is one of the hardest sojourns in filmmaking art.