For a sustaining, harmonious career in the filmmaking life of a documentarian the personalized story may not be the best one out the gate. “Personalized” meaning the subject of the documentary has a close relationship to the filmmaker(s) or the filmmaker(s) are the main subject of the story being told in a documentary feature-length portrait. This is no knock to personal or autobiographical pieces by emerging directors and producers of this craft. In fact, some of the best documentaries of all-time have a personal connection with the maker and creator like Bowling For Columbine, Bigger, Stronger, Faster, and Super Size Me. It is simply my contention that the first documentary should not be the story a filmmaker most needs to tell. It should be the film that teaches the documentarian how to become the kind of filmmaker who can spend a lifetime telling stories.

Personal films can consume a filmmaker whether it be their first directed title or not. As challenging as the multi-year pursuit in documenting a subject or topic on film is, adding the components of a personal connection with a story–be it for therapy, grief, identity, growth, or conflict resolution–can make or break a filmmaker even if the documentary film is officially completed. Far too often I see a creative or visionary get into documentary filmmaking for the first time for the motivation and inspiration to tell their personalized story. In this regard, the motive may be something bigger than simply building a career as a documentary filmmaker, much less sustaining one. Perhaps, the personalized piece is something to add as a family heirloom to pass on to future generations. Perhaps, the documentary is to bring full closure to a community on a given issue and bring folks together. Perhaps, the personalized piece is just that–a personal journey where a person is in need of self-reflection, growth, closure, acceptance, or even self-love.

Some of the most celebrated documentaries of the past several decades began as intensely personal projects. For some filmmakers, that story is the only one they need to tell. There is nothing inherently wrong with that pursuit. My concern is with aspiring filmmakers who believe it is the best or only way to begin a documentary filmmaking career. Telling someone else’s story will get the aspirant to delve into voices outside of themselves rendering an observational approach to visual storytelling–something that can come in handy when capturing a subject or topic in a cinema vérité form. Curiosity and discovery are oftentimes the drivers in documentary film projects. Going into something unknown and coming up with facts, details, and even nuance delivers the didactic approach from a learning motive to tell nonfiction narratives. By telling someone else’s story first, the emerging filmmaker-to-be can develop his or her own craft with a bit more distance. But, when the story is one’s own life or one’s own family/close friends, the filmmaker learns all of those skills while carrying the emotional weight of the material. That’s a difficult combination very few can pull off–especially as a debut piece.