Documentary First 🎬🎧

Documentary First — real stories, real craft, real people. We’re a documentary production company and weekly podcast exploring the art and business of nonfiction filmmaking. 🎧 THE PODCAST 270+ episodes with filmmakers behind HBO, Netflix, PBS, and indie docs. New interviews every week + The Deep Dive solo episodes on craft and business. Listen: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube 🎬 OUR FILMS The Girl Who Wore Freedom — award-winning D-Day documentary (streaming now) Grueling Glory — short film streaming on website Heroes of Carentan — doc in post production The Brave Dutch — doc series in development Watch: documentaryfirst.com Donate: givebutter.com/LivingStoriesL… Email: help@documentaryfirst.com

dejavu-the-movie.com Déjà Vu What would you watch first?

alieatsamerica.com Ali Eats America

Today's children may be the first generation in American history to live shorter lives than their parents. Corporations are putting profit over people. Three docs are telling that story. Almost nobody is hearing them. Deep Dive on Ep. 276 is out now! 🎙️ tinyurl.com/DocFirstApple #DocumentaryFilm #IndieFilm

Three films. One urgent story. The 100-Year Effect, Ali Eats America, Déjà Vu. Listen here: tinyurl.com/DocFirstApple

Today's children may be the first generation in American history to live shorter lives than their parents. That's the central argument of one of three documentaries I watched in a single weekend at the Julian Dubuque International Film Festival. They were all telling me the same story. 🎙️ New Deep Dive on Ep. 276 is live now. #DocumentaryFilm

Documentary editors and directors: sticky notes on a wall still your go-to, or has the digital timeline fully replaced it? Curious what's actually happening in edit bays in 2026.

How documentary crews crack a story at 1 AM. ______ Robin Canfield of @actualityabroad teaches the paper-cut editing method to every crew in every country. Here's how it works: 1. Cover a wall with sticky notes. One for every beat of the story. 2. Move them around. Try things. Lose the thread. Put them back. 3. Around 1 AM, with half the crew asleep in chairs, someone moves one last sticky note. 4. Everyone wakes up. That's the edit. Robin closes with the rule his crews live by: screen every film locally before you leave the country. The people in the story are the first audience. 🎬 DF Episode 276 is live now. linktr.ee/doc1st #DocumentaryFilmmaking #FilmEditing #documentary #filmmaker #filmmaking #actualityabroad #filmeducation #indiefilm #documentarypodcast #papercut @ChristiansVoice

Documentary editors and directors: sticky notes on a wall still your go-to, or has the digital timeline fully replaced it? Curious what's actually happening in edit bays in 2026.

For anyone who's shot docs in places with strong government oversight: how do you handle the "we're being watched" moments? Walk away, keep rolling, or something else?

Hoi An, Vietnam. Robin walks into his regular coffee shop. It's empty except for a man in a suit, smoking, staring out the window. Then the man turns and smiles. ——— Robin Canfield co-founded @actualityabroad 15 years ago and has led documentary crews in 20+ countries. He's the author of Purpose-Driven Documentaries from Focal Press. The man in the coffee shop wasn't a stranger. He'd been out in the villages watching them work. Filming documentaries abroad means sometimes realizing you're the one being filmed. 🎬 Episode is live now. linktr.ee/doc1st Presented by our friends at Virgil Films #DocumentaryFilmmaking #documentary #filmmaker #filmmaking #travelfilmmaker #Vietnam #indiefilm #videojournalism #internationalfilmmaking #documentarypodcast

For anyone running doc workshops: at what point does the gear stop being the blocker and start being the teacher?

Ten women from Chicago. Zero film experience. iPhones on Tilta rigs. Shooting confidently within minutes. ___ Robin Canfield of @actualityabroad has produced 200+ short documentaries in 20+ countries. He's started teaching with iPhones because novice filmmakers actually use a phone. They freeze with a pro camera. The barrier isn't the talent. It's the gear. 🎬 Episode is live now. linktr.ee/doc1st #DocumentaryFilmmaking #iPhoneFilmmaking #MobileFilmmaking #documentary #filmmaker #filmmaking #actualityabroad #indiefilm #videojournalism #documentarypodca

NEW EPISODE. OUT NOW. Why do documentary subjects freeze for a professional camera, but open up to a phone? Today on Documentary First, I am joined by Robin Canfield, co-founder of Actuality Abroad and author of Purpose Driven Documentaries. Robin has helped produce 200+ short documentaries in 20+ countries. He joins me from Saigon, Vietnam. We talk about: — Why he switched from Canon cameras to phones — The paper-cut editing method his crews use at 1 AM — What happened the day a government minder followed them into a Vietnamese coffee shop — Documentary funding and the case for crowdfunding — Why communication may matter more than any gear you buy Listen, watch, and subscribe: linktr.ee/doc1st #DocumentaryFilmmaking #IndieFilm #iPhoneFilmmaking #DocumentaryPodcast #Filmmaker #DocumentaryFunding

Thoreau rode the train 70 times after swearing he'd never ride it. What tool do you hate and use every day?

AI - @‌ChristiansVoice hates it and uses it every day. Her VO business is tanking because of it. Her filmmaking has never been better because of it. So she went to Thoreau. He hated the train. Rode it 70 times. Used the tool deliberately. From this week’s Deep Dive, based on her conversation with Erik and Chris Ewers, directors of the @PBS Henry David Thoreau doc. Ex. produced by @KenBurns and Don Henley. Narrated by George Clooney. @realJeffGoldbum as Thoreau. @TedDanson as Emerson. Meryl Streep and Tate Donovan. 🎙️ SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST: Apple Podcasts: tinyurl.com/DocFirstApple Spotify: tinyurl.com/DocFirstSpotify Amazon Music: tinyurl.com/DocFirstAmazon #AI #thoreau #livedeliberately #documentary #PBS #AIrevolution #voiceactor #georgeclooney #jeffgoldblum #merylstreep #teddanson

What part of your work can AI already do? What part can it never touch?

Every revolution feels like the end of the world. It’s not. But it IS the end of coasting. “It’s the end of phoning it in - because now the phone can do it for you.” What survives? The people who show up. From this week’s Deep Dive w/ @‌christiansvoice ↓ with Erik and Christopher Ewers, directors of the @PBS Henry David Thoreau documentary, ex. produced by @KenBurns and Don Henley of the Eagles. With @realJGoldblum voicing Thoreau, @TedDanson voicing Ralph Waldo Emerson, George Clooney narrating and Meryl Streep as Lidian Emerson and others. Out now on @primevideo Full Deep Dive on Ep. 275 out now - link in bio. Text this to someone who needs to hear it. 🎧 Apple: tinyurl.com/DocFirstApple 🎧 Spotify: tinyurl.com/DocFirstSpotify 🎥 YouTube: tinyurl.com/DocFirstYouTube #AI #voiceactor #thoreau #documentary #PBS #AIrevolution #futureofwork

OUT TODAY! NEW: They Wanted My Voice to Train AI Someone tried to harvest @ChristiansVoice for AI training. She asked 10 questions. They disappeared. On this week’s Deep Dive, she connects that to Henry David Thoreau, the Ewers Brothers' @PBS doc (ex. produced by @KenBurns ), and what actually survives a revolution. → Thoreau hated the train. Rode it 70 times. → @realJGoldblum, @TedDanson, George Clooney, Meryl Streep all star. → What “live deliberately” means now 🎧 🎥Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the… 🎧🎥Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/4JloIB… 🎥 YouTube: youtu.be/-SkCzT4Wcjk #AI #voiceactor #voicecloning #thoreau #documentary #PBS #AIvoiceacting #georgeclooney #jeffgoldblum #merylstreep #podcast