Video: Storytelling from Concept to Completion
The very key to creating a compelling documentary is storytelling. How can you, as a producer, sell a story to an underwriter, research the concept, shoot the required video, purchase the necessary stock footage, and edit it all together to tell a story that is interesting, entertaining and informative? To anyone who has tried, it’s no easy task. Join our Emmy award winning panel to discuss the methods they have used to pitch, create, and deliver award winning documentaries to some of America’s biggest networks.
Joe Lavine is a director/producer with wide-ranging experience in longform documentary storytelling. His films have earned him multiple industry awards, with a focus on both contemporary as well as historical figures and genres. Joe spent seventeen years at HBO Sports, first as a features producer for Inside the NFL and Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, and as producer for the network’s acclaimed documentary series, Sports of the 20th Century. Promoted to the influential leadership role as vice president & senior producer, he steered development and production of all HBO Sports’ award-winning documentaries. With multiple Emmys and top industry recognition under his belt, Joe took the leap to start his own company, Trenton Makes Productions. The following year, he directed and produced Playing for the Mob, selected for ESPN’s unprecedented series “30 for 30,” which won an Emmy as the year’s outstanding documentary series. Most recently, he directed an ABC Television primetime special for NFL Films, and is presently shooting a series for A&E Network.
Ouisie Shapiro is an Emmy award-winning writer/producer of sports documentaries. Her TV credits include ESPN’s Playing for the Mob, as well as HBO’s Breaking the Huddle: The Integration of College Football; Lombardi; and Dare to Dream: The Story of the U.S. Woman’s Soccer Team. In addition, she is the co-author of “War in the Ring: Joe Louis, Max Schmeling and the Fight Between America and Hitler”; “One Nation Under Baseball: How the 1960s Collided with the National Pastime”; and the upcoming “Doomed: The Tragic Case of Sacco and Vanzetti.” She holds an MA in journalism from New York University.