Even if you've made a brilliant fly on the wall documentary, all films are constructed in one way or another. Get behind the curtain of documentary scene structure with the iconic filmmakers featured in the 2023 release of filmmaker and esteemed Sundance advisor Maxine Trump's second book “Making a Scene in Documentary Film: Iconic Filmmakers Discuss What Works and Why”. These award winning filmmakers will hand pick their iconic scenes to screen and discuss why they are so important in the construction of a great film. You can pre-purchase a book at checkout, or books will also be available for sale after the event.
General: $16
Members: $8
General + book: $45
Members + book: $37
Panelists
Rachel Lears is an award-winning documentary director, producer and cinematographer based in Brooklyn, NY. Rachel’s films include To the End (Roadside Attractions), which premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival and was released theatrically in December 2022, and Knock Down the House (Netflix), which won the US Documentary Audience Award and the Festival Favorite award at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival, and was shortlisted for an Oscar and nominated for an Emmy in 2020. Rachel received the IDA Emerging Filmmaker Award in 2019, and also holds a PhD in Cultural Anthropology from NYU.
Cinematographer Claudia Raschke was born in one of the largest European ports near the Baltic Sea in Northern Germany. Throughout her childhood the chain of movie theaters owned by her mother brought Claudia into the world of film. After college Claudia's studied of the art and technique of cinematography on the practical level while working with some of the most prominent and accomplished international filmmakers. She is a founding member of the NYC Kamera Kollektiv, a boutique agency for documentary cinematographers and a member of AMPAS. Among her many notable award winning films are: Oscar-nominated and Emmy winning RBG (Magnolia/ Participant/ CNN Films), Oscar-nominated God is the Bigger Elvis (HBO), Oscar short-listed Julia (CNN Films/ Imagine Entertainment/ Sony Classic) and Mad Hot Ballroom(Paramount), Oscar short-listed and Emmy winning Boys State (A24), Peabody Award-winning My Name is Paul Murray (Amazon Studios/Participant Media), Critics Award nominated Fauci (NAT GEO/ Magnolia/ Disney+), Particle Fever (Bond 360), The Freedom to Marry (Argot Pictures). Her latest documentary series work includes The House of Hammer (Discovery +), Eleanor and Franklin (CNN), and Pharma (Showtime) to be released in 2023.
Gabriel Rhodes’ feature documentary credits include Time (2021 Oscar nomination), The First Wave (2022 Emmy Editing Award, Oscar Shortlist), Matangi/Maya/M.I.A. (2018 Special Jury Prize Sundance), Newtown, The Witness, 1971, and The Tillman Story (2010 Oscar Shortlist). His work has premiered at Sundance, Cannes, NY Film Festival, Tribeca and many other festivals. He received his Master’s degree in documentary film from Stanford University in 2000. He lives in Brooklyn, NY with his wife and two sons.
Lynn True is a documentary filmmaker and co-founder of True Walker Productions. Her films as a director/producer/editor include Lumo (PBS/P.O.V. 2007), Summer Pasture (PBS/Independent Lens 2012), and In Transit (Tribeca Film Festival 2015, Special July Prize). Lynn has also worked extensively as an editor on projects for other directors, production companies and clients; recent credits include Season 11 of Art in the 21st Century for PBS and Stolen Youth: Inside the Cult at Sarah Lawrence for Hulu. She regularly serves as a consultant on projects at various stages of production and mentor to filmmakers from a range of backgrounds and programs; Lynn has been an Advisor to the Sundance Co//ab, a Mentor at the Catapult and True/False Rough Cut Retreat, and on the jury of the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival. She graduated from Brown University with a joint degree in Urban Studies and Architecture and lives in New York with her husband and their two young sons.
Maxine Trump's latest critically acclaimed feature documentary To Kid or Not To Kid? has played in theaters and on TV networks around the world and can be found streaming on Amazon. She has directed feature docs, hour long series, short documentaries and branded content. For BBC, Discovery, Sundance Channel, PBS, TNT, and many more. She started her work life at the BBC in London where she was a development executive for scripted comedy and thinks humor is important in every documentary film, whatever the subject.
Maxine is a Sundance instructor, having devised and implemented courses for their documentary team. This is her second documentary book for Routledge "Making A Scene, in Documentary Film". She is a massive doc nerd and thoroughly enjoys working as a story consultant for documentary filmmakers too. So get in touch.