HAVE AN IDEA FOR A DOCUMENTARY FILM, BUT DON'T KNOW WHERE TO START?
How to turn an idea into a story
I was at a documentary filmmaker meetup late last month when another filmmaker asked me: When you have a large-scale topic or issue on which you want to do a documentary, where do you start? And how do you take this idea, and turn it into a story?

There are so many potential ways to approach a project, and there is probably no such thing as a wrong way (other than not starting). However, beginning without exploring all the possible opportunities and options may limit what can be created.
PS: This article covers an example for the first six steps of my checklist, Documentary Development Checklist.
FIRST STEPS: RESEARCH AND BRAINSTORM
This is how I would begin my development into the story.
I’m going to use a hypothetical example here so that none of you readers can steal his idea 🙂
Let’s say you want to do a documentary on a new “gentrification” building/housing development being built in a historically poor/lower-class neighbourhood. You probably read about the issue in a local newspaper, so you’ve done some very preliminary research. Chances are, though, the newspaper didn’t do a deep dive into the topic.
My first step would be to research every potential angle from which you could tell the story.
Let’s list some ideas. At this stage, there are no limitations; just let your imagination run wild.
You can tell the story from the perspective of:
- A family that will be displaced from their home
- A child of that family that will be forced to move schools/lose their friends
- The community fighting against the project
- A nonprofit organization that is helping the community
- A nonprofit organization fighting the proposal in court
- The lawyers working pro-bono to help the community group or non-profit
- The developers who want to make the project
- A construction worker who is working on the project
- A city planner who approved the project
- City council
- The Mayor
- Businesses in the area that may be affected, either negatively or positively
- Academics who research gentrification and housing development
You may be able to think of more potential angles from which to approach this, but this is a good start.
Doing this brainstorming can help you identify new potential story angles or themes you may not have considered originally.
WHICH ANGLE ARE YOU MOST INTERESTED IN?
Next, think about where your particular interest lies. Are you more interested in the people aiming to protect their neighbourhood from encroaching gentrification? Perhaps you are more interested in the need for the city to provide more density in inner-city neighbourhoods.
DOCUMENTARY STYLE
Now, you need to think about the type of documentary you want to do. Do you want to do a character-driven, POV documentary where the main perspective that matters is your main participant? Do you want to do a multi-character doc showing multiple sides of the story? Do you want to have it focused solely on the issue without diving too deep into any one particular side? Don’t worry too much about sticking to the style right away. Your chosen style may change as you progress through the development process.
Along with thinking about the style of the film, do some research and see if similar films have been done on the same topic, issue or themes in the past and see how they approached it. Think about if there are any elements from those films you liked that you want to replicate (stealing like an artist is ok!), or do you want to take an entirely new or different approach?
FIND/REACH OUT TO POTENTIAL PARTICIPANTS
Now that you have a list of potential angles and a starting point for a style of film, it’s time to start finding the people who can help you tell it.
You can find people to reach out to in many different places. Was someone mentioned in the article you read about the Issue? Contact them. Is there a community Facebook group you can ask in? Post a question looking for someone there. Is there someone at the participating nonprofit you can talk to? Reach out to them. Does the neighbourhood have a coffee shop or pub you can visit to try to meet people? Go there.
Next, you need to find out more about their story and their role in the development, neighbourhood, or issue and see if their story aligns with an angle you’re interested in. If their story or view on the topic aligns with your viewpoints (or if it doesn’t, perhaps they could be the antagonist in the film), ask if they’re interested in participating in your documentary so they can share their side of the story.
CONCLUSION
As you can tell, this is a lot of work, but if you’re going to spend months or years pursuing making this film, you deserve to put in the attention and effort up front to ensure you’re telling the best version of the story.
If you follow the path above, you’ll be well on your way to finding the story within your topic and/or issue. As is normal in documentary, the story may change as you progress, but this is a good start.
BONUS
The process described above assumes you’re finding your story through an external source like the news. But what if there was a way you could never run out of documentary ideas to start with?
My course, Finding Yourself as a Documentary Filmmaker, helps you explore the themes that have run through your life and your experiences so you never run out of ideas that resonate with you. To learn more, visit the course page below.