Conversations with documentary filmmakers and video journalists about their creative process—successes, failures, and what they’ve learned along the way. Created by the global filmmaking collective The Video Consortium, Rough Cut is a guide to navigating today’s ever-changing media landscape.
Raney Aronson-Rath Reflects On Ten Years Leading Frontline
49 mins; March 09, 2026
The Art of Resistance: Navigating Scarcity and Chaos in Latin American Cinema
28 mins; February 16, 2026
Intimate Narratives: Kristin Feeley with the “Holding Liat” team on Collaboration and Community
41 mins; January 12, 2026
Best Seat in the House: Behind the Lens with the LA Sparks Videographer Alicia Ramirez
16 mins; December 09, 2025
Activism, Art, and the Business of Documentary Film with Jarod Neece and Nicholas Bruckman
34 mins; November 04, 2025
Trust, TikTok, and the Future of News with Ryan Kellett and Dave Jorgenson
43 mins; October 06, 2025
Trust Through Transparency: Rethinking Pay and Power in Documentary
38 mins; September 08, 2025
From Grassroots to Netflix: Inside the Join or Die Impact Campaign
30 mins; August 04, 2025
Digging Through Time and Truth: Archival Ethics in the Age of AI
31 mins; June 30, 2025
Filming Family: The Ethics of Documenting Loved Ones with Ondi Timoner
24 mins; June 02, 2025
Framing the Artist: Inside Nathan-ism with Dennis Scholl and Elan Golod
24 mins; May 05, 2025
Filming a documentary on an iPhone: Ann Collins with Sandra Luckow
27 mins; March 31, 2025
Journalism in the Age of Vertical Video with Brandon Graves and Kamaria Roberts
23 mins; March 03, 2025
The Vital Power of Local Stories: Kevin Merida and Dawn Porter
40 mins; February 03, 2025
Cocaine Cowboys and Challenging Industry Expectations: Billy Corben and Alfred Spellman
28 mins; January 06, 2025
Storytelling With Mixed Media and Animation: Lizzy Hogenson and Zach Dorn
54 mins; December 02, 2024
Creative Teams that Vibe: NPR’s Mito Habe-Evans and Quincy Ledbetter
27 mins; November 11, 2024
Joss Fong and Adam Cole on Building New Audiences
46 mins; October 01, 2024
Putting on a Show: How Magic Taught Ben Proudfoot to Make Movies
41 mins; September 02, 2024
Why Start a Production Company?: Scott Faris with Meg Griffiths
43 mins; August 05, 2024
Transitioning from Photo to Video: Ed Ou with Amanda Mustard
38 mins; July 02, 2024
The Biggest Challenges Facing the Documentary Industry
32 mins; January 05, 2024
Inside Programming at Hot Docs Film Festival
19 mins; July 10, 2023
Lessons from a First Time Filmmaker
19 mins; April 05, 2023
What Documentary Filmmakers Can Learn from Narrative
21 mins; March 09, 2023
Rita Baghdadi on Building Intimacy with Subjects & Directing and Shooting Simultaneously
25 mins; January 20, 2023
When Subjects Change their Relationship with your Film
39 mins; December 01, 2022
What Do Filmmakers Owe Their Subjects?
35 mins; November 10, 2022
Two Documentaries on the Same Subject?
25 mins; October 20, 2022
The Relationship between Filmmaker and Subject
29 mins; September 29, 2022
Licensing Music For Your Film
27 mins; September 08, 2022
How to Create a Film Festival Strategy
27 mins; June 01, 2022
Jon Gerberg on Covering the War in Ukraine
40 mins; April 14, 2022
Chloe Gbai on What Makes a Great Documentary Short
33 mins; February 25, 2022
Poh Si Teng on What Makes a Strong Grant Application
35 mins; December 19, 2021
Joe Posner on Building Vox Video
31 mins; October 14, 2021
The Power of VR Documentaries
48 mins; August 15, 2021
How to Negotiate a Fair Rate
43 mins; June 27, 2021
Hao Wu on Directing a Film Remotely
35 mins; May 30, 2021
Geeta Gandbhir on Authorship and Working with Editors
44 mins; April 28, 2021
Jeremy Workman: The Art of Trailer Editing
45 mins; February 28, 2021
Emily Strong: Sound in Documentary
34 mins; January 31, 2021
Uptin Saiidi: What Works on Social Media
41 mins; December 30, 2020
Julie Cohen on Making a Commercially Successful Documentary
41 mins; November 15, 2020
When the Personal is Political in Documentary Film
36 mins; October 11, 2020
Funding Your Film: How to Get Started
29 mins; September 14, 2020
Sven Pape: Learning Documentary Editing
28 mins; August 20, 2020
Marco Williams: A Filmmaker’s Role during Social Change
43 mins; July 31, 2020
The Future of Film Festivals
50 mins; July 17, 2020
Claire Gordon: How to Simplify Complex Ideas
29 mins; June 12, 2020
Joe Coscarelli: The Art of the Remote Interview
34 mins; May 21, 2020
Rachel Mason: How to Make a Film About Your Family
33 mins; May 07, 2020
BONUS: The Impact of COVID-19
60 hours 40 mins; April 07, 2020
Wendy Cohen: How to Maximize Your Film's Impact
38 mins; March 18, 2020
Chloe Gbai on What Makes a Great Documentary Short
32 mins; March 04, 2020
Luke Lorentzen: The Art of Shooting Solo
30 mins; February 12, 2020
Lance Oppenheim: From Short Doc to Feature
45 mins; January 27, 2020
Kevin Klauber on Documentary Editing
39 mins; January 09, 2020
Bing Liu on Making a Personal Documentary
30 mins; December 18, 2019
Charles Haine on Marketing Yourself as a Filmmaker
38 mins; December 04, 2019
Wonbo Woo: From Broadcast to Digital
40 mins; November 14, 2019
Vanessa Carr on Learning Cinematography
43 mins; October 30, 2019
Mohammad Gorjestani: Why Subjects Should Be Collaborators
35 mins; October 16, 2019
Courtney Coupe on How Stories Go Viral
40 mins; October 02, 2019
Johnny Harris on How to Learn New Skills Quickly
36 mins; September 18, 2019
Ed Ou on Transitioning from Photo to Video
40 mins; July 23, 2019
Glen Zipper on How Directors Should Pitch to Producers
29 mins; June 12, 2019
Pamela B. Green on the Darkest Moments in Filmmaking
23 mins; May 29, 2019
Meghan Oretsky: How to get your film on Vimeo Staff Picks
28 mins; May 15, 2019
Rachel Lears on how to choose the right subjects for your documentary
23 mins; May 02, 2019
Dan Berger: Film Distribution 101
35 mins; April 17, 2019
Mickey Duzyj & Mona Panchal: How to Bounce Back from Failure
31 mins; April 03, 2019
Nausheen Dadabhoy on Choosing the Right Team for your Film
38 mins; March 20, 2019
Alexandria Bombach on how filmmakers should portray stories of trauma and why she edits her own films
37 mins; March 06, 2019
Jon Kasbe on shooting vs editing and what it's like to watch his own film in a theater
35 mins; February 20, 2019
Erin Lee Carr on how to pitch a documentary to HBO and lessons from her dad, David Carr
41 mins; January 24, 2019
Spencer Chumbley on shooting in war zones and the benefits of being self-taught
