Documentary Genres:
Project 1 Earth will use the following 10 guidelines for the specific categories or Genres of Social and Promotional Impact.
Arts, Culture and Humanities
Arts, culture, and humanitie bring the performing arts to the public; preserve and commemorate the events, places, and cultures that created and continue to shape the nation; and promote the distribution of ideas. They range from internationally renowned art museums to small historical societies, major theatrical venues to charities that bring the arts into schools to promote scholastic achievement, and major broadcasting services to local-access radio and TV.
Education
Education nonprofits promote learning and intellectual development from cradle to grave, from preschools through post-graduate schools and adult learning programs. They also include schools for students with special needs, organizations offering vocational and technical training, libraries, literacy programs, scholarships, student organizations, and parent-teacher groups.
Research
The research category comprises science, technology, and social science institutes. A nonprofit in this category may focus on astronomy, chemistry, or other physical science; engineering; computer science; marine biology, physiology, or other biological science; anthropology, economics, international law, political science, or other social science; or interdisciplinary fields, such as black studies, ethnic studies, gerontology, labor studies, and urban studies.
Environment
Environmental organizations are dedicated to reclaiming and preserving natural resources and to beautifying the world around us. They range from recycling programs to wetlands management to garden clubs.
Animals
Animal nonprofits include humane societies and SPCAs, bird and wildlife sanctuaries, fisheries, veterinary organizations, zoos, and animal-training nonprofits.
Health
Health nonprofits cover a broad range of organizations concerned with the body or mind. Hospitals, substance abuse and additional treatment programs, diseases and disease research, medical disciplines and specialty research, and mental health and crisis services all fall into this category.
Human Services
Human service nonprofits are the organizations that most people think of when they hear the word nonprofit. They feed the hungry, assist crime victims and offenders, provide job training, house the homeless, help people prepare for and recover from disasters, maintain playgrounds and athletic fields, act as advocates for children, and offer programs to help youth mature into adults who contribute to society.
International
International organizations focus their efforts outside U.S. borders. Development relief organizations, human rights advocates, peace and security nonprofits, and organizations that promote international understanding all fall into this category.
Public, Social Benefit
Public and social benefit work in the areas of civil rights and civil liberties, community improvement, philanthropy and volunteerism, and voter education and registration. They also include life insurance providers, unemployment compensation organizations, pension and retirement funds, fraternal groups, employee associations, and cemeteries.
Religion
Religious organizations encompass houses of worship for the world’s major religions, including Christianity—both Protestantism and Catholicism—Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism. Religious print and broadcast nonprofits as well as organizations dedicated to interfaith issues also fall into this category.
(From Guidestar.org)
Our Team:
Project 1 Earth has established a joint venture with Kder1Productions and UPC Business to create a strategic alliance that will help us achieve the objectives and mission of our visions. Each of these companies bring a unique qualification for establishing excellence.
You can discover more detail about these companies on the Production page.
Lacey McClellan
Founder / President
David Newingham
Founder / Board Director
Kader Chelef
Board Member
Louis Schneidman
Board Member
About Us
Mission:
Project 1 Earth forms strategic alliances to produce and feature documentary film projects that focus on Promotional and Educational Filmmaking. It is our mission to create every film with the power to convey a message of creativity and passion that will take our viewers on a journey of the mind and soul.
This format allows a variation of communication through visual imagery,
Promotional video content for the web is a powerful way to communicate a message and it is used by many companies and organizations. It allows communication in a variety of forms including spoken word and visual imagery but it also facilitates a connection with the audience on a more subconscious level. A promotional video containing a product, message or guidance must look professional - but before you spend your annual marketing budget employing a production company, ask yourself if you can achieve appropriate results by applying the hints and tips below.
We produce promotional documentaries for organizations making positive changes in the world. A Skurnik Productions documentary will convey your message with passion and emotion and take viewers on a journey through your organization’s transformational work. Leveraging social media, your video will be viewed online by thousands of people and can be distributed on DVD as well. In a way no other tool can, your video will galvanize fundraising and capacity building while educating and empowering your constituency. Watch our reel or click on our clients’ logos to watch the films we produced for them.
"Documentaries bring viewers into new worlds and experiences through the presentation of factual information about real people, places, and events, generally -- but not always -- portrayed through the use of actual images and artifacts. But factuality alone does not define documentary films; it's what the filmmaker does with those factual elements, weaving them into an overall narrative that strives to be as compelling as it is truthful and is often greater than the sum of its parts."
--Sheila Curran Bernard, Author of Documentary Storytelling
Method:
Project 1 Earth will not only produce thought provoking and educational documentary films, but will also actively search and allign with other filmmakers that are achieving this same vision. Project 1 Earth will host numerous workshops, seminars and festivals that will enhance the filmmakers artistic and craft abilities while expanding knowledge of the internal missions, methods and outcome of community and global projects.
Documentary Styles:
Project 1 Earth will focus on the standard six styles of Documentary filmmaking. The following is a brief discussion of each style.
Expository style
The primary purpose of the Expository mode is to make an argument. This is the model that is most often associated with documentary in general. The structure is grounded in a series of assertions backed up by evidence. The assertions are presented through verbal commentary from an invisible voice-over narrator, while images provide the evidence.
Examples: any Nature or American Masters documentary on PBS, History Channel documentaries, and older theatrical documentaries like The River, Night Mail, Spanish Earth, Nanook of the North
Observational style
This mode uses the observations of an unobtrusive camera to create direct engagement with the everyday life of subjects.
Examples: Primary, Titicut Follies, Gimme Shelter, The War Room, Metallica: Some Kind of Monster
Participatory style
This mode emphasizes the interaction between filmmaker and subjects. These films usually take the form of a series of interviews or other forms of even more direct involvement from conversations to provocations. Archival footage to examine historical issues is also included.
Examples: the films of Wernor Herzog, Errol Morris, and Alex Gibney, Exit through the Gift Shop, Man on Wire, The Cove.
Poetic mode
This abstract approach to documentary filmmaking emphasizes visual associations, tonal or rhythmic qualities, description, and form. These films often bear a close resemblance to experimental and avant-garde film.
Examples: Night and Fog, Araya, Koyaanisqatsi, General Orders No. 9.
Reflexive style
This mode, which includes the mockumentary format, calls attention to the assumptions and conventions that govern documentary filmmaking to increase our awareness of how films construct representations of reality.
Examples: Land Without Bread, The Man with a Movie Camera, This is Spinal Tap, F for Fake
Performative style
This mode highlights the subjective or expressive aspect of the filmmaker’s own involvement with a subject to heighten the audience’s responsiveness to the subject and to this involvement. These films reject objectivity and favor emotion.
Examples: the films of Michael Moore, Tongues Untied, Chile Obstinate Memory, Waltz with Bashir, TV shows like Cops
(From: Bill Nichols, Introduction to Documentary, 2nd Edition, Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2010, as summarized by Sarah Childress, a Meridian Stories Innovator and Artist)
Promotional style
This is a new style of documentary. These are now being used to create a powerful story or message about a cause or movement. This is the best way to brand your NPO or specific cause. This is the model that Kder1Productions specializes in.
Documentary Format:
Project 1 Earth documentary format is based on the running time of each individual film. There are a substantial difference on the running times allowed depending on the organization you are trying to get your film to. Our formats will based on the AFI (Ameican Film Institute) standards.
"Feature" Documentary (over 40 minutes)
A modern feature is typically between 80 and 180 minutes long, but different groups have different minimum lengths to be considered a feature. The Screen Actors Guild definition sets the minimum length at 80 minutes, while AFI and BFI’s definitions call any film longer than 40 minutes a feature. The Academy also uses the 40 minute benchmark to determine if a film is a feature or a short. The Sundance Film Festival sets the line at 50 minutes.
"Short" Documentary (under 40 minutes)
Any film shorter than 50 minutes qualifies as a short film for the Sundance Film Festival, while any film with a run-time under 40 minutes is eligible for the shorts categories at the Academy Awards, AFI and BFI.
"5 Minutes For Change" Documentary (under 5 minutes)
This is a relatively new format (Short Short). There are multiple documentary festivals that have different lengths. Our determination will be based on any film shorter than 5 minutes. (This does NOT include credits)