50 Documentaries to See Before You Die

One of my favorite series this summer is Current TV's "50 Documentaries to See Before You Die." Hosted by Morgan Spurlock (Director/writer/star of "Supersize Me"), the series counts down the top documentaries of the last 25 years. Documentarians like Michael Moore and Penelope Spheeris, as well as an expert panel of film industry pros and critics, discuss the impact of the films and tell the stories of how they were made. At this writing they haven't revealed the top ten yet. I suggest you all watch the series and the final ten next week. There's a lot we can learn to apply to our own content.

First of all: Passion. All of the documentarians exuded passion for their subjects. No matter whether the subject was Heavy Metal, the rise of extreme skateboarding, or the truth about the Vietnam War, every filmaker believed passionately that their story was one that had to be told.

Second: Go where the story takes you. Errol Morris never thought he'd get a 20 hour interview with Robert MacNamara, which became the center of "The Fog of War." Andrew Jarecki started to make a film about children's entertainers in New York and ended up making "Capturing the Friedmans." Go where the story takes you, and don't be afraid to tell the truth.

Third: Make it happen. Every project had its own troubles, ranging from a lack of funds, lack of historical footage, inexperience of the filmakers. They didn't let the roadblocks stop them. The documentarians figured out a way to incorporate the roadblocks in the story or they worked around them. The passion they had for their subjects wouldn't allow them to give up.

So find a story that fires your passion. Go where that story takes you. Make it happen. In the words of M.B. Ray:

"Begin doing what you want to do now. We are not living in eternity. We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand -- and melting like a snow flake."

I Have a Great Idea ...

I recently spoke to two different people who said the same thing. "I have a great idea for a television show. How can I make sure the networks won't steal it?"

Here's the answer: You can't. That's right -- you can't protect your generic idea. Here's a generic idea example: Let's do a show about two single guys with women problems who move in together. Make them divorced and middle aged and you have The Odd Couple. Make one Charlie Sheen, add a child, and you have Two and Half Men. You can't protect an idea -- you can only copyright your expression of those ideas.

The only way to protect your idea is to develop it in as much detail as possible. You can't protect the idea of creating a movie about a dysfunctional suburban family, but when you license the movie rights to a novel and create a screenplay, you can copyright your version of the story. It might be "Revolutionary Road" or it might be "Ordinary People," but both films are fully copywritten expressions of ideas.

Look at television today -- how many different shows about cake making companies are on the air on different networks? Why aren't they suing each other? Because you can't copyright an idea. You can copyright a show about a specific cake company, like Staten Island Cakes or Cake Boss, but the idea of making a show set in a cake shop cannot be owned.

You may be thinking, "but I watch a lot of reality television and it sure looks like they need better ideas." I know. I work in that world every day. Believe me, it takes a great deal of effort and creativity to grow a simple idea into a concept, characters and setting that viewers will want to watch and can sustain itself over time. That's why the people who can do that with several different series over time make a great deal of money.

So don't just come up with generic ideas. Develop them into properties, and then you'll have something to sell.