Make Reality TV & Documentary Series | A Podcast & Blog from TV Producers & Filmmakers Joke and Biagio
How do you get started producing reality tv, documentary series, and unscripted programming? It’s a big question! We’ve been able to produce unscripted television for a while now (over 100 hours and counting) and in our effort to give back to you, have a number of podcasts and posts to help you get around the fun, crazy journey that is our career — using our filmmaking talents to produce reality TV shows.
If you’re going to produce reality TV shows in this day and age, you need to be more than just an “idea” person, more than just a shooter/producer — you need to be a creative filmmaker unafraid to get your hands dirty.
We love meeting aspiring producers who not only want to shoot and/or edit their work, but collaborate with others to make great TV projects.
Whether you want to make films, web series, or produce reality TV shows, if you hope to succeed, you’ll need to come up with great shows, but be willing to reshape those shows as you team up and collaborate with different production companies, networks, or studios.
Below you’ll find our blog posts and podcast episodes about how to produce reality TV shows. As always, we hope the information helps you on your road to success, and we hope that when you do produce reality TV shows — especially your first endeavors — that you’ll consider teaming up with us!
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 8:23 — 8.9MB)
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As 2015 comes to a close, we decided to make this episode our “end of year special!” And what could be more special than cheerful news for every kind of filmmaker? Get ready for three things we’re super jazzed about as 2015 ends and 2016 dawns…
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If you want to work in unscripted television, reality TV — or the entertainment business in general — there are two well-worn paths that lead to success. Which one is right for you? Today we reveal pros and cons on each, and share which one worked for us.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 23:52 — 23.1MB)
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Nothing can make your production seem more professional — or more amateurish — than the quality of your sound. Today, audio pro Brett Ulery shares tips and secrets to help you get pro sound on any budget (and we share the $32 audio secret that shaped our careers.)
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 35:51 — 34.1MB)
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People ask us all the time how we edit our TV shows. Until recently, it was a complicated, rambling answer filled with a mish-mosh of pseudo best practices. Not anymore. We’ve just taken our entire company in a brand new direction. We’re now making TV with Adobe Premiere and the Creative Cloud suite, and the results will be on national television in just about a week.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:31 — 25.6MB)
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Reenactments in documentary, film, and TV projects give visual life to past events. They do so by re-creating those moments in a cinematic way. You’ve seen them in groundbreaking films like The Thin Blue Line by Errol Morris, HBO’s recent The Jinx, every crime show on Discovery ID, and in our own upcoming series, Snapped: She Made Me Do It on Oxygen. But what goes into creating the visual style for your reenactments? What are your must-have shots? How do you keep things from getting generic? And why are reenactments a touchy and sometimes controversial subject?
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 22:13 — 21.6MB)
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Do you need an entertainment attorney? Are you sure? How much will an entertainment attorney charge you? And when choosing an entertainment attorney, how can you be sure you’re picking the right one?
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 16:03 — 14.7MB)
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Is there any such thing as a dumb question? YES. Use these three secrets to always know when, where, and how to ask questions without driving professionals up the wall. Asking questions in Hollywood is an art. Here’s how to do it without wasting time and looking clueless!
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Happy 2015! To kick off a great year, we wanted to start out with five traits you can actively develop to become a better film or TV producer. And it’s all brought to you today by the letter “L.”
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 28:43 — 27.6MB)
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Cast relationships — how you communicate with and prepare your cast — is key to making a great reality TV show or documentary series. Making sure those cast relationships stay strong both during and long after a show is done is not only crucial to your success in this industry, but it’s the right thing to do. So today we share how to pitch and make great reality TV shows and documentary series all while earning and maintaining great cast relationships.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 11:59 — 12.2MB)
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With Halloween just around the corner, and lots of “scare” in the air, we thought we’d share five little known, horrifying things about producing TV shows. If you’re an aspiring producer, you’ve probably never even considered these terrifying treats that come along with every new show you sell…