Documentary First

Creating a film is exhausting. Is it even possible to take a break when you're in the midst of creating a feature-length documentary? And what do you do when you want to finish the film, but don't have the money to pay the editor and other team members to get the work done? In this episode, Christian Taylor, director of The Girl Who Wore Freedom, shares the struggle through fatigue and satisfying rewards that shine through it.

Getting any kind of feedback is hard. If the feedback is only positive, you worry that they're just trying to make you feel good and not being authentic. But it's also really difficult to receive negative feedback! In this episode, podcast host Josh Lindsey and director Christian Taylor talk about how the Chicago focus group event went and how real-world feedback has influenced the development of the film.

In this episode, host of the podcast Josh Lindsey asks director Christian Taylor a series of questions to better understand what went on at the Normandy focus group screening of The Girl Who Wore Freedom. We'll hear about things she would have done differently and hear about some emotional and impactful moments.

Social media is an important part of promoting any project, but particularly films. In this episode, we meet Anne Evans, our first social media lead and sister of Director Christian Taylor. Anne shares how she got started in this role and dissect her plan for raising money for The Girl Who Wore Freedom.

What does it take to run a focus group screening? In this episode, Director Christian Taylor shares how the eleven screenings were planned for Normandy to gather feedback from the five-hundred people who have seen the film.

Director Christian Taylor is in France preparing to screen the film, but the drive doesn't work. In this episode, we celebrate the first focus group event of The Girl Who Wore Freedom in Normandy, France, discuss the struggle to make it a reality, and share first impressions.

In this episode, Director Christian Taylor shares an update after visiting Mississippi and screening for veterans with dramatically moving results. Because we've been so busy with that, we're also reairing Episode 2 of the Documentary First podcast in lieu of a new episode. Check out normandystories.com for the latest information about our film.

In this episode, Director Christian Taylor shares an update after running a focus group for The Girl Who Wore Freedom in Normandy for D-Day Celebrations. Because we've been so busy with that, we're also reairing Episode 1 of the Documentary First podcast in lieu of a new episode. Check out normandystories.com for the latest information about our film.

Director Christian Taylor looks ahead to the next steps for “The Girl Who Wore Freedom” and speculates about what it will be like to watch the film at the first focus group events.

Working with footage and audiences that represent at least two distinct languages is no small task. Director Christian Taylor talks about the complexity of subtitling and her project’s tight turnaround for sound and score.

A good composer understands both emotion and serendipity. There's no better example than how Jeff Kurtenacker came to be the Lead Composer on The Girl Who Wore Freedom. Listen in as Director Christian Taylor shares his story and how she learned to communicate with emotion.

When you're a bootstrapped documentary you sometimes have to pick free or inexpensive tools to get the job done. For The Girl Who Wore Freedom Director Christian Taylor talks about the pain of editing ("killing your babies" to get the timing and tone right) and shares some of her favorite tools that she's come to love (including Google Drive, Trello, Frame.io, and Zoom).

A good editor is hard to come by and The Girl Who Wore Freedom was blessed with one of the best: Bill Ebel. Learn more as Director Christian Taylor shares her appreciation for Bill and the qualities (and hard truth) that make him the best possible editor for our documentary.

All great things begin in a garage. Josh, Jason, and Director Christian Taylor explore the ins and outs of film editing from a garage in Tennessee. Christian also shares the roller-coaster that is translating, subtitling, and script-writing. 

Is there such thing as work/life balance in film-making? Director Christian Taylor discusses La La Land, the creative process, striking the right tone, and putting family first…always.

What do you do when you're at your all time low and ready to call it quits? In this episode, producer Christian Taylor tells the story of her (extended) visit to her editor in Tennessee to get the film done, how she ran out of money, and how donors came through on the day they were going to end the project.

In this episode, producer Christian Taylor shares the results of her first preview of the film; and it's not good. She faces reality of deadlines, debt, and the editorial process as she considers the end of the project.

A lot has developed since the last episode and the film is currently undergoing the assembly edit. In this episode you'll what that means and why everything Christian Taylor has told you up to this point is wrong.

The wonderful story about Harry Kropnicki, Daniel Banazio and Flo Plana.

Wading through 600+ hours of footage, cutting off appendages, and finding your story—we’re looking at the realities of first-time filmmaking.