From Idea to the Screen: Everything You Need to Know to Make a Successful Documentary

Updated September, 2025

Over the last 10 years, a number of emerging filmmakers have sought my advice on making documentary films. At first, I was hesitant to write my advice down. After-all, I feel I am still learning so much on each project. However, because the requests have been coming in more and more frequently, I decided to share some of my thoughts on taking a project from the initial idea to the screen. I hope that you find them helpful.

Roadmap to the Journey

Before diving into the nuts and bolts, here’s the journey at a glance: Development (finding your idea, researching, crafting a treatment), Pre‑Production (scripting, budgeting, scheduling and planning), Production (filming interviews, B‑roll, and navigating on‑set challenges), Post‑Production (editing, sound and color work), and Distribution & Marketing (sharing the film with the world). I’ve learned that keeping this roadmap in mind helps me stay focused on the stage I’m in—and excited about the stages yet to come.

The Idea

It goes without saying in order to make any kind of film, you first need an idea. Inspiration can come from anywhere, and so you should always have a way to record ideas and be open to new material. As for me, I naturally gravitate to biographies and books on church history. Because of this, my first couple of projects were on figures from church history that I both learned from and wanted to learn more about.

Visual Treatments

When you are exploring ideas, it’s often helpful to put together a visual treatment of your potential project. A visual treatment is a lookbook that showcases your vision for the mood, tone, look, and feel of your film. It can be a bridge between your general thoughts about the story you want to tell and other people’s understanding of the project, and it helps you think about the team you’d like to involve and the overall feel of the production you’d like to have.

I design my visual treatments in Adobe Photoshop. They tend to follow this order:

• Title page with logo rendering (this most likely will not be final, it never has been for me!)

• Brief biography of the subject, if applicable (400 words or so)

• Some pages with quotes or montages of images (this is to help others better understand your vision)

• Synopsis of the film (400-800 words)

• Explanation of style of the film (100-200 words)

• Description of the intended audience (100 words)

• Names of potential interviewees

• Travel locations

• Comparable films

• Information production company

• The team (feature some of the key people involved and give a brief biography of each)

Each visual treatment will look different, and not every visual treatment will require all of those bullet points. However, if you want to bring your project to investors/backers, the more detail you include, the better.

Here is a visual treatment/proposal I made for a project on D.L. Moody.

Funding

If you’re going to make a film, you need a budget. It’s self-explanatory, right? If this is your first film and you’re doing it by yourself, funding is by far the most challenging step. However, the barrier to entry to make and distribute a film through a website like Vimeo is so low that almost anyone can do it. However, where do you start?

Budgeting

For a smaller project, begin by thinking through everything you need to buy and everyone you’ll need to pay to get your film made and sent off to manufacturing and distribution. Here is a template to give you a headstart:

I’ve used the above template for budgets as low as $10,000 and as large as $2,000,000. I Keep in mind that it is almost impossible to get your budget 100% accurate, and that’s why the template includes an estimate and an actual column. Continue to update the numbers as money is spent, and add new items as necessary (that’s why it’s important to build in a contingency). Keep track of this all the way through until you pay your final bill.

Methods of funding large projects

If you are looking to fund a larger project (my first feature-length documentary that had a proper budget was $45,000), then the steps are a little different. Here are methods that I have used:

1. Kickstarter and social media

2. Investors

3. Partnerships

Kickstarter and social media

Build an audience on different social platforms—Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. For content, you can share relevant quotes, interesting stories from that time in history, or peculiar and fascinating facts about the subject you’re pursuing. If you find something interesting, there’s a good chance that people on social media will too. Also, people like authenticity, so be willing to peel back the curtain and bring your audience along with you as you work through the process of creating a film.

Once you have built an audience, you can share your idea and a version of your visual treatment. Then, invite people to contribute to your project on Kickstarter. Kickstarter is a powerful tool for creatives because it allows anyone with an idea and vision to see that idea come to fruition and publish it for the world.

Investors

The other way I’ve gone about funding projects is through seeking investors. When I released Through the Eyes of Spurgeon to the public, an individual offered to connect me with people interested in funding my next project. Long story short, I presented my next project (Luther) to a group of investors who ultimately funded it. Here is a modified version of my Luther investor booklet that you can adapt and use to build your pitch:

VIEW LUTHER INVESTOR BOOKLET SAMPLE

If you’re pitching to investors, walk them through your visual treatment and then the investor booklet. After that, present the ask (which is most likely at the end of your investor booklet anyway).

Partnerships

If you’ve been in the industry for a while and started to build some name recognition, you can ask like-minded groups if they would be willing to fund a project. Alternatively, groups might reach out to you with an idea they would like you to bring to fruition.

This was the case with Puritan. Reformation Heritage Books partnered with Media Gratiae to make the definitive documentary and study set on the Puritans. Media Gratiae asked me if I would be the Director and Producer of the project. It fit right alongside projects I had done in the past, and I was happy to enter into this type of partnership.

Development

In development, your idea becomes words on a page, and flesh is given to bone. All my projects start with a blank document that becomes my canvas for my detailed outline. This is the very heart of the project.

After I secured funding for Luther, we entered into development. I immediately started to flesh my idea for Luther, knowing that I wanted to tell the whole story of Luther, warts and all. This began with referencing the initial visual treatment so that I could further develop the ideal story arc, the themes, and any important stylistic thrusts.

This stage can be as long or as short as you’d like. The most time-consuming part is the research and reading necessary to create a detailed outline. I organize my research thematically and chronologically.

One of the most crucial and challenging parts of this stage is determining the specific narrative arc. To do this, you have to ask these questions:

• Who is the intended audience?

• Is there a thrust/message to communicate?

• Which parts of the story do I want to include?

• Which parts of the story are nice but not crucial and thus should be excluded?

The answers to these questions form the very crux of what becomes your story.

For an example of how you could lay out your project, here is my detailed outline for Puritan.

Tip: Much of The Idea stage and Development blend together. The order of each project will be slightly different. For example, the Moody Visual Treatment Proposal above was after I had done the detailed outline which is why it’s a lot more fleshed out.

Pre-Production

In this stage, you’re going to prepare yourself and your team for the filming that is about to take place. It’s especially important in this stage to be referring to your budget constantly. There are several components to this step.

Scriptwriting

It’s time to create the screenplay, or in short form, the script. Here, your detailed outline is fleshed out into dialog and other components and is given the structure and narrative flow that will make up your final cut.

Writing is not my strength, so I have always pursued like-minded individuals (Aaron Armstrong and Barry Cooper) who are strong in this area. They are able to take my detailed outline and massage out every facet to build the script.

Tip: Collaboration is crucial to your development as a filmmaker. I have grown most when I have surrounded myself with those that are better than me. My projects have come out better when I have delegated and collaborated on areas I know I’m not as strong in.

Here is the script for Luther.

Storyboarding

Documentaries are difficult to storyboard (what’s a storyboard?), and so while I give each location thought, I don’t spend much time thinking about the actual shot until I arrive. I have a list of shots that would be nice to capture based on the script, but until I actually arrive on location, I’m not 100% sure which angle I’m taking, which direction we’re pointing, where the sun is, what the weather is like, etc.

If you have the ability to scout out the locations before filming, hands down I would build a rough storyboard and shot list so that you are amply prepared when production comes. Those of us that are doing run-and-gun documentaries don’t always have the same luxury!

Itinerary

Once you know what you need to film and where you need to go, it’s time to build out an itinerary. One very helpful tool for this is Google My Maps. Find each location you want to film, add your marker, add notes/pictures/location instructions that might be helpful, and move on to your next location. Here is the map from Luther:

After you’ve added every point on your map, you’re now ready to write out your itinerary, which goes hand-in-hand with booking flights and accommodations. In my experience, if you’re staying only one night at a location, hotels are the way to go, but if you’re staying more than one night, consider an Airbnb to save a bit of money.

Tip: If you are filming interviews on the road, getting a beautiful Airbnb lends itself to an excellent interview location.

Consider signing up for an airline/hotel membership before you start so you can get points for free flights/hotels, etc. I use United Airlines/Air Canada (part of the Star Alliance network which is the largest in the world) and Hilton Honors (you can find a Hilton property almost anywhere). I also have an account with hotels.com which is excellent for every sort of hotel you can imagine, and they have a really clear reward system: pay for ten nights, get one night free.

Here is what a sample itinerary looks like. Be sure to give it to your team so that everyone knows what to expect before and during the trip.

Production

Now, it’s time to start filming. Here are a couple of tips to keep in mind during this step.

Review and back up footage

A great discipline to teach yourself early on is to review your footage daily and back everything up. Get into the habit of reviewing the raw footage you shot that day when you are back in the hotel/Airbnb. I try to dump my footage onto my internet drive after every location; I have a computer running in the vehicle as we travel from location to location. At the end of the day, I’ll review the clips and make sure we got everything we needed.

Once I’m satisfied, I’ll back up the backup from that day! This is the all-important double-backup. I know, it sounds redundant. But, that’s the point. All it takes is one corrupt drive or accidental deletion, and you’ve lost an entire day’s worth of work, and sometimes it’s impossible to capture it again.

Expect the unexpected

You can make the best plans, but inevitably things will go array. You need to be flexible when the weather is bad and you’re filming outside, when your location falls through, or when your drone crashes into Ancient Philippi and you need to drive to Thessaloniki to buy a new one. The drone crash cost us 4 flights! However, in God’s kindness, it ended up working out even better—some new friends drove us from the coast of Greece all the way to our next stop in Belgrade, Serbia.

Post-Production

Now, it’s time to edit all that footage. The first question you will ask is, What non linear editor (NLE) am I going to use? For the first 3-4 years of my professional video career, I used Adobe Premiere almost exclusively. In 2016, I made the move to Final Cut (FCPX), and I haven’t looked back. The way FCPX lets you organize media makes it my ideal NLE for documentaries. I highly recommend this article from Reuben Evans on frame.io titled Edit Faster and More Efficiently with FCP X’s Metadata.

Tip: Edit as you shoot. When I first started I shot everything. I mean everything. You definitely want to have an excess of footage, but as you do more projects, you learn to edit as you shoot, which conserves media storage and also makes your life easier when it comes to editing.

When it comes to rendering different versions, I’ve learned that proper file naming can go a long way. My projects/sequences will look something like this for each render:

ProjectName_RoughDraft_v1_insertdaysdate

ProjectName_RoughDraft_v2_insertdaysdate

ProjectName_RoughDraft_v3_insertdaysdate

—

ProjectName_FinalDraft_v1_insertdaysdate

ProjectName_FinalDraft_v2_insertdaysdate

ProjectName_FinalDraft_v3_insertdaysdate

—

ProjectName_Final_v1_insertdaysdate

ProjectName_Final_v2_insertdaysdate

ProjectName_Final_v3_insertdaysdate

You’ll have dozens and dozens of project files, but having a naming system will give you an idea of how it’ll look when you’re done and a way to organize. When you have your final FINAL version, you’ll want to name it something like this:

ProjectName_codec_resolutionframerate_aspectratio_language_date

It will come out to something like this:

Puritan_PRORES_v1080p23976_a16x9_leng_11.18.20

Manufacturing and Distribution

We live in a wonderful era where it’s easy to get your project online and viewable for the masses. With services like Amazon Video, Vimeo, and others, anyone can get their film online with relatively very little effort.

There are also aggregators you can work with who can push your film out to popular services such as Amazon Prime, iTunes, Vudu, Google Play, etc. In fact, using an approved aggregator or going through a distributor might be your only way of getting it on iTunes because iTunes does not work directly with filmmakers. I recommend using Bitmax if you’re looking to find an aggregator. I have good experiences working with them.

Also, take advantage of the tools at your disposal. Early on in this post, we talked about the funding stage and building an audience. By the time you are at the manufacturing and distribution phase, you might have dozens, hundreds, or thousands of voices who have come along with you over your entire journey and are eager to help you spread the word.

If you want to submit your film to festivals or try to win some awards, you can easily do so with filmfreeway.com. Also, be sure to add your film to iMDB. It’s one of the simplest things you can do, but it’s really rewarding to see your name up there along with your project, knowing the thousands of hours you’ve put into it.

Conclusion

My best suggestion for upcoming filmmakers is to do everything I’ve mentioned above on a micro-level. Go out and make a project, all the way from the initial idea through post-production. You will learn a lot, and as you repeat the process, you will be able to gradually increase the scope of your projects.

In addition, there are a ton of great resources available for free to help you hone your craft. If you search Youtube for “how to make cinematic films,” you’ll have enough videos to last you for months. Other helpful resources that I highly recommend and frequent often are NoFilmSchool.com and NoamKroll.com.

Remember also that every filmmaker has a beginning, and often those beginnings are small. Before I ventured out to make my first feature-length documentary, I had worked on several projects with an agency. I developed many skills that I now have from that job. I also had made several short films around the house and my town—I even enlisted my father on one of them. They are embarrassing to watch now, but they prepared me for my project and ultimately my career.

We live in a world where we can reach the masses from the comfort of our own screens. In my experience, if you have a story that is interesting and tell the story well, people will listen. I hope that these steps give you a jumpstart on your next project, and I’m excited to see what you create.

If you have any feedback or questions about any part of this process, please contact me at stephenmccaskell@icloud.com.