Our story
Practical help for documentary filmmakers.
Desktop Documentaries began in 2008 as a place to share filmmaking tips and behind-the-scenes insights. It has grown to bring together free learning resources, online courses and specialist training across the documentary process.
Our subject is documentary filmmaking, from finding a story and planning a shoot to preparing a budget and reaching an audience. We work with filmmakers and industry professionals who bring their experience into the courses, tools and live sessions they teach.
Whether you’re curious about making a documentary, developing your first idea or already working on a short, feature or series, you can explore the subjects that interest you and build your knowledge as you go.
What you’ll find
Help with the next part of your film.
Start with a free article or weekly tip, explore a course in depth, or use a template to work through a production task.
01 / DEVELOP & MAKE
Learn the craft
Develop your idea, shape the story and make decisions about interviews, filming, lighting, sound and editing.
02 / PLAN & FUND
Prepare your project
Work through budgets, proposals, pitch materials and legal paperwork. Learn about funding routes and how to approach them.
03 / SHARE & DISTRIBUTE
Reach an audience
Understand film sales, distribution and the documentary marketplace so you can plan how your film will be seen.
The people you’ll learn from
Meet our instructors
Filmmakers, producers and specialists sharing what they’ve learned through their work in documentary.
Proposals & pitching
Hank Rogerson
The director of Shakespeare Behind Bars, Hank shares his experience developing documentary projects, preparing proposals and pitching films.
Doc Funding Hub · Pitching
Funding & budgeting
Jilann Spitzmiller
Jilann brings her experience making and funding documentaries to training on fundraising, budgets and the decisions behind a production.
Doc Funding Hub · Budgeting
Family stories & filmmaking craft
Dandan Liu
An Emmy award-winning filmmaker, Dandan teaches how to shape a family story into a documentary and develop skills in lighting, color and sound.
Family Story · Elevate Your Documentary
Storytelling & scriptwriting
Daniel Raim
An Academy Award-nominated filmmaker, Daniel teaches documentary storytelling and scriptwriting, drawing on his work creating films about cinema and its makers.
Storytelling & Scriptwriting
Legal & business essentials
Gordon Firemark
An entertainment attorney and educator, Gordon helps filmmakers understand the legal and business questions that arise during documentary production.
Legal & Business Tool Kit
AI & documentary filmmaking
Philip Shane
A documentary filmmaker whose work has appeared on PBS, ABC and the History Channel, Philip explores how AI tools can support documentary production.
Doc AI Hub · AI Playbook
Film sales & distribution
Anna Darrah
Anna brings experience buying and licensing films to teaching filmmakers how to assess distribution options and develop a strategy for their work.
Film Sales & Distribution
Distribution & streamers
Peter Hamilton
A former CBS executive and media consultant, Peter helps filmmakers understand the documentary marketplace and how films reach buyers.
Netflix & the streamers
Getting started
Faith Fuller
Faith was the original founder of Desktop Documentaries and teaches the 7-Day Documentary Crash Course, drawing on a career producing news stories, documentaries and educational films.
7-Day Documentary Crash Course
Developing documentary ideas
Tom Jennings
A Peabody Award-winning producer, Tom teaches how to find and develop documentary ideas, drawing on his experience delivering films for broadcasters and streamers.
Documentary Idea DevelopmentBehind Desktop Documentaries
Owner, Desktop Documentaries
Gareth Mackown
Gareth runs Desktop Documentaries. You’ll find him hosting some of our webinars, occasionally teaching technical courses on AI and helping filmmakers explore funding opportunities for their documentaries.
Doc AI Hub · ElevenLabs · Funding Reports
Editorial contribution
Caitlin Cooper
Caitlin is a documentary filmmaker and journalist who contributes writing and webinar production to Desktop Documentaries.
From our readers
A resource filmmakers return to.
“I love your site, and I appreciate the way you turn complicated concepts into clear, concise, easy to digest information. I am working on my first documentary, and you are someone I turn to.”
Pamela Enzweiler Pulice
Reel Stories Productions
“I found your site by chance... Congratulations, as someone who’s made a living out of documentaries for 30 years, this is one of the most comprehensive summaries of what it takes to do it that I’ve ever seen.”
Leo Eaton
Start with your idea.
Our free Documentary Starter Kit introduces the essentials and helps you work out where to begin.
Get the free Starter KitAlready working on a film? Get our free weekly documentary tips.