Create and Finance a Short Documentary Film Specialization

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Create and Finance a Short Documentary Film Specialization

Create and Finance Your Short Documentary. Learn storytelling, filmmaking, and pitching skills to create and finance your short documentary.

Instructor: Skillshare

Included with Coursera Plus

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3 course series

Get in-depth knowledge of a subject

Beginner level

No prior experience required

1 month at 10 hours a week

Flexible schedule

Earn a career credential

Share your expertise with employers

3 course series

Get in-depth knowledge of a subject

Beginner level

No prior experience required

1 month at 10 hours a week

Flexible schedule

Earn a career credential

Share your expertise with employers

What you'll learn

Build confidence as a storyteller by creating bold, instinct-driven 10-second films
Produce a complete short documentary, from idea and shooting to editing and finishing
Craft a professional film proposal to effectively pitch your project to investors

Overview

This Specialization is intended for aspiring and emerging filmmakers seeking to develop the creative and practical skills to complete and finance a short documentary. Through three courses taught by filmmaker Olaf De Fleur, you will explore visual storytelling, gain hands-on experience making a documentary film, and learn how to design a professional film proposal to pitch to investors. By the end of this program, you will be prepared to independently create, refine, and secure funding for your own short film project.

What’s included

Shareable certificate

Add to your LinkedIn profile

Taught in English

Advance your subject-matter expertise

Learn in-demand skills from university and industry experts
Master a subject or tool with hands-on projects
Develop a deep understanding of key concepts
Earn a career certificate from Skillshare

Specialization - 3 course series

Throughout this Specialization, you will complete a series of projects that build toward a finished, fundable short documentary. In the first course, you’ll create multiple 10-second films—micro-experiments that sharpen your instinct for storytelling, cinematography, and editing. These short exercises help you develop your unique visual voice and prepare you for larger projects. In the second course, you’ll complete an end-to-end short documentary film, moving from idea development through production, cinematography, directing, and editing. Finally, in the third course, you’ll build a professional Film Proposal (Pitch Deck), including a logline, synopsis, treatment, author and visual statements, and a target audience report. Together, these projects provide a complete creative and professional toolkit, equipping you to both tell your story and secure the financing to bring it to life.

The 10-Second Filmmaker: Storytelling 10 Seconds at a Time

Course 16 hoursView course

What you'll learn

To make a film, where to begin? Start with 10 seconds. This simple constraint is a Creative Superpower—It clears out the noise: expectations, overthinking, pressure to impress. What’s left is focus, instinct, and play.

The lessons in this course don’t tell you what to find. They help you find it. This course is beginner-friendly and designed to build your confidence. No gimmicks or shortcuts—just a clear, creative process to help you grow as a visual storyteller. The Big Takeaway - You’re pushed to make bold creative choices, revealing your voice and unlocking visual experimentation. Each short becomes a building block, sharpening your instinct for story, composition, and meaning. The Opportunity - A 10-second film becomes a micro-laboratory for observing your creative instincts. Like sketching, it reveals patterns and impulses you can expand into longer works. Your Future - By the time you take on bigger projects, your filmmaker identity will already be sharpened and defined. Class Topcis: * Theme Discovery: Learn how to identify and develop a meaningful theme that gives your ten-second film emotional depth and direction. * Creative Warm-Up: Begin with a playful, pressure-free approach that centers you before diving into filmmaking techniques. * Action-Based Ideation: Embrace an instinctive, movement-first method to find your film idea by doing, not overthinking. * Three-Act Microstructure: Understand how even a ten-second film can follow a full story arc with a beginning, middle, and end. * First Film Challenge: Create your first ten-second film using clear, simple visuals and sound to communicate your idea. * Directing With Intuition: Practice directing with clarity, emotional insight, and trust in your creative instincts. * Visual Style Development: Explore camera choices and movement to shape the tone and feeling of your story. * Lighting Essentials: Use simple techniques with natural or available light to enhance your film’s look and mood. * Edit and Sound Walkthrough: Watch real-time editing sessions to see how timing, rhythm, and sound bring a short film to life. * Remake and Reflect: Apply what you’ve learned by remaking your film and witnessing how much you’ve grown. Teacher's Note: "This is my new filmmaking course. Over the years, I’ve gathered a lot of experience—not just through making films, but also by teaching them. To be hones, when I first came up with the idea for this one, I thought it was kind of silly. Maybe even a clickbait I wouldn’t normally go for. But the more I explored it, the more I realized: this might actually be a powerful idea. It was eye-opening. Even with all my experience, it sparked something new. So now I believe this could be an amazing entry point for anyone curious about filmmaking. Enjoy! :) Your teacher, Olaf de Fleur

Skills you'll gain

Category: Photography

Category: Content Creation

Category: Videography

Category: Video Production

Category: Editing

Category: Creativity

Category: Writing

Category: Storytelling

Film Documentaries: Write, Film & Edit A Short Documentary

Course 28 hoursView course

What you'll learn

My name is Olaf, and I am a do-it-yourself filmmaker with over two decades of experience. Through my film career, I've directed actors like Academy Nominee Florence Pugh (Black Widow, Little Women), James Cosmo (Braveheart), Johnathan Price (Brazil), Michael Imperioli (Sopranos), and JJ Field (Captain America), just to name a few.

In this class, I'll share all the tools that I've learned by completing seven feature documentary films. In this step-by-step guide to Documentary Indie Filmmaking, you'll teach yourself how to complete a short documentary film independently through manageable action steps. This course is for anyone who is just starting or has done a couple of documentary projects; in either case, this class will deepen your understanding of documentary filmmaking. I'll share the fundamentals of what I've learned - for you to discover your unique style. All you need for this class is a camera, something to write on, and a computer to edit your film. Here are some of the things you'll learn in this class: * Experience hands-on a complete documentary film process * The fundamentals of documentary filmmaking * Develop your style as a visual storyteller * Receive documentary production tips that can save you from unnecessary agony * Complete a documentary film on a micro-budget We'll start with your documentary Idea, talk about my favorite development tools, Theme, Genre, and the Fairy Tale tool. We'll discuss Production, Cinematography, and Directing before hitting the post-production phase. I'll be inviting you to do tasks and challenges along the way. This course will not only demystify the documentary process, but it'll also illuminate your creative strengths and help you identify areas of improvement and opportunities. Let's get started!

Skills you'll gain

Category: Editing

Category: Writing

Category: Content Creation

Category: Video Production

Category: Videography

Category: Post-Production

Category: Creativity

Category: Storytelling

How To Make A Movie Pitch Deck To Finance Your Film Idea

Course 34 hoursView course

What you'll learn

In this course, you’ll learn how to craft a professional and compelling Film Proposal that can help bring your film ideas to life. Taught by filmmaker Olaf De Fleur, who has successfully financed twelve feature films using these methods.

This course breaks the proposal process into six essential steps: *creating a logline, * writing a synopsis, * developing a treatment, * crafting your author and visual statements, * defining your audience and marketing approach. By the end of this course, you will be able to clearly summarize your story, develop your characters and plot points, articulate your unique creative vision, and present a polished proposal ready to pitch to investors. Each lesson includes a practical task that allows you to apply these concepts immediately, giving you hands-on experience in creating your own proposal. This course is ideal for aspiring filmmakers, writers, or creative producers who want to secure funding for their projects. To succeed, learners should have a basic understanding of storytelling and a clear film idea they want to develop. Completing this class will equip you with a professional framework to communicate your story effectively and confidently to potential investors.

Skills you'll gain

Category: Marketing Strategies

Category: Storytelling

Category: Presentations

Category: Concision

Category: Target Audience

Category: Marketing

Category: Proposal Writing

Category: Writing

Category: Public Speaking

Earn a career certificate

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Instructor

Skillshare

138 Courses10,901 learners

Offered by

Skillshare

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Frequently asked questions

This course is completely online, so there’s no need to show up to a classroom in person. You can access your lectures, readings and assignments anytime and anywhere via the web or your mobile device.

If you subscribed, you get a 7-day free trial during which you can cancel at no penalty. After that, we don’t give refunds, but you can cancel your subscription at any time. See our full refund policy.

Yes! To get started, click the course card that interests you and enroll. You can enroll and complete the course to earn a shareable certificate. When you subscribe to a course that is part of a Specialization, you’re automatically subscribed to the full Specialization. Visit your learner dashboard to track your progress.