Why Invest in a Documentary? When a Brochure Won’t Build Trust

Some topics can’t be told in 30 seconds. Audiences are smart. When a subject is complicated, contested or personal, a glossy brochure reads like a sales pitch, and people tune it out. A documentary gives them the whole story and trusts them to decide.

When a Short Video Isn’t Enough

Short video is built for reach. Documentary is built for trust.

If your work touches healthcare, energy, land, resources or public policy, your audience has a stake in the outcome and real questions to ask. A 60-second spot can’t answer them, and a brochure looks like it’s avoiding them. A documentary puts the people closest to the work on camera and lets the facts carry the weight.

The Return on a Documentary

A campaign spot gets attention fast and fades fast. A documentary keeps working.

• The Cost of Winning screened across North America and internationally, including at the Olympic Organizing Committee of Lithuania’s Education Forum in 2019.
• No Running was funded through a TELUS grant. It streams free on TELUS Optik TV and is used by universities and sport organizations as a teaching resource.
• UBC Rowing 100 premiered to a sold-out room and lives on YouTube for the next generation of the program.

One production. Years of screenings, conferences, donor events, classrooms and broadcast.

One Film, Many Ways to Watch

A documentary doesn’t have to be watched in one sitting. The same footage can become a short series of 5 to 10 minute episodes, a trailer, social cutdowns or a podcast series.

It can also become an event. A screening puts the film in front of the room you choose: donors, regulators, community members or your own staff. Festival selections add third-party credibility, and a post-screening Q&A turns viewers into advocates.

What Does a Documentary Cost?

For a sense of scale, TELUS STORYHIVE grants $20,000 to fund a short documentary. That’s a realistic starting point for a short film made well.

• Short documentary (10 to 25 minutes): $15,000 to $35,000
• Documentary series (3 to 6 episodes): $30,000 to $100,000
• Feature-length or broadcast: $100,000 and up

What moves the number: the number of interviews and shoot days, travel, archival footage, music licensing, motion graphics and how far you want it distributed.

See our documentaries.

Planning the budget for a shorter piece? Read How Much Does a Brand Film Cost in Vancouver?