It all begins with an idea. You research, organize your story, create a budget, pick up a camera and interview the people who will make your documentary film come alive.

You edit your footage, hold test screenings, go back and fix and fine tune it, then, your documentary film is ready for the festival circuit or its big premiere.

The alerts begin to pop up on your film freeway account; not accepted, then…accepted. You did it—you’ve got your first film festival.

You wait some more, then another alert pops up - finalist. Then another alert pops up - nominated

Then, the big moment comes…winner! you won the best accolade there is and you now get to show off your festival winner to the world.

You’ve told your story and you’ve made a difference.

My new book “Crickets, Sour Grapes and Accolades: A Documentary Filmmaker’s Journey” follows my first hand filmmaking experiences of how I made three full-length documentary films from just an idea to hanging festival accolades on my wall.

I dive into the details of how I came up with the ideas for each of my three films  and I revisit all of the major steps I took to complete them. I share tips and tricks I learned along the way on what to do to and what not to do  for  each phase of the filmmaking process. 

If you are new to documentary filmmaking, or you are struggling during the production process of your current film, or maybe you’re a veteran filmmaker who enjoys reading about the journey other filmmakers took to complete their films, then this book is for you.