How to Make a Living Shooting EPK/BTS + Conversation with Digital Film Pioneer, Feature Film, and Documentary Director, Stefan Avalos

Shooting BTS (behind-the-scenes), or EPK (electronic press kit) as it’s known in the film industry, can be a great and a rather appropriate way for a documentary filmmaker to make some additional income.

I mean, who else to better create short promotional-type videos or vignettes than a filmmaker who owns their own gear, can conduct and shoot an interview, shoot some broll, then edit into a small concise package for quick delivery?

In this episode, we examine the position that is tailor-made for the documentary filmmaker, how to get into it, and how what you are already doing in your doc life makes you the perfect candidate for this industry position.

Podcast Conversation

For our shared conversation segment, I am honoured to have on feature and documentary film director, Stefan Avalos. You may remember Avalos from the very early days of digital film. And with a good reason, since he and fellow filmmaker Lance Weiler were true pioneers in the digital film field, with their ground-breaking feature, The Last Broadcast. And now, with his new film, Strad Style, winner of Grand Jury and Audience Awards, Avalos enters the hallowed halls of documentary.

To say that this was one of my favourite conversations with a doc industry guest in recent times, would be putting it lightly. Topics like his hand in digital cinema history, the influence of a doc like American Movie on his work, and the various headscarfs that his lead subject in Strad Style was prone to wearing. It’s enlightening, hilarious, and inspiring all at once. So yeah, not an episode to be missed!

Related Resources

In the first segment of the episode, I mentioned the work of documentary filmmaker, Les Blank, in particular his documentary film, Burden of Dreams, which was basically the making-of Werner Herzog‘s Fitzcarraldo. Enjoy the trailer for the film:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYOYi9WLLVU

Stefan Avalos’ digital feature film, The Last Broadcast, was not only a massive influence on my filmmaking career, but really digital cinema, as a whole. Here’s a trailer for the film:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSCptQ1M7Rs

And now, we can all be thankful, that Avalos has decided to make his first feature documentary, the brilliant, Strad Style! Check out the trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSlUiXHrpnI

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