Brian Schodorf

Documentary Production for Television and Film: a Documentary Production and Analysis Brian Schodorf

After my first year of graduate school I was looking for a new project idea, something that was different and would show my diverse filmmaking ability. I told myself that when I found the right story to invest my time in I would know it. And then it happened. On May 4th 2007 the largest tornado in the history of weather descended on Greensburg, Kansas. Within a matter of minutes, the town was completely wiped off the map. It was the first fatal storm in Kansas since 1969, possibly the most destructive tornado in history. Within hours of the storm, news affiliates from around the world were on the scene to report and witness the aftermath of the Greensburg Tornado. Over the next eight months the story of Greensburg, Kansas would be told in a sixty-minute documentary. The final story would be released to a television audience on PBS stations across the country on May 4th, 2008, the one-year anniversary of the tornado. This is an analysis of the documentary production process as well as its managerial business components and implementation.