UPDATE: The EMMY for Historical Documentary was awarded on July 18th and unfortunately Children of Interment did not take home the statue. Regardless, Joe Crump (co-director and -producer along with his sister, Kristina Wagner) wanted to pass along a sincere thanks to Bill Perry at OETA PBS for submitting the film for consideration, as well as to Tom Parris, the cast, interviewees, scholars and families involved, Rich Bair for composite work, the production team – and friends and families for love and support.

PBS has been – and continues to be – a great supporter of the documentary, and even to be nominated has been a huge honor and lots of fun.

Sometimes you’re allowed to toot your own horn, and well, here at 20 Questions Film we’re mighty proud to say that Children of Internment – the historical documentary by our very own Joe Crump and his sister Kristina Wagner – has been nominated for a regional EMMY.

30B Documentary – Historical #HeartlandNom pic.twitter.com/Ef9ZDt3Opx

— Heartland Emmy NATAS (@HeartlandEmmy) May 29, 2015

Thousands of German and Japanese families were interned by the United States during WWII, taken from their homes and schools, denied “due process” and imprisoned in over 200 detention and internment camps throughout the United States and Latin America. The documentary, Children of Internment, tells the heartbreaking stories of former internees and their families.

The documentary is nominated in the ‘Best Historical Documentary’ category for the Heartland Region. Winners are announced July 18th. We’ll cross our fingers for Joe and Kristina until then.

A special thank you to Bill Perry and OETA out of Oklahoma for leading the way in getting our film nominated for the Emmy.

Check out the trailer here and read the filmmaker bios below:

Kristina Wagner is a daytime TV veteran with 25 years on General Hospital. She also majored in history and wrote her thesis paper on the detainment of Americans during WWII. With Children of Internment these two worlds collide most beautifully, as Kristina not only approached the material with academical precision, but also with a journalistic accuracy she picked up during her 25 years as a soap star doing countless interviews. She knew that sometimes the things that are said in an interview aren’t always conveyed accurately with the final outcome, so she made it a priority to be as accurate with her documentary storytelling as possible.

Joe Crump is the founder of 20 Questions Film. He graduated film school in 1981 and worked in the industry for a decade, but got sidetracked when one of his scripts were picked up by Fox, then rewritten, then dropped, ultimately giving Joe a desire to finance his own film. Which led him to a career as an investor. With Children of Internment he is back in the business, having fun making movies and already have several new feature film scripts in development.

If you’re a low budget production, you may not have the budget for a full documentary crew. That’s okay. What you can have is stills. Now, there are two kinds of stills. Production Stills (also called Set Stills) and Movie Stills.

Set Stills show the film being made. Have a photographer, or even just a PA with a really nice camera, on set to document the production. Stills of the actors in make-up, the director with the DP and crew setting up a shot,  the director talking with the actors – they are all great because they show the filmmaking process.

Don’t think about pre-meditating or posing for these shots. Let your set photographer be a fly on the wall. His job is to give you lots of choices to pick from, so you end up with the stills that best capture a moment in the production. Aim to have a minimum of two and preferably three to five go-to production stills.

I bet it won’t take you two seconds to guess the movies just from seeing their Set Stills below:

So, does that mean I have to have a photographer on set everyday? No, if you can’t afford to have a photographer on set everyday, or if there’s a “run and gun” day where having a photographer just isn’t practical, it’s okay. The point is to get stills that show the production at it’s best, not it’s worst. Notice how there are never any stills of a famous director screaming at his cast (even if there are leaked audio tracks). Remember, every little thing that goes into your EPK should be carefully selected to present your film exactly how you want it. Your EPK will help set the tone and guide the conversation when marketing your film.

Movie Stills are chosen after the footage has been shot, and preferably when the film is complete. Scrub through the film and find two or three moments that you can create a still from. These are best used when you’re in a film festival and they want pictures to put on their website or in their program. You want someone to see that picture and say, “that film looks interesting!”

Do these classic Movie Stills make you want to see the movie again?

Next item on your list is chosen after the film has been shot, edited and color corrected: Film Clips. Go through your movie and pick one or two scenes that you feel best represent your film. What makes a good film clip? It, like your film, all comes down to story. A clip needs to show your story while telling its own story within a 30-second to 1-minute time frame. Like this EPK clip that was selected by Yours Truly:

When selecting clips, introductions to characters work well, because that’s when a character has to define themselves, both to the other characters in the scene and to the audience. Also, clips that show a moment of decision, like your hero choosing to fight the bad guy, are powerful EPK clips. Think of the theme of your film and pick clips that best represent that theme.

Third item on the list: Trailers. Good trailers show the story without giving too much away. When cutting together a trailer, it’s best to employ the services of an editor who has worked specifically on sizzle reels and trailers, because they can sit down, watch the movie and build a trailer that best advertises your story. There’s a very fine line that you don’t want to cross. Haven’t we all said, “That’s a great trailer! Now, I don’t have to see the movie!”? Trailers, like the stills and clips, are about building desire to see your movie. They should capture the tone and genre of your movie. If your movie’s a thriller, your trailer needs to be thrilling.

Here’s the International trailer for a film that had a great EPK package. Did you see it?

So how long should your trailer be? Well, for a full feature, it’s best to have a 1-minute teaser trailer and a full 2-minute trailer. Depending on the platform, you can choose which trailer is best. If your film is a short, aim for a 30-second to 1-minute trailer.

Item four on your list: A Digital Poster (also called a one-sheet). Often times, particularly with short films, filmmakers will take a still from the movie and design the poster around that image. It’s valid and if you look at some of the stills above you can understand why they became the poster. But remember: your poster is the title card to your EPK package and unless you have a name actor in that still, you’re going to have a much harder time distinguishing yourself from other films that do the same thing. Get a graphic designer to watch your film, as well as the trailer, and customize a whole design around your film and it’s theme. Chances are that you’ll be using this graphic design for a lot more than just the poster. You might be printing postcards, stickers, running web or print ads, send out invitations to screenings, and so on and so forth.

The last two items on your EPK checklist are: A Logline and a Summary. Now, yes, these are things classically used in print media, but they are also used when listing your film on FilmFreeway and WithoutABox, on festival websites, youtube channels, twitter accounts, and more places than you care to think of. Although you will tailor the logline and summary to each medium, having something already written creates a coherent voice for your marketing strategy.

How do I create a logline and summary? Well, ask yourself; who are my characters? Where are they at the beginning of the story? What are they trying to accomplish over the course of this film? You don’t have to say whether or not they succeed. Like with every other part of the EPK package, the point is to wet the audience’s appetite. Still need help? The best place to get examples is IMDB or Netflix. They give short summaries for every title you see.

Once you have all these things, all representing your film with a singular voice and within the appropriate theme or genre, you are well on your way to having a kick-ass EPK. So to close, here’s the trailer for a film that came out a few years ago, was a hit at Sundance and went on to be Oscar nominated. Check out the “Show More” section on YouTube –  it includes a logline. Who would’ve guessed?!

Chin up, friends. It might be hard, but it’s not impossible.

Whichever way it’s done, it’s never too soon to start preparing for this holy grail of festival submissions. Watch above and below to get a head start on the competition.

These video interviews, from our colleagues at Film Courage, center on Diane Bell and Chris Byrne, and their Sundance experiences with ‘Obelidia’ – which, even though it was submitted on the very latest day possible and with no personal connections to the festival, went on to win the Alfred P. Sloan Award, a cinematography award AND was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize.

The biggest take-away from these interviews, in short, is that a unique, personal vision and a great product will get you there. And once you’re there, don’t sit back and hope for the best. Make the most of every single bit of publicity your Sundance acceptance gets you. That’s how you open the door to the distributors.