How to Build Trust with Documentary Subjects Before You Roll — Live from Aspen Shortsfest

Jo Light interviews documentary and commercial director Brendan Young live from Aspen Shortsfest about his short documentary The Meloneers, which follows the Rocky Ford High School wrestling program in rural Colorado. They discuss how Brendan found the story through a newspaper article, why he spent extensive time in the community before filming, how he balanced planned interviews with vérité moments, and how commercial work helps fund and shape his documentary practice. The episode also covers documentary ethics, collaboration with subjects, building trust before rolling, and Brendan’s advice for first-time documentary filmmakers.

In this episode, No Film School's Jo Light and guest Brendan Young discuss...

• Finding a rural Colorado story through a Denver Post article about Rocky Ford wrestling

• Why Brendan visited Rocky Ford repeatedly without a camera before filming

• Treating documentary subjects as collaborators, not just subjects

• How The Meloneers explores wrestling, family legacy, fatherhood, and small-town change

• Balancing core interviews, planned scenes, and vérité moments

• Shooting with a small documentary crew and keeping a minimal footprint

• Using commercial work to support short documentary projects

• Partnerships with Futuristic Films, Voyager, Project Play, and executive producer Lindsey Hagan

• Why the process of documentary filmmaking matters as much as the finished film

• Brendan’s upcoming documentary about a violin once played by a German Nazi soldier

Memorable Quotes:

• “I view the people in my films in these stories as collaborators.” — Brendan Young, 03:44

• “It’s not just building trust, but like having buy-in from these people, making sure that we’re telling this story together and in a way that they want it told is really, really important to me.” — Brendan Young, 04:05

• “I think when you can find it, it makes a specific story more universal and that's a more impactful film.” — Brendan Young, 08:05

• “Commercial sets were kind of my film school.” — Brendan Young, 21:49

Guests:

• Brendan Young

Resources:

• The Meloneers on IMDb

• Brendan Young’s Website

• Brendan Young at Futuristic Films

• Voyager

• Project Play

• Aspen Shortsfest

• Futuristic Films

Find No Film School everywhere:

• On the Web: No Film School

• Facebook: No Film School on Facebook

• Twitter: No Film School on Twitter

• YouTube: No Film School on YouTube

• Instagram: No Film School on Instagram

• 📩 Send us an email with questions or feedback: [email protected]

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices