Documentary Outreach
A four-week travel course where you learn to produce short documentary films about global changemakers.
Travel the world and learn documentary storytelling alongside other impact-driven filmmakers. Get real life experience collaborating with local experts, leaders and changemakers to help share their amazing stories.
Documentary Outreach
A four-week travel course where you learn to produce short documentary films about global changemakers.
Travel the world and learn documentary storytelling alongside other impact-driven filmmakers. Get real life experience collaborating with local experts, leaders and changemakers to help share their amazing stories.
CREW
TESTIMONIALS
TELL ME MORE
The best way to learn about our Documentary Outreach experience is by signing up for the email series. Find out more about why we travel, how it works, and what you can expect.
EVERY SToRYTELLER NEEDS OPPORTUNITIES TO LEARN AND GROW.
JOIN A COMMUNITY OF CREATIVES
Each trip is made up of a dynamic team of passionate, thoughtful people. All who are interested in telling stories that matter. During our month-long residency, we explore places and ideas together.
GET THE RIGHT TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE
We teach you our field-tested documentary production process. We practice it together on location so you become a more efficient and effective storyteller.
EMBRACE ETHICAL STORYTELLING
We teach documentary production with a focus on ethical, collaborative practices, ensuring you create impactful narratives without exploiting others.
PRODUCE A FILM YOU ARE PROUD OF
Return home an accomplished filmmaker, with an important story to share with your community, festivals, and the world at large.
CHANGE YOUR PERSPECTIVE ON TRAVEL
Become a more savvy, responsible traveler, with an intimate knowledge of what it means to live and learn in another part of the world.
PAST FILMS
Produced
WE KNOW THAT GOING IT ALONE IS TOUGH
Actuality Abroad has led hundreds of impact-driven storytellers on documentary adventures that provided them the training, experience, and support they needed to travel the world and tell stories that matter.
WE ARE HERE TO GUIDE YOU
START YOUR
JOURNEY
STEP 1
Apply for any upcoming Documentary Outreach trip.
STEP 2
Schedule a video interview and get all your questions answered.
STEP 3
Accept your invitation to join the crew and make your plans to travel.
UPCOMING
TRIPS
BEHIND THE
SCENES
ETHICAL STORYTELLING IS COLLABORATIVE STORYTELLING
Telling stories outside of your own community and across cultures can be complicated. It is important that we recognize our power (and responsibility) as storytellers. Our ethical documentary best practices guide the development, production and distribution of our storytelling projects. We build these principles and systems into each Documentary Outreach to ensure our crews are working in an ethical and equitable manner.
On each Documentary Outreach, we work with ‘locally-led’ changemakers that are small, grassroots nonprofit organizations or social enterprises. This means the leaders and decision makers are people who are really from the community where the work is being done.
We consider our changemakers and anyone else that may appear in our films, true co-creators of the stories we produce. We seek their input, consent and agreement at each stage of the documentary process.
FREQUENTLY ASKED
QUESTIONS
Our past crew have included enrolled university students, young professionals, and adults interested in expanding their knowledge about documentary production. Anyone 18 years or older with an interest in learning is welcome.
No. Actuality Abroad Outreaches are educational in nature. We will teach you what you need to know. Although each person takes on a primary role for the storytelling projects, all of the work is highly collaborative and you can depend on your crew to support each other.
Our group of travelers is matched into several 4-person crews, with each individual taking on a specific role: Producer, Director Cinematographer or Editor. Working with your crew, you collaborate with a local changemaker to explore the world of their work and find a compelling story to tell.
An Actuality Leader provides instruction, mentorship and oversees all projects. They also coordinate travel logistics, lead educational briefings, conduct training workshops, support research, manage operations and also production milestones.
The producer is the leader of the crew, in charge of keeping everything organized and is the primary liaison with the changemaker.
The director is in charge of the story, has final call on the main focus of the film and ensures that the issues are explored in the most engaging and equitable way.
The cinematographer decides the look of the film, controls the camera to document all the needed footage, and brings visual motivation to the story.
The editor helps research and plan for shooting with the end in mind. They supervise post production, managing all the media and cutting the final film.
Each crew is guided and supported in producing a character-driven, film-fest-worthy short documentary film. To further expand your portfolio, you also have the opportunity to create documentary photography collections, micro-documentary videos, or journalistic essays that are more promotional in nature and may help your changemaker in furthering their work.
All crew members should bring a personal photo/video camera (smart phones are sufficient) for research and workshops, and a laptop that has the capacity to edit both photo and video.
Actuality Abroad provides professional quality production equipment for the primary documentary films, including 4k video cameras and sound recording tools. Crew members are welcome to bring any additional gear they wish to use.
Outreach crew reside in a locally owned guesthouse and sleep in semi-private rooms. Private rooms are available for an additional cost. The guesthouse has a secure, guests-only space to work and relax in, with staff on duty day and night in case you need assistance. Staff members are available to answer questions on how to live, work and explore the local area.
Yes. Weekends will be free for you to relax, explore on your own, or sign up for an activity offered in the area.
Yes. Each person must purchase a travel insurance policy fur the duration of the Outreach that includes medical coverage. We highly recommend that you also purchase trip cancellation and personal property protection as well.
Films are Creative Commons licensed so that every stakeholder can screen and benefit from it. Actuality Abroad retains official copyright for production purposes and in order to maintain access for all stakeholders.
Yes. We are happy to work with currently enrolled students individually to arrange for you to earn academic credit.
No. English translators will be provided as needed.
FROM OUR
BLOG
The Most Valuable Lessons You’ll Learn in Four Weeks of Documentary Filmmaking
Filmmaking is always a team effort. But collaboration on the Documentary Outreach goes beyond working with a crew—it extends to the people whose stories we tell. Working together is not just a method; it is the foundation of how these films are made. More than that, learning to collaborate well is one of the most valuable skills you will take away from this experience.
Read on...
Collaboration in the Documentary Outreach: How We Work Together
Filmmaking is always a team effort. But collaboration on the Documentary Outreach goes beyond working with a crew—it extends to the people whose stories we tell. Working together is not just a method; it is the foundation of how these films are made. More than that, learning to collaborate well is one of the most valuable skills you will take away from this experience.
Read on...
The Documentary Outreach Production Schedule
Documentary filmmaking doesn’t happen in a classroom—it happens in the field, in real time, with real people.
The Documentary Outreach follows a four-week production schedule that mirrors professional documentary workflows. Each phase builds on the last, from story discovery to structured planning, immersive documentation, and post-production.
Here’s what you’ll actually be doing each week:
Read on...