Tony Levelle

Articles by Tony Levelle

Choosing the Right Idea for a Film or Book

When Dorothy Fadiman agreed to be a poll watcher in the U.S. presidential elections of 2004, she thought she was only volunteering to work on Election Day. She had no idea that what she saw would trigger the idea of making a movie about U.S. elections. Her documentary, Stealing America: Vote by Vote, has consumed three... (read more)

Planning an Unscripted Documentary

How do you make a documentary when you have no script? I was faced with this problem when I shot my first unscripted documentary for a class in documentary filmmaking. We had the assignment of making an 8-12 minute unscripted documentary. I started by visiting a friend's farm and shooting some footage. I quickly filled up 3 one-hour tapes. Wanting to make extra sure that I had en... (read more)

15 Do-It-Yourself Tools to Promote Your Book

You're not a New York Times bestselling author. You don't have a publicist. And your Amazon sales numbers are awful. Should you quit writing books?

Absolutely not.

No matter what kind of book you've written (or plan to write) there are many ways to reach your audience. Each of the DIY tools listed here are low or no-cost, and each of them works in its own ... (read more)