Guided by broadcast journalist Mimi Edmunds (CBS, 60 Minutes, PBS), learn the power of the long interview to go below the surface and how to take your interviews and stories to a new level.

There are no available registration dates at this time.

This class will be in a live, online format using the Zoom Platform.
Class meets Saturday & Sunday, Apr 13-14 from 10:30am-4pm ET (Includes a 90-minute break each day to develop individual work).

The interview is the foundation of non-fiction filmmaking and long-form journalism. It is the key element that can launch a story, and give it depth, drama, and longevity. Acclaimed feature documentaries like The Fog of War, My Octopus Teacher, Crip Camp, Finding Vivian Maier, Free Solo, Three Identical Strangers, David Attenborough’s films, and shows like Frontline and 60 Minutes demonstrate the power of the interview to elicit the story from the voices inside the stories we tell. And it is The Interview that is the spine of any good non-fiction narrative.

This is a course in the techniques of interviewing for in-depth stories. While the interview may appear to be a simple question-and-answer process, it is in fact a stage in which there are rules, styles, and formats. A long interview can last anywhere from ten minutes to hours and can take place over multiple locations and days.  Along with becoming familiar with your subject through background research, it is about the talent of listening and targeting what is needed when faced with the necessity of an in-depth interview on the spot. 

In this two-day intensive, we will screen, discuss, develop, and critique interviews each day. Each student may bring in model interviews and a proposal for an interview they wish to develop, but others simply wishing to learn core interviewing techniques are equally welcome to participate. The class will be divided so that each student presents and receives feedback. The class will meet from 10:30am until 4pm ET with a 90-minute break to develop individual work and bring it back to the class for critique.

Leave with a sense of how to take your interviews and stories to a new level.

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Instructor: Mimi Edmunds

Mimi Edmunds has worked in non-fiction storytelling for three decades. She was a broadcast journalist with CBS for 15 years, including eleven at 60 Minutes, and at CBS’s documentary unit. She then worked at PBS and the Discovery Network, and also wrote and produced for PBS’ newsmagazine Arizona Illustrated. Her films have won Emmy nominations and Cable awards. She currently works on independent productions.

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