u/Powerful-Parsley5763

My fiancé and I are in the planning stages for a documentary series. We’re finding out fast that we need an ambitious filmmaker or crew, and maybe we're just asking too much. We’re building the budget now but i’m thinking we’re underestimating by a lot.

We are building a forest farm and campground in northern Minnesota. The series would follow us closing the land deal, our first season on the land, building, discovering, struggling, and hopefully our first guests. We have our own stories but the land is the star and what it provides.  The series captures it all. Good and bad, failure and triumphs, while putting our relationship to the test.

It involves:

• Long travel between locations, Twin Cities, Duluth, further north (2.5-3 hours)
• Shooting outdoors in all weather types (even winter)
• Shooting in the wild (remote forest, wildlife, no utilities)
• Hiking A LOT
• Remote lodging, closet motel, camping with us, 
• Filming from Fall 2026-Summer 2027
• Editing through 2027
• Release 2028 (flexible)
• 8 episodes, 18-22 minutes each (flexible)

What we’re figuring out:

• Are we asking too much of a single filmmaker?
• Should we look for separate filmmaker/crew/editor roles?
• Would a paid trial be a good idea?
• What type of pay structure?
• Where do we look? Open to emerging filmmakers.
• What red flags should we watch for, both for us as first-time doc subjects/producers and in potential hires?

Thanks for your advice