Seven types of collaboration

Although there exists a significant tradition of films made by one person, collaboration has long been a common practice in documentary film production, with new forms of co-creation emerging with the advent of digital media. This poses the problem of how we should interpret films that combine different skills and different creative visions. What is the place of authorship in such a work? Drawing on a range of examples, including some from the author’s own films, this article describes seven types of collaboration in traditional documentary film practice: Dispersed Collaboration, Co-Authorship, Creative Assistance, Subject Collaboration, Sponsorship, Complicity, and Symbiosis. In addition to these, the collaboration of the viewer is crucial to the final realisation of a film. Also discussed in this article are ethnographic filmmaking, relationships among collaborators, and the personal relations between filmmakers and their subjects.