Heidi Burkey Films
About
Heidi Burkey is a documentary director and producer who's films have been distributed on Netflix, Amazon, Google Play, Vudu, iTunes, Fusion TV, YouTube Premium and DirectTV. Based in Los Angeles, CA, she has over 10 years of experience working on feature films, broadcast series, digital short films and branded content. Heidi specializes in story development and capturing the universal human experience through the lens of individual stories.
In 2015, Heidi's debut feature documentary, Jedi Junior High, was distributed on Digital HD and On Demand by Mar Vista Entertainment. Recently, she directed The Fan Chronicles, an original short film series from Crunchyroll, one of the largest distributors of anime. Heidi directed a six-episode broadcast documentary series for Tastemade called, The Pitch, which aired on AT&T’s The Audience Network in February, 2018. During her tenure as a Producer for Fusion's Digital Documentary team, she produced a 30 minute Primetime Special that aired on Fusion TV and five documentary short films that collectively garnered over 400K views on Fusion's YouTube channel and over 4.5M views on Fusion's Facebook page. Heidi began her documentary career working for the nonprofit, DTJ, where she produced, directed and edited over 45 international documentary shorts advocating for social change on behalf of children.
Heidi is a member of Film Fatales, Women in Moving Pictures, The Video Consortium, and the International Documentary Association.
You can find samples of Heidi's work at www.heidiburkey.com
I have been exploring the way story impacts our world since I was a little girl. I love how film allows me to enter places and meet people I never would have the opportunity to explore. Over the past 11 years, I've had the privielge of sustaining a documentary career and along the way I have learned that story is the essential framework to powerful filmmaking. I am excited to share and empower others with the tools I've developed.
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Frequently asked questions
What is your typical process for working with a new student?
First, I begin with listening. I want to know about the story a student is excited to explore, what challenges they are currently facing and what are the next steps they hope to take in filming that story. Based on this information, I would set up a schedule and lesson plan.
My lessons will be focused on story development for documentary & branded films. You will learn how to identify a story, pitch an idea, conduct pre-interviews, write a treatment and prepare for production.
How did you get started teaching?
I love my job and jump at any opportunity to teach about what I am passionate about - story. Over the years, I have been invited to speak in film classes and film festivals at universities across the United States. I enjoy sharing about my experiences and providing tangible tools to help others become better storytellers. After many years of integrating my own story development practice, I've decided to be proactive about teaching workshops, providing consulting and individual coaching to share what I have learned.
What types of students have you worked with?
Over the years I've worked with films students from grade school to the collegiate level. I've also trained professionals in who work in branded content and want to integrate better story practices into their work. Additionally, I share my story development tools with other professional feature documentary filmmaker to help them refine their stories.