Documentary Filmmaking for Archaeologists

Documentary filmmaker Peter Pepe and historical archaeologist Joseph W. Zarzynski provide a concise guide to filmmaking designed to help archaeologists navigate the unfamiliar world of documentary film. They offer a step-by-step description of the process of making a documentary, everything from initial pitches to production companies to final cuts in the editing. Using examples from their own award-winning documentaries, they focus on the needs of the archaeologist: Where do you fit in the project? What is expected of you? How can you help your documentarian partner? The authors provide guidance on finding funding, establishing budgets, writing scripts, interviewing, and numerous other tasks required to produce and distribute a film. Whether you intend to sell a special to National Geographic or churn out a brief clip to run at the local museum, read this book before you start.

Peter Pepe, President of Pepe Productions, is a corporate and documentary video filmmaker from Glens Falls, New York. Originally a professional musician and entertainment manager, in 1978, at the infancy of video production, he began working for a video company in Queensbury, New York, learning the craft from regional video visionary, Earl Smith. Pepe has produced, directed, and edited hundreds of corporate training, safety, sales, and marketing videos for clients around the world. He likewise has made video productions for museums and visitor centers as well as produced television commercials and music videos. In 2004, Pepe began collaborating with underwater archaeologist Joseph W. Zarzynski. This team has made three award-winning feature length documentaries on shipwrecks and underwater archaeology. Pepe and Zarzynski and their colleagues are now working on new documentaries related to archaeology, cultural resources management, history, and underwater exploration. Pepe also consults on multi-media presentations and social media networking for businesses and not-for-profit corporations.

Joseph W. Zarzynski is an underwater archaeologist and former educator who lives in Wilton, New York. He has advanced degrees from Binghamton University and University of Leicester . He directed the research team that discovered the 1758 Land Tortoise radeau shipwreck in Lake George, New York that is now called “North America’s oldest intact warship.” Zarzynski is cofounder and Executive Director Bateaux Below, Inc., a not-for-profit corporation that studies Lake George shipwrecks. He is the author of two books on underwater mysteries and co-author of two books on shipwrecks and underwater archaeology. He was one of the scriptwriters and co-producer for the Pepe Productions documentaries—“The Lost Radeau: North America’s Oldest Intact Warship” (2005), “Wooden Bones: The Sunken Fleet of 1758” (2010), and “Search for the Jefferson Davis: Trader, Slaver, Raider” (2011).