We’re excited that this year’s Documentary Fundamentals series is grounded in the award-winning biographical film Going To Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project by Michèle Stephenson and Joe Brewster—an ideal foundation as we turn our focus today to the craft of editing, where story, structure, and voice truly come to life.

Join editors Sarah Hagey and Regi Allen for this session as they share insights into shaping narrative, navigating collaboration, and finding rhythm in the edit room.

This session will be all about editing your next documentary. How can documentary directors work effectively with editors, sound designers, and other essential post-production talent?  How does a story emerge from a pile of footage?  Can you really “fix it in post”?  What is an online edit and can you do it yourself?

Buy a Series Pass

DOCUMENTARY FUNDAMENTALS: A professional development series designed to give the emerging or intermediate documentary filmmaker an inside look at the filmmaking process from pre-production planning to post-production and distribution. Over the past few years, UnionDocs has developed this ongoing program for documentarians that desire a better foundation for navigating the modern landscape of independent filmmaking. This six-part program takes place over the course of one weekend at UnionDocs. Buy a SERIES PASS ($175) or choose to attend individual sessions ($35/each).

Instructors

Regi Allen is a two-time Emmy® Award–winning senior video editor and creative director, boasting over 25 years of experience crafting high-impact visual narratives. Based in Washington, D.C., Regi has collaborated with MTV, Discovery Channel, ABC, HBO, Netflix, Disney, and more. In 2023, Regi contributed editorial expertise to two standout documentary projects:
Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project — This HBO Documentary Films feature earned the Grand Jury Prize for U.S. Documentary at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, was selected for the New York Film Festival Main Slate, included on the Oscar shortlist, and later won the Primetime Emmy® for Outstanding Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking, among over 30 international awards sundance.org+12thegrio.com+12press.wbd.com+12. Black Girls Play: The Story of Hand Games — A short documentary in ESPN’s “30 for 30” series, co-directed by Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson, it garnered the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Short-Form Documentary, the Edward R. Murrow Award for Excellence in Video, won Best Short Doc at Tribeca, and was included on the Oscar shortlist facebook.com+15espnfrontrow.com+15maysles.org+15. After leading London-based Niceandcreative for three years as Creative Director and Senior Editor, Regi returned to the U.S. to refocus on specializing in short-form creative editing, integrating emerging AI tools to elevate storytelling. He is now open for immediate freelance or full-time engagements.

Sarah Enid Hagey is a film editor and sound designer. Working as an artist and filmmaker in the field for over 20 years, her work has screened at such institutions as the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, MoMA, and The New Museum and premiered on HBO, CNN, PBS, and at festivals both nationally and internationally including SXSW, Berlin, Toronto and Locarno. She is the recipient of a Cinema Award from the National Board of Review and her work has garnered a James Beard Award for Visual and Technical Excellence, and an Emmy.

Emmy award-winning filmmaker, artist, and author Michèle Stephenson draws from her Haitian and Panamanian heritage and experience as a social justice lawyer to transform non-fiction storytelling. She creates emotionally powerful narratives of resistance and healing that emphasize the lived experiences of communities of color across the Americas and the Black diaspora. Through a Black Atlantic perspective, Stephenson reimagines storytelling to provoke thought and inspire action against systemic oppression, weaving together fiction, immersive, experimental, and hybrid forms. In 2023, her films Going To Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project and Black Girls Play: The Story of Hand Games were Oscar-shortlisted, with Going To Mars winning the Sundance Grand Jury Prize and the prestigious Emmy Award for Outstanding Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking. Black Girls Play received significant accolades, including the Edward R. Murrow Award for Excellence in Video and Best Short Doc at Tribeca. Her feature American Promise earned three Emmy nominations and won the Jury Prize at Sundance, while Stateless was nominated for a Canadian Academy Award for Best Feature Documentary. Stephenson co-directed The Changing Same, a magical realist VR trilogy that premiered at Sundance’s New Frontier XR Program, won the Tribeca Grand Jury Prize for Best Immersive Narrative, and was Emmy-nominated for Outstanding Interactive Media. In 2024, she received the NYWIFT Nancy Malone Muse Directing Award and is currently in post-production on a feature on the Black Power movement in Canada. She is a Guggenheim Artist Fellow, Creative Capital Artist, and member of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Emmy award-winning filmmaker Joe Brewster is a Harvard-trained psychiatrist who applies his medical expertise to explore social issues through his cinematic work. He made his directorial debut with The Keeper (1995), drawing on his experience as a prison psychiatrist at the Brooklyn House of Detention, and the film received numerous awards, including Spirit Award nominations. Over the past three decades, Brewster has directed and produced narrative and documentary films, as well as immersive media. His feature documentary American Promise (2014) earned three Emmy nominations and won the Jury Prize at Sundance. His film Going To Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project was Oscar-shortlisted, won the 2023 Sundance Grand Jury Prize, and received over 30 awards, including two Cinema Eye Awards and the prestigious Emmy for Outstanding Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking. Black Girls Play: The Story of Hand Games (2023) won the Cinema Eye Best Short Award, the Edward R. Murrow Award for Excellence in Video, and was also Oscar-shortlisted. Brewster’s groundbreaking room-scale production The Changing Same premiered at Sundance and won the 2021 Tribeca Grand Jury Prize for Best Immersive Experience. His subsequent AR/VR projects include O-Dogg: On Othello, featuring Tariq Trotter, which premiered at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Brewster has also produced documentary works for PBS, HBO, Amazon, Al Jazeera, Vice, Sundance Channel, Comcast, Disney, and the World Channel. He has received fellowships and grants from the Sundance Institute, Tribeca Film Institute, BAVC, MacArthur Foundation, and the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation. He is a member of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and has won multiple Emmys.