“Doing a documentary is about discovering, being open, learning, and following curiosity.”

— Spike Jonze

One of the best things we’ve done recently to expand our social circle & build genuine friendships faster has been to host a monthly documentary club. Think of it as a book club without the guilt.

We love the idea of a club because it gives a standing invitation at the ready when we meet someone cool and gives us a natural way to see friends on the regular. Book clubs can be great and all, but I for one don’t need one more thing to feel behind on in my life. The beauty of a documentary club is that you get all of the benefits - a standing date to hang out with cool people, have a nibble/beverage, and dive into an interesting conversation - but without the homework.

How to start your own documentary club

1. Start with the end in mind

Who would you like to join you? Is there anyone that you’d like to get to know more?

Jot down those names and reach out! Aim to get buy-in from at least three people and then ask them who they might like to invite that would be a good fit.

Once you have a core in place, you can all work together to expand the circle. Although you could get started with a smaller, number aim for at least 12-15 potential members. The reality is that life happens and not everyone will be there at once because of schedule conflicts, health reasons, and life events. Expand your invite list over time and you’ll always have an interesting rotation of people joining the party.

In our group, since we began in January of 2023 there has never been a month when the same exact people were in the room. That’s why you need to aim for more people to join than you might initially think.

You could also open the invitation and expand past people you know personally. Local interest Facebook and Meetup groups are a great way to find people you might enjoy, so they can be a great avenue to expand the circle.

2. Set your parameters

Begin by settling how often and when you want to meet.

It will help everyone if you can standardize it as much as possible. In our case, we meet on the third Tuesday of the month. Everyone knows this and can enter it into their calendar.

Do you want to host consistently or rotate locations? How do you want to handle food?

We decided to host the event in our home and have dinner waiting for members so they could come straight from work. We knew this would minimize the impulse to get home, grab a quick bite, and then talk themselves out of going out again. Janelle and I love cooking and it gives us a chance to experiment with new recipes and ideas we might incorporate into our YouTube channel, but that might not work for you. You may not want food at all. Maybe everyone is free to bring their dinner with them. Or, ask members to bring some wine and nibbles to share. Do whatever makes the most sense but make it as easy for people to come as you possibly can.

In our case, anyone can come and help us get ready and hang out in the kitchen with a glass of wine, or they can show up for just the meal. We aim to have everything set out by 5:30 but we have a hard stop time before we vote on what we will watch together, which for us is 6:30.

3. Choose your film

This is the real beauty of this format. No homework, no prep, no hassle. Just choose something to watch together, pop it on, and enjoy! The hardest thing might just be settling on an option.

Here’s how we do it:

We have a giant spreadsheet of documentaries that anyone is able to add to. (Feel free to grab ours to get you started at the end of this post!)
Each month, we pick three films from the spreadsheet to short list.
We play the three trailers for the group and let everyone vote on which they’d like to choose.
The first round, you’re allowed to vote for as many options as you think sound good. Then we eliminate one choice and vote again. The second time around, you have to vote for the one you’d like.
Then we watch the winner and pass the popcorn!

See where the discussion leads you!

Discussions will obviously flow about what you just watched together, but be sure to be respectful of time. Some will stay a bit longer and some will need to head out. Make it easy for people to exit as needed.

4. Think through the logistics

The only real work needed is to decide how you want to stay in touch with the group.

Do you want to have a text thread? Monthly email? Whatsapp group? However it works best for you, there needs to be some simple way to invite people to the group and send out a reminder about the next meeting.

We send out a reminder about a week before the club with our address and instructions for anyone who might be joining, and then we pop off a follow-up a few days afterward with a link to the documentary we watched in case anyone couldn’t join us. Simple as that!

So there you have it!

I hope this inspires you to think outside of the book club and create a club of your own! If you’d like to see what documentaries we’re working through and get inspiration for your own, feel free to use Janelle’s Documentary List as a starting point!

See our documentary list spreadsheet