FEATURED FILMMAKER: DENISE BLANE
Denise Blane grew up watching behind the scenes features of her favorite movies. Now, she’s behind the scenes herself.
“My interest in film started with the ‘extras’ tab on the DVD menu,” says Blane, Indianapolis documentary filmmaker. “At 10 years old, I was immersed into the behind the scenes process of filmmaking. When I was younger, I was always creating some type of content. I would force my siblings and cousins in front of a camera whenever I could, creating mini scripted shows and a parody of reality TV.”
After studying Communications and Film at the University of Saint Francis, Blane hit the ground running. “Once I was back home from college,” she says, “I was quickly connected with the film community in Indianapolis and got to work. I won the very first PitchDox competition in 2023 and completed my first feature film in 2024.”
PitchDox, presented by Hoodox, is the documentary pitch competition exclusively for Hoosier filmmakers that provides funds and visibility to the Indiana filmmaking community. Blane’s 2023 Grand Prize winning film, “Justice 4 Three,” tells the story of a hate crime in Fort Wayne that took the life of her cousin, Anderson Retic Chinn, in early 2021. With the $10,000 financial award from PitchDox, Blane and her team were able to complete the feature documentary in one year and premiere it to a sold-out theater during Heartland International Film Festival.
“At my Heartland Film premiere,” Blane shares, “a woman brought her eight year old daughter to see the film and stayed for the Q&A. After the premiere, the woman came up to me and told me what her daughter had said. Her daughter looks up at her and goes, ‘Mommy, when I grow up, I want to be a civil rights activist.’ If that doesn’t show what I have done with ‘Justice 4 Three’ that has made an impact, I don’t know what will.”
“When a story is so raw and unsettling that it almost feels unreal, I believe showing it as it truly happened makes a much deeper impact than creating a fictional version,” she continues. “The truth has a weight that stays with people.”
Following truth in a subject-driven story is what gives documentaries like “Justice 4 Three” their impact, but Blane says it’s a double-edged sword. “The most challenging thing about making documentaries is the lack of control you have as an artist,” she says. “Yes, you can ask all of the questions, yes, you can cut the edit together how you want, but at the end of the day, the story stems from the subjects. This was something I found difficult, especially coming from narrative filmmaking.”
Documentary, like any art form, has its challenges, but Indiana has a supportive community of filmmakers who are always ready to step in and help out. “A lot of people (including myself at one point) think you have to leave Indiana to make a great film, or even to make a film at all,” says Blane. “But that’s just not true. There are real artists here in Indiana. There’s a whole community of hardworking, talented people that often gets overlooked.”
“Collaboration is my favorite part of the filmmaking process,” she adds. “The truth is, you always end up with a better final product when you work with others and stay open to new ideas.”
Follow Blane’s work on her website and on instagram @niecymichelle1104. Learn more about “Justice 4 Three” here.
Photos provided by Denise Blane.
