Trust Through Transparency: Rethinking Pay and Power in Documentary

In this episode of Rough Cut, Sweta Vohra and Emma Alpert from Multitude Films—an independent production company dedicated to transformative culture change through nonfiction storytelling—dive deep into how Multitude is building a values-driven model that prioritizes sustainability, fairness, and humanity both on set and behind the scenes.

Key takeaways include: sharing production budgets when hiring crew to establish fair standards across the industry and recognizing care as a crucial component of ethical filmmaking — not just an afterthought.

Listeners will gain practical insights on reshaping budgets, negotiating with transparency, and redefining compensation beyond just money. If you’re committed to changing the culture of filmmaking for the better, this is an episode you can’t miss.

This episode is a collaboration between Video Consortium and Brown Girls Doc Mafia to bring attention to The Pay Transparency Project, a resource built in collaboration with VC and BGDM to promote and highlight the importance of pay transparency in documentary and nonfiction film production. 

Show Links

Sweta Vohra: ​​www.multitudefilms.com/sweta-vohra

Emma Alpert: www.multitudefilms.com/emma-alpert

Multitude Films: www.multitudefilms.com

Brown Girls Doc Mafia: www.browngirlsdocmafia.org

Pay Transparency Project: www.paytransparencyproject.org

Credits

Guests: Sweta Vohra and Emma Alpert of Multitude Films

Executive Produced by Sky Dylan-Robbins and Kat Vecchio

Produced by Audrey Horwitz

Music by Zack Wright

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