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Generates a structured research brief on a documentary subject before filming, covering background, on-camera track record, and narrative territory.
How this skill is triggered — by the user, by Claude, or both
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/autopunk-media-skills:subject-research-briefThe summary Claude sees in its skill listing — used to decide when to auto-load this skill
Generates a structured research brief on a documentary subject before the first filming session, covering their background, their relationship to the film's subject, their on-camera track record, and the areas most likely to yield compelling material.
Generates a structured research brief on a documentary subject before the first filming session, covering their background, their relationship to the film's subject, their on-camera track record, and the areas most likely to yield compelling material.
Required: The subject's name, professional or personal role, and why they are relevant to the documentary Optional: Any existing media coverage or prior interviews with the subject; their relationship to other key subjects in the film; known biographical details; the film's tone and approach; any sensitivities the production is aware of
Structured brief, 700–1,000 words. Sections: Subject Profile, Relevance to Film, On-Camera Assessment, Key Narrative Territory (3–5 areas), First Session Approach (including a numbered, time-boxed plan for day one — see template below), and Sensitivities. Professional, conversational register — written to be read quickly before a shoot, not filed as a formal document. Output ends with a "Next Step" note: what to prepare before the first session, whether to run interview-question-generator for opening questions, and whether to review available prior footage of the subject before arriving on location.
The First Session Approach section MUST include a numbered, time-boxed plan for day one with practical steps the production can follow without further interpretation. Adapt the time allocations to the subject's expected register (more cautious subjects need more observational time before any filmed interview; more open subjects can compress the plan), but the plan must always include:
The plan must specify which steps require cameras and which do not, and must explicitly name at least one topic to hold back from the first session.
Documentary: A feature about the long-term effects of corporate downsizing on a former manufacturing town — twenty years after the plant closures, who stayed, who left, and what the community became Subject: Gerald Marsh, 64, worked at the main plant from age 18 until it closed when he was 42. Still lives in the town. Now runs a small auto repair workshop. Was briefly a union representative during the plant's final years. Prior media: One 5-minute local TV interview from 2004 about the closure; no subsequent media appearances.
Subject Research Brief — Gerald Marsh Documentary: Manufacturing Town 20-Year Retrospective
Subject Profile
Gerald Marsh entered the plant at 18, spent 24 years on the floor, and was part of the union during the closure period. His working life was built entirely within a single institution before it disappeared beneath him at 42. He chose to stay in the town rather than follow many of his coworkers who relocated. He now runs his own business — a significantly different relationship to work than the plant offered. He is, at 64, old enough to have full retrospective perspective on the closure and young enough that its aftermath is still his active present.
Relevance to Film
Gerald represents the film's core question from the inside. He is not an economist or a sociologist explaining what happened; he is someone it happened to who then made a choice (to stay) that the film will interrogate. His union background means he has both a political framework for understanding the closure and a personal stake in how that story is told. His current business gives the film a present-day anchor — he is not living in the past, but the past is living in him.
On-Camera Assessment
Gerald's only prior media appearance is a 2004 local TV interview. In that footage, he speaks in measured, controlled terms about the closure — clearly someone who has processed this experience rather than someone still in emotional reaction. He is articulate but careful; likely to avoid dramatic statements without trust. He will probably not be a natural confessional interview subject early in filming. His register will likely open up over time, through repeated filming, or through being in specific places (the plant site, the union hall if it still exists) rather than sitting for formal interviews.
Expected strength: strong on factual and historical detail, credible authority on the working conditions and closure process. Expected challenge: getting beyond the well-worn story he has likely told many times to find the version that still has feeling in it.
Key Narrative Territory
The decision to stay: Why did he stay when others left? What did he think the town would become, and how does that compare to what it did become? This is likely the film's central question in personal form.
The union period: What it was like to be a union representative during a closure — the responsibility, the futility, the relationships with management and workers. This period likely contains the most specific and unresolved material.
The first years after the closure: What did he do in the gap between the closure and opening the workshop? This period is probably underreported in the 2004 interview and may contain significant emotional and practical complexity.
His relationship to the town now: Who is still there, who is gone, what is lost that cannot be named, what unexpected things have survived or grown. A walk through the town with him — not a sit-down interview — may be the best way to access this.
What he would say to the executives who made the decision: This is a high-value question to save for later in production, not to ask in the first session.
First Session Approach
Open observationally. Don't lead with the emotional weight of the closure story. Spend time in the workshop first — let him be in his expertise and competence before asking him to be vulnerable. The initial filmed conversation should establish his working life now, his relationship to the town today, and what a normal week looks like. This is also the production's opportunity to establish that you're interested in the whole person, not just the tragedy.
Save the union period and the "why did you stay" question for a formal interview after at least one or two observational filming sessions.
Practical first-session steps (concrete plan for day one):
These steps are calibrated for a subject likely to be guarded; for a subject who is naturally open, the production can compress steps 3–6 into a single longer block. The principle holds either way: the first day's job is to make the second day possible.
Sensitivities
Gerald was a union representative during a period that ended in failure — the plant closed despite the union's efforts. Be aware that he may carry complicated feelings about that role, including a sense of responsibility for what he couldn't prevent. Do not frame the closure as a failure of union organizing; let him place his own judgment on that period. Similarly, avoid implying that staying in the town was a lesser choice than leaving — the film's job is to investigate that question, not to assume an answer.
Next Step: Review the 2004 local TV interview footage before arriving on location, with the director and producer watching together to align on Gerald's likely register and the ground he has already publicly covered. Then run interview-question-generator to draft the seated 45-minute interview questions for day one (workshop / present-day register), and brief the crew on the union-period sensitivity flag before any filming begins.
npx claudepluginhub ur-grue/autopunk-media-skills --plugin autopunk-media-skillsGenerates a structured interview question set for documentary subjects, organized by narrative function from rapport-builders to challenging questions.
Plans and conducts journalistic interviews to maximize source cooperation and information yield. Useful for reporters and investigators preparing structured interviews.
Creates, edits, and optimizes skills for Claude Code, including drafting, evaluating with test prompts, iterating on performance, and improving skill descriptions for better triggering accuracy.