Reports & official documents – The Fact-Based Screenplay

Using dry reports and official documents as a source for movies and TV? Really? It might sound strange but there are plenty of fact-based films and shows which draw inspiration from this type of material. Our series of guides to working with different source material moves on to look at how you can get the most from the information included in reports and official documents.

Reports & official documents: an overview

This type of source material is slightly different to many we discuss in our series as we’re not talking about straight adaptations. Instead, this material is often used to inform drama or to provide a jumping off point for exploring other issues.

Reports and official documents can come from various sources, including:

Government departments and committees
Law enforcement agencies
Law firms and company filings
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and charities
Independent bodies

These documents tend to be “fact-heavy”, detailing the outcome of sometimes lengthy investigations which are carried out publicly or which are classified until the report is later fully or partly de-classified (or even leaked). Reports might also include personal testimonies or allegations by whistleblowers.

You can find reports online, get them from official sources, or even go through a library. In the US, a good starting point is the Commerce Research Library or National Archives. In the UK, there are the National Archives and Parliament websites. Other countries will have similar sources.

Sensitive reports might be partially redacted to prevent some of the information (such as names) becoming public.

How do writers work with reports & official documents?

Some stories are based around a single report – such The Report (2019). This film is partly based on the US Senate Intelligence Committee study of the Central Intelligence Agency’s Detention and Interrogation Program. This was the program of “enhanced interrogation” (i.e. torture) covertly undertaken after the terrorist attacks of 9/11.

The film’s narrative concerns protagonist Daniel Jones, a Senate staff member tasked with investigating and compiling the titular report, a process which took years and resulted in a damning 6,000-page document.

However, while the report provides the “guts” of the story, the script was informed by other sources, including the Vanity Fair article, ‘Rorschach and Awe’, by Katherine Eban, which concerned the controversial techniques employed and the individuals who developed those techniques.

The structure of the film blends Jones’ investigation with flashbacks to the decision-making that went on in the aftermath of 9/11 to balance latter-day reaction to the torture program with the very different climate of 2002 when the US was on high alert.

Another way in which writers use official documents is to get a wider overview of the subject. By going through the various sources, writers can piece together the “true story” from which they can then develop a fictionalized narrative.

For example, the TV miniseries Chernobyl (2019) was based on a variety of reports, declassified Soviet documents, and personal accounts, which all provided background on the 1986 nuclear disaster. The series looks not just at the impact on the workers and residents but also on the response of the Russian government.

A further way in which reports are used by filmmakers is to use their very existence to inform the drama. Indeed, the conflict driving Act Three of The Report is the struggle to release the completed document.

Another example is The Post (2017). The main conflict here is the Washington Post’s plans to publish the leaked, classified Pentagon Papers detailing the US government’s involvement in the Vietnam War. The Post getting hold of the damning Pentagon Papers is the starting point for a drama which concerns issues including the freedom of the press and the struggle of the newspaper’s publisher Kay Graham to operate in a male-dominated world.

Rights issues

One advantage of working with this type of material is that there may be fewer rights issues to consider. This is because a.) reports and official documents are often available publicly and not subject to copyright; b.) they are more likely to contain “facts” than opinion; and c.) they provide inspiration and research rather than dramatic narratives which the writer adapts for the screen.

That’s not to say you’re home free when it comes to legal (and other) issues. Indeed, the official nature of this type of material can be problematic from a right point-of-view.

As we saw in The Report, reports are often the result of years-long, in-depth, classified research which reveals highly specific information and makes weighty allegations. Fictionalizing this information might require “naming names” and publicizing contentious material.

Further, while the root of the story might be the information contained in the report, often the dissemination of that information will have rights protections.

For example, All the President’s Men (1976) fictionalizes efforts made by Washington Post journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein to expose political corruption around the Watergate break-in. While the evidence that Woodward and Bernstein uncovered, which forms the essence of the drama, was partially based on official documents and records, the script itself is based on the journalists’ non-fiction book of the same name.

Other things to consider include:

Not all reports will be free of copyright (especially those from non-governmental sources)
Defamation and libel issues might come into play over allegations and descriptions contained in the report
Reports and documents may contain sensitive or personal information (leading to data privacy concerns)
Leaked documents might still be classified
Using excerpts from reports verbatim might fall within the “fair use” rules
Reports based on whistleblowers’ accounts might require an agreement with the source
Some countries might have censorship laws or require users to get permission to use the material
Ethical concerns might arise if the report details personal stories involving topics like abuse or addiction

Often producers, writers, and filmmakers will seek permission from the rightsholders, authors, and/or sources to ensure they are free to go ahead without fear of legal repercussion.

As always, the best advice is to do your homework about any rights issues, seek specialist advice, or to simply use reports and documents as a useful research tool which informs a fictionalized story.

Examples of fact-based films/TV based on reports and documents

We end with a few more example of fact-based films/TV which drew inspiration from reports and official documents.

Spotlight (2015): This film about efforts by Boston Globe reporters to investigate abuse by Catholic priests and the associated cover-up was informed by documents and legal filings.

Erin Brockovich (2000): Real legal and corporate documents informed this biographical drama about a legal assistant’s battle to secure compensation for residents over a utility firm’s pollution.

Vice (2018): This irreverent take on the life of former US Vice President Dick Cheney drew on official reports, memos, and public records detailing his decisions and influence.

Judas and the Black Messiah (2021): This story of an informant infiltrating the Black Panther Party was informed by memos and documents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Snowden (2016): This biographical drama concerns whistleblower Edward Snowden, who leaked classified documents on the US National Security Agency’s global surveillance programs.

Zero Dark Thirty (2012): This somewhat controversial film about the decade-long manhunt for Osama bin Laden was informed by CIA reports and classified documents.

Hotel Rwanda (2004): Testimonies, reports, and documents relating to the 1994 Rwandan Genocide informed this drama about hotel owner Paul Rusesabagina’s efforts to shelter refugees.

When They See Us (2019): This story of five men wrongfully accused and eventually exonerated in a 1989 New York murder case was partly based on court documents and police reports.

The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story (2016): As well as Jeffrey Toobin’s non-fiction book, this miniseries about the infamous O.J. Simpson trial was partly based on court documents.

The Comey Rule (2020): This TV drama was partly based on reports and investigations related to the 2016 US presidential election and Russian interference.