The Ten Rules of Personal Documentary Filmmaking - Rule #4

As I've mentioned previously, for some reason audiences, buyers and critics come to first-person documentaries with a certain "show me" attitude.  As in, "Go ahead, dickwad, show me you're an interesting enough person to justify spending ten bucks and the next 90 minutes of my life with!"  And they seem to especially get a bug up their butt if the filmmaker appears to take him or herself too seriously.  Therefore...

Rule #4: A sense of humor is essential (especially self-deprecating humor)

My own feeling is you have maybe five minutes to establish that you're an okay fella, but I say go for it right from the top.  And nothing disarms viewers more than a well-timed joke or two at your own expense. 

Say what you will about Michael Moore but the guy knows how to poke fun at himself.  Morgan Spurlock took a little too long getting there for my taste in SuperSize Me (all those factoids about fast food, sheesh!) but he eventually delivered customer satisfaction.  And there's a reason why longtime personal doc favorites like Nick Broomfield, Ross McElwee, Judith Helfand and Alan Berliner haven't worn out their welcome -- they've mastered the art of self-effacement.