Introduce Yourself: Sign In Here First

Thanks for introducing yourself, Gilly, and great to have you among us. Wish you'd posted last year, I was in Edinburgh for a mentorship program with the Scottish Documentary Council (if I remember their name correctly) and I screened 51 Birch Street at the Filmhouse. I've also been working with Edinburgh-based filmmaker Amy Hardie as producer on her upcoming personal doc. Do you know her? It's really extraordinary, just saw the latest cut yesterday and I'm very excited.

Anyway, hopefully we'll meet up next time I'm there. Good luck with your project, in the meantime.

Hi
Im currently directing/ editing my first feature length documentary film. Hit a point where I realize that even though I've spent the past eights years editing promo length films, editing feature length is a whole other animal!! So after about a year and a half shooting, logging, cutting trailers, trying to piece together scenes, I still feel completely unorganized! But the stuff is so compelling and Im confidant we have a great film, the question is how to proceed... Do we write a script? How to we organize tapes? Should we get a mentor? Etc... So I'm here to meet other doc makers and learn a thing or two! Looking forward!

Welcome to The D-Word, Yocheved. You might want to take a look at back posts in the Editing and Post-Production topic (or do a search). We've had a number of discussions about how to go about organizing tons of footage.

I also highly recommend you get in touch with a consultant like Fernanda Rossi, who is NY-based and just led an info-packed, week-long discussion of story structure here, which is now archived.

In reply to Doug Block's post on Tue 2 Jun 2009 :

Thanks Doug. It would be lovely to meet up when you're next over in Edinburgh. I've not yet met Amy but know her by reputation and the documentary institute she founded a few years ago. I'll look forward to watching her new film when it comes out. The SDI has some fantastic masterclasses many of which are on-line. James Longley was there only last month but unfortunately I couldn't make it as I was filming out of Edinburgh for a few days.

Hello. I've been an editor for 14 years in New York City and have just JUST moved to Santa Fe, NM (still waiting for my furniture to get here). I've worked on tons of doc projects for T.V. For the past couple of years I've been working on a reality/docusoap ("Flip This House" for A&E) and I thought I was bringing remote work with me -- an offshoot of that show -- but found out Friday that the plug had been pulled on the show a couple of months into production. So here I am without gainful employment, and wondering where to start (short of taking a job at Trader Joe's). Anyone have any ideas about how to go about getting post production work in Santa Fe? Gov. Bill Richardson has put in place an amazing tax rebate for filmmakers and it has spurred a ton of film production, but the post hasn't arrived as far as I can tell. I'm here with my little Avid setup and my highspeed internet and would be thrilled to work remotely from my new adobe home!

Anyway, nice to be here (on the d-word and in Santa Fe).

Welcome, Molly. Why don't you contact the NM Office of Motion Pictures and see if they can hook you up with any local film outfits? And maybe hang notices in the cool coffee shops in town?

Hi Everyone,
I never had in mind to become a filmmaker or work for TV branch at all, as I am studied lawyer... but when I accidentally took part in a production for a documentary for German TV I was hooked. So far I was involved as co-author, author or producer in ten non-fiction productions and made my experience mostly on the German market. But since beginning of the year I am working for a production company who wants to extend their experience to internationally co-productions – a lot to do and learn here for me! With D-Word I'd like get in touch with others filmmakers, authors and producers etc and simply share the love for documentaries.
Nice to be here!
Sunny greetings from Berlin, Germany

Great to have you with us, Jessica. Hope you'll leap right into the discussions.

Greetings, all:

Just a quick note to introduce myself. I'm an independent filmmaker based about an hour outside Washington, D.C. I've spent much of my career as a First Assistant Director in the Hollywood film industry – but early on, began also to create small movies for nonprofit organizations involved in global anti-poverty work – especially in the area of microfinance. Gradually, over a twenty-year stretch, the emphasis shifted to where I no longer do any A.D. work, and I've branched out into full-fledged documentary work. I'm working on a number of projects, but the most germane one to share is one in which I'm spending time periodically with a sixteen-year-old boy with autism. His story in poignant, his obstacles large, and his strength of character impressive – and, the biggest challenge as I move forward is how to shape a multi-faceted story. I anticipate that in the future, I'll want to seek more concrete advice; for now, I'm just saying hi. I'm going to share this project at the upcoming F2F session attached to Silverdocs next week – so perhaps I'll meet some of you there.

Hi everyone,

I am a new filmmaker working out of the Boston area. I'm trying to gain experience in the business and learn as much as possible. I recently completed a short documentary for my thesis in the MFA program at Boston University called "The Spirit of a Runner." The film follows Washington D.C. native Suprabha Beckjord as she embarks on the Sri Chinmoy Self Transcendence 3,100-Mile Race for an unprecedented 12th year in a row. For those of you who don't know anything about this event, it is an unbelievable athletic endeavor in which runners log anywhere from 50 to 80 miles per day around a single city block in Queens, NY en route to completing the overall 3,100-mile distance. They run from 6 a.m. to midnight, never taking a day off. Suprabha is the only woman to ever attempt the race, and she is also the only person- male or female- who has completed the race every year since its inception 12 years ago. If you'd like to see a trailer for the film, as well as check out some of my previous work, please visit my website at: www.jbeersaltman.weebly.com.

Cheers,
Jessie

Welcome, Robert and Jessie. It was nice meeting you in Boston, Jessie. Your film is an intriguing one but, I've gotta add, your main subject sounds utterly insane. Talk about needing to get a life!

Welcome, Jessie. You should make that your profile picture!

To explain to others why you qualify for Member status, I'll quote from your profile: "Her experience includes credits for PBS and the Discovery Channel, as well as numerous independent and commercial productions. In 2005, she produced and edited Eyes Through Time, a NASA-commissioned educational documentary on the Swift satellite mission in outer space."

welcome, jessie. you've undoubtedly heard of and seen "Spirit of the Marathon", right? if you can somehow get access to the same mailing list as them, you'll sell a LOT of DVDs...

Hi!

It is great to come across such a fine resource with accomplished, driven, folks contributing to meaningful dialog that benefits the craft! I am honored to join in on the fun. A little about me: I love pushing critical issues and the orgs behind them with the power of story telling. I primarily produce doc-based commercials and marketing videos for nonprofits and other altruistic organizations. As well I production managed and coordinated doc/reality programming, through the company I work with in Phoenix-Randy Murray Productions, for the BBC, Discovery, PBS and CBS.

Currently, I am co-producing three docs (two in the final stages of production: a 5yr case study on elected vs. appointed public officials in relation to use of media; a 2yr look at teachers as heroes in one community. And one in development: an examination of Navajo through the eyes of the elders). My partners and I are at that point of culmination and require a look beyond the ideal world to the real world of distribution and sales! It's all about getting the stories heard and I am interested in strategies and sums so we can secure proper amounts through partners, distributors and other sales channels to get it out there and stay in the black! I am sure there are great resources here which I will explore. Please let me know if you have anything I should check out!

Thanks to all who have made this resource what it is, I look forward to exploring and participating.

Best,

Andrew

if interested follow me on facebook and twitter by searching andrew@andrewjamesbenson.com – I have been trying to build a presence by sharing info i find on cause marketing, education reform and sharing other ruminations and opportunities!

Welcome, Andrew. Feel free to register for full membership which will give you access to all of the discussion topics.

hey people, I'm Leonardo Souza,19 . I'm from Brazil, I am a film student and crazy when the topic is documewntary ! I made a doc in Rio de Janeiro's trains and I work in a documentary producer company :D
I want to talk about everything and new videos are coming I hope to share all my experiences and learn as more as possible so !
if you want here is my short-doc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aclcc6w17Xc&feature=channel_page
=)

see ya

Hey, welcome to The D-Word, Leonardo. Glad you found your way here.

[rest of message deleted, as Ernesto posted the same advertisement in the Classifieds topic, which is where it belongs]

Hi All, I am Sultana from US. I love documentaries and plan to make one myself. I am here to learn from your experiences.

Welcome, Ernesto and Sultana.

Hi,
My name is Elan Frank; I am a documentary film maker residing in LA.
I am now in the process of developing a documentary film on the co-existence between Jews and Muslims in Morocco and got to the sage of presenting investors with a business plan and production package, including a proposed budget.
I was wondering if anyone could refer me to samples of such packages/forms, what is essential to have in them, and a one-page budget sample form that is satisfactory to investors (I have my budget format, but it is in excel and very details, not something you provide investors. I am looking for a designed one page with the essentials.
Thanks you. I am glad to be part of this documentary family here in D-word!
Elan

Hello,

I've just begun researching a topic for a documentary. I'm currently based in Southern California and am looking forward to sharing and learning with folks on this site.

Thanks for making this space available!
Monica

Elan and Monica, good to have you here.

Hello everyone. I am in the midst of final editing for my second documentary project. I look forward to learning from everyone here.

Hello, I'm an aspiring doc maker currently living in Texas. I was just accepted into the Edinburgh College of Art MFA program for Film, and I'm trying to get a feel for the reputation of the program. Agnes Varnum recommended I join here to connect with Peter Gerard in Edinburgh.