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Hi everyone, I am a public historian new to docs. In April I will be defending my master’s thesis – a study of the experiences of women in the Women’s Army Corps as they made the transition into the all-male Army of the 1970s. As part of my research, I conducted oral history interviews of women who enlisted during this transition period and will use them as part of a documentary called Transforming Athena. These women responded, in part, to Army recruiting ads of the 1970s which promised them travel, education, and most importantly, equal opportunity. But could equal opportunity truly exist in “this man’s Army?”

As part of my thesis project, I had to learn a great deal about the non-camera work that goes into a doc: treatments, budgets, funding, rights, etc. That was a huge learning curve (and still is!) My next mission is to create a budget (and could use some input if anyone would like to put in their two cents off board). What I did take away from this is that I love doing creative work. I have enough footage for my trailer (which is all I need for my thesis), but I want to do more interviews to get a wider demographic of women. Hopefully I can make this into a proper doc in the future. I look forward to hearing about all of your projects!

Hello all,
My name is Keith O'Shea, I'm originally from Cork, Ireland but I've been based in Afghanistan since 2009 having completing a B.A. in doc film at the IFSW. I'm currently in production on my first feature length doc 'Sparlo' on the master riders of the sport of Buzkashi. I hope to have the project completed around June or July this year.
The site looks like it will be a great resource. Looking forward to getting into it.
Best Regards
Keith

In reply to Linda Wasson's post on Fri 4 Mar 2011 :

It is indeed, still illegal to grow industrial hemp here in the US. We are currently the only industrial nation where it remains illegal to grow it, though it is completely legal to import all aspects of the plant, except for the 'live' seeds. You can import hemp's nutritious 'edible' seeds, but we can't import seeds that we can grow. So we are out to change that. Recent developments in Europe, Canada, etc have changed the technology of processing industrial hemp. That, combined with hemp's ability to build the healthiest, most energy efficient houses are creating a real boom abroad. We hope to get America behind hemp, thanks in large part to hemp's ability to build the healthiest houses. Hemp houses could very well be the next trend in green building in the US. Once we are able to grow it here, hemp's healthy houses should be affordable for us all.

Good to see you all here. Keith, Buzkashi has got to be one high-octane bonkers sport – basically Australian Rules Football on horses with a dead goat's head. BTW the IFSW is not an obscure faction but the International Film School Wales aka the Newport Film School where, I, er, know some of the people.

Hi everyone,

I am Eugene Martin, a filmmaker from Philly now based in the Dallas area. My new film is a feature length doc titled The Anderson Monarchs. It is about an all girls soccer club from Philadelphia who are the only African American competitive club pretty much anywhere on earth. I am in post production on the film, having shot 500 hours or so. I've got a trailer up on my website here:

http://theandersonmonarchs.com/

Glad to know about this site!

Eugene

Glad you finally made your way here, Eugene. When did you move from Philly to Texas?

And a warm welcome to Keith and Laura, as well.

Hi John/Doug,

Thank you for the welcome to the site

John, thank you for clarifying that the IFSW is indeed a film school and not an "obscure faction", should have made that a little clearer.
In relation to Buzkashi the sport goes all the way back to the time of Genghis Khan who although forbidding his people from having arms during peace time made hunting on horses compulsory as training for war. Riders would track their prey for weeks at a time eventually wearing down the animals before whipping or stoning them to death. Bloodletting was not practicing as to shed blood was believed to allow the soul to escape.

It's a wonderful, unique part of Afghan culture, a bit like going to the cinema here complete with popcorn sellers and other snack vendors.

Looking forward to getting it out there.

In reply to Jeremy Pevar's post on Fri 4 Mar 2011 :

Welcome to the D-Word, Jeremy... are you working at all with fellow D-Word member Jason Osder? If not, you may be a bit interested to know that he has been producing/directing a rather similar project (to say the least!) – and the title of his film was LET THE FIRE BURN.

@Christopher – I'm not working with Jason, though we have spoken about our respective projects. I believe that we are taking very different approaches to the topic. It is a big story and I think there is room for a variety of perspectives. Without characterizing what Jason is doing with his film, what I am attempting to do is to contextualize the MOVE story by digging into the group's origins and showing how MOVE grew and changed over the years from 1972 – 1985, culminating in the horrific events on Osage Avenue.

jeremy, good to know that there is room enough for (at least) two different filmmakers to be making separate projects on MOVE. one reason that it seemed really similar was because of all the riveting archival footage that you are both using in your trailers.

anyways, feel free to keep us updated further in the Works in Progress topic... good luck!

In reply to Blaire Johnson's post on Sat 5 Mar 2011 :

well I certainly support and respect your efforts but as for "getting America behind it" as I mentioned, American farmers have long supported and known all about the worthiness of growing hemp. Back when so many family farms were going bust pleas to grow hemp were falling on deaf ears.

Of course now we all know why – the larger corporations were out to suck up the land and make peasants out of the farmers who owned their own places. sure enough, that's what happened as Monsanto and others paved the way for biotek and more monoculture; Walmart is now the largest seller of food in the U.S. market.

just another sad tale...and yes, I am being pessimistic. the fracking mess has got me on a downhill binge.

again, good luck w/your project and feel free to contact me if you need any agriculture input or research.

I met Doug Block at DIY Days and decided to join D-Word because of the Peter Broderick distribution seminar. I am continually educating, mentoring our Philadelphia filmmakers so they can sustain their filmmaking careers. Am very glad to see PIFVA member, Jon Foy, to be screening his film, Resurrect Dead, a film PIFVA funded and a film that Doug is producing, at Stranger Than Fiction on March 29. So, I am joining this powerful conversation to learn, observe and network.

Great meeting you, Caroline, and glad it turned into becoming a member here. Welcome.

Greetings all.

At age 68 I managed to get a post graduate certificate in Documentary Production here at Algonquin College in Ottawa. My first DOC of significance is an extension of my major class project. "Daniel's Journal – History Rewritten" – takes a look at one Daniel Daverne – the first secretary/stores keeper at the first military settlement in Canada – at Perth. Ontario in 1816.

History portrays him as a criminal, a scoundrel. Yet a journal discovered in 1995, in the rubble of an old building being renovated in downtown Perth is the start of a number of serendipitous events that lead to new discoveries about Daniel, his living relatives – and perhaps a rewrite of History.

This project is a multimedia project. The related web site is meant to provide additional information about the subject and allow the viewer to buy the DVD, watch the additional material and decide, as a member of the "jury" whether or not Daniel is guilty of the charges brought against him.

The web site is http://DanielDaverne.com
The Facebook page is http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=45912699838

Some illness has put me about 1/2 year behind on this project – but I am up and running again, and will push to get the DVD produced shortly.

Read about other film work at Hugh's World: http://hugh-chatfield.com/Film_Work.html

Welcome, Carolina and Hugh. Both of you should feel free to register for professional status, which will give you access to all 50 of our discussion topics.

hi all,

i'm a doc. filmmaker based in L.A. my last film ('a hard straight') received best doc. feature at SXSW and broadcast on 'independent lens'.

my current project 'broken doors' just received best short at Big Sky.

also, i'm a very good shooter who is always looking for more documentary work--so if anybody needs shooting, please get in touch.

looking forward to meeting people here...

And we're mighty glad you're here, Goro. Congrats on the Big Sky award.

thanks doug...nice to meet you here.

Hi, My name is Victor Huey, I am making a documentary about the underground music scene in China, called "Rocking the Great Wall" Shot over a 25 year period form 1986-2011. We are now entering post production. Besides releasing a traditional feature length documentary,I have been thinking about new strategies such as distribution via a interactive documentary social network site based on my content.

Hey Caroline. I just noticed that you joined D-Word. Cheers.

Welcome aboard, Victor. Noticed your post about your distribution plans in the Peter Broderick discussion. Very intriguing, hope you'll share more in the Marketing and Distribution topic.

In reply to Jeremy Pevar's post on Fri 4 Mar 2011 :

Hello everyone! I am Grace Albasin from the Philippines but I am here in New York City taking up my MA in Media Studies at The New School. It's great to be part of this group but I am just beginning to tread on documentary. I haven't done anything yet but it is the track I'm pursuing at school.

Welcome, Grace. Enjoy NYC and good luck with your studies.

Aloha Nui,

Storytelling and music are the two things that define purpose of this thing called me. Maui was where the journey this time around began. Los Angeles, New York and New Mexico are places used to dwell. Finding others of the same drive and passion is what makes being here possible. Always looking forward to meeting others to make more magic. "Life's like a movie. Write your own ending. Keep believing. Keep pretending"

Greetings,

My name is Leroy Metcalf and I am an aspiring filmmaker. I'm currently working on my first documentary titled, "Why Do You Hate Me So Much?", which is about people interacting with other people that may hate them because of race, religion, sexual orientation, geographical location, political views, gender or age. I expect there to be a lot conflict during these interactions, but definitely not Jerry Springer type conflict. The aim is to open up dialogue with people that hate others because of there differences and to hopefully understand why people hate and to get people to think and be more accepting towards others.

I'm very new to this site and I don't know the rules yet. I would really like to network with people to get them involved in my project. Doug/John, please let me know if that's not allowed on this site.

Thanks,

Leroy