The D-Word: Introduce Yourself: Sign In Here First

Mon 12 May 2003 •

Hello,
My name is Scott davis and I am a filmmaker. I have been in the film
industry for 20 years. Last year I embarked on my first doc.
I am part of a group of 4 called Common Sense Films.
We are in the last stages of post production of our first feature
documentary, The Fort Fisher Hermit, The Life and Death of Robert E
Harrill. I look forward to the exchange of ideas and guidence that
this group has to offer.
Cheers

Host

Doug Block

Mon 12 May 2003 •

Welcome, Scott. I see you've registered for the community, as well.
We'll be able to accomodate you later tonight. Be sure to re-post
this intro once you're in there.

Professional

Heide Schramm

Wed 14 May 2003 •

Hi there d-community.
I am a doc distributor based in Germany and have joined the doc
platform with my own company HS Media Consult in 2000. Beforehand I
have been doing this job for a company mainly specialized in music
programs.
I consult and distribute mainly for German distributors who want an
international platform for their programs - so yes, all foreign doc
producers are welcome to contact me the other way round should you
seek help in German speaking territory. My main focus is arts, human
interest, historical doc and - this is new scientific programs as
well.
Right now I am looking for advise from people who love gypsy music and
could recommend the best place to go theatrical in the US with a
feature length doc film on a gypsy group from Romania called the
Fanfare Ciocarlia. They have been touring and fascinating the world
since about 5 years and they are back performing in the States again
in the end of June. So whoever wants to help spread their fame give
me a hint.
I look forward to correspond with a lot of interesting people on as
interesting topics in the d-word community!

Host

Erica Ginsberg

Wed 14 May 2003 •

Welcome Heidi.

If you have an NTSC version of the doc, I'd love to see it (though I
am no expert in Roma music, I do quite enjoy it.) At least in
Washington DC, there is an audience for Roma concerts and films.
Tony Gatlif's films seem to have a following and I know there was a
Czech film (about a woman singer -- I can't recall her name) that
also played a small circuit here. And of course Jasmin Dellal's
AMERICAN GYPSY which isn't about music so much as the culture as a
whole.

If Fanfare Ciocarlia are touring, it would be great to combine
showing the film with performances. D-Word's Nina Seavey did this to
great effect with the Russian country band Bering Strait and their
performances and the film really enhanced each other.

Is the band popular in Romania? Not sure how much help they'd be to
you, but you might want to try the cultural section of the Romanian
Embassy in Washington (only thing is they may have a new cultural
attache, so I'm not sure how active they are in promoting events; if
the film is produced by Germans, you could also try the Goethe
Institut in different cities)

Other possibilities are to try for festivals like South by Southwest,
FullFrame, and, of course, Sundance.

Professional

Heide Schramm

Wed 14 May 2003 •

Hi Erica,

thank you so much for your interest and prompt reply.

Let me know your address by return mail and I will send it to you,
however we only have PAL versions so far. Do you have access to a
player then??

I will certainly take your advice and will let you know if I am
successful.

Sincerely Heide

Host

Doug Block

Wed 14 May 2003 •

Welcome Heide. I agree with Erica, festivals are the way to expose
your film in U.S. territories. It's very difficult for international
docmakers here, however (something we're working hard at The D-Word to
correct). Don't get your expectations too high.

I suggest you check out the website for The Ballad of Bering
Straight. It's a good model for your film:

http://emergingpictures.com/bering_strait.htm

Host

Ben Kempas

Wed 14 May 2003 •

Heide, don't forget to join us in {LINK NOT IMPORTED} as well.
Greetings from a Munich burgher...

Professional

Heide Schramm

Thu 15 May 2003 •

Dear Doug,

thank you very much for your note and welcome. I will keep you posted
on my proceedings - hopefully ending in success.
Kindest regards,
Heide

Enthusiast

Kirsty

Thu 22 May 2003 •

Hi guys,

I'm a casual documentary fan, as in, when I see them I usually like
them, but not obsessed or anything. I am, however, obsessed with
backpacking (budget travel, not wilderness stuff) and would love to
one day chronical my travels and encounters with others in docu form.
This is just me starting to research into the world of documentaries!

Kirsty

Host

Erica Ginsberg

Thu 22 May 2003 •

Kirsty, would recommend you check out (if you haven't already):

Pop and Me (http://www.imdb.com/Title?0196002)
and
Hitchhiking Vietnam (http://www.pbs.org/hitchhikingvietnam/)

Assume you're already a fan of the Globetrekker series on PBS (if you
are based in the U.S.)

Host

Doug Block

Thu 22 May 2003 •

Happy trails, Kirsty!

Professional

Margot Roth

Tue 27 May 2003 •

Kirsty-- funnily enough, we have a D-Word member who is currently
making a doc about "travellers"/ budget backpackers-- she also was/is
one herself (& her cameraman husband as well). Her name is Pegi Vail.
(Not sure she checks in here though.)

Enthusiast

Zion Komene

Wed 28 May 2003 •

Hi there,

I'm new to this forum. Just wanted to say hi. Everyone in
Reelity/Reality knows me as Zion. Pleased to meet you all :-)

Host

Doug Block

Wed 28 May 2003 •

Greetings, Zion.

Professional

Fas Ghauri

Wed 28 May 2003 •

Hi there,

This forum is a real find! A wealth of information
exchanged amidst a real sense of community.

My name is Fas, I am 29 years of age and and
I live in London, England. Here's my situation:
I have big ideas but limited resources (sony
pc101, new iMac). I can't help feeling the
professionals amongst you will have heard this
many times before :)

So I'm looking for examples of great, innovative
or just interesting docs made using similar resources.
Any genre.

Doc-making long held strong appeal for me.
Yet it only recently feels that it's become
accessible in terms of resources. I'm
currently putting together a travelogue of a
3 month trip to South America - this will be
my first, a personal doc and steep learning
curve at the same time.

Once I've some basic insight into the craft side
of doc-making, I'd like to explore other ideas.
One that has been fertilising for some time is a doc on
street preachers. Portraits of street preachers -
anyone with a cause. Fanatical in the street, but
ever-so-normal behind closed doors?

Fas Ghauri
username: aurelian

Host

Doug Block

Wed 28 May 2003 •

Welcome, Fas. "The Target Shoots First" is one example that comes to
mind: www.guyville.com/finer/movies/targetshootsfirst.html

Enthusiast

James Xia

Tue 10 Jun 2003 •

Hi I am working on a documentary film of Tibet, China.On June,2002, we went into Tibet and took back 12,000 mins sony betcam sp 30 tapes of the fodder, i am looking for anybody who are interesting our fodder (most of them is world premiere,example:wind funeral,etc. contact me:0086-13003330238 jiateng108@sina.com

Host

Doug Block

Tue 10 Jun 2003 •

Welcome, James. Let's see, 12,000 min = 200 hours. That's not so
bad ;-)

Enthusiast

James Xia

Tue 10 Jun 2003 •

dbblock

That is a hard work.our group consists of 15 people,and the conditions overthere is so bad,most people of our group live in Tibetan Area for a long time(at least 20 years), also work on documentary film for a long time. Our group have a profound knowledge about Tibetan Buddhism, and a deep understanding why the harmonious unity between politics and religion, culture and religion as well as life and religion in Tibetan region can be achieved and we are familiar with the spots where we intend to shoot the film, and to establish long-term cooperative relations with the local governments, monasteries and common people, so that we can enter many mysterious places to shoot film. At the same time, our group get accustomed to the language, food and life there, so that we can to live and work at Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau which is 4300-6000 meters above sea level for a long time.

Based on all things above, the documentary fodders our group bring back is quite worthiness and in a class by onself.

Main contents of the Documentary Fodders 1. When will Qinghai-Tibet Plateau--- the third pole of the world, rise? 2 Is it the origin of the country with two ancient civilizations and the Mother River? 3. Why Buddhism has withered away at its birthplace while flourishes in QinghaiTibet Plateau? 4. And has evolved into the unique Tibetan Buddhism? 5. When did the eternal epic ¡°King Gesar¡± come into being? 6. How could the illiterate children manage to recite tens of thousands of lines from the epic without missing a single word? 7. What after all is ¡°Mani¡±, which has blended into the life and flows in the blood vein of Tibetan people? 8. Who carved the 15-kilometer-long¡° Tripitaka¡± lying at the bottom of the river and how was it carved? 9. How could the souls of Tibetan people be able to reincarnate from kalpa? 10. When did the deities of the age-old Pon Po give up their own religion to become the protector of Tibetan Buddhism? 11.How was the sublime and heroic Khams-pa songs and dances created? Who first created the stirring Tibetan drama? 12.Do you know the myriad changes of unique ¡°Kalachadra calendar¡± and ¡°Nag-rsthis calendar and Tibetan festivals? 13.How does the Buddhist pagoda manage to accommodate the boundless universe? 14.What is Mandala (the residence for deities) and meditation of Tantra? 15.How the Wind-horse flag, Mu-thag(heavenly rope) and three realms find their expressions in people¡¯s residence? 16 Tibetan medical science, Tibet pharmacy, deity¡¯s curse, prayer, pilgrimage and wind funeral. etc........

Ceremonies&festivals\Historical\Monks\Monasteries\Wind funeral\Mani\Wind-horse flag\Buddhist pagoda\Khams-pasongs\King Gesar\Tibetan medical science\Tibet pharmacy\deity's curse\Prayer\Pilgrimage\Prayer wheels\Statues\Stupas & chortens, etc........

James

Professional

Todd Grabe

Fri 13 Jun 2003 •

Hello everyone.
My name is Todd and I am 29 years old and I live in Minneapolis, MN. I graduated
from Film School in Bozeman, Montana about 4 years ago and have been working in
the Corporate/Government video sector snce then (gotta pay off those school loans).
I still consider myself a beginner when it comes to the world of documentary, so I will
probably be doing a lot more listening than talking. I have made a couple of short
Docs; one about urban sprawl, and one about using the movie making process as a
learning tool for children. I am slightly confused by the site architecture, but the
content is amazing. I am really excited about the international flavor of the site. It is
like the Doc. filmmakers U.N.
Thanks for having me

Enthusiast

Peter Wareing

Sun 15 Jun 2003 •

Hi, Just joined this morning, New Zealander now residing in New York.
Looking forward to being part of the discussion.

Host

Doug Block

Sun 15 Jun 2003 •

Welcome, guys. Peter, want to tell us more about yourself? Todd, I
think you're confusing the Forum with the Community. Since you've
also joined the Community (where the professionals reside), you should
introduce yourself there again. Just click on the D-Word Community
link on the top right of this page.

Enthusiast

Kate Albright-hanna

Tue 17 Jun 2003 •

Doug - what happened to the forum about Silverdocs? Did I imagine it?

Host

Erica Ginsberg

Tue 17 Jun 2003 •

Kate, I think it's in the D-Word Community (the members-only section).

Enthusiast

Kate Albright-hanna

Tue 17 Jun 2003 •

found it... thanks... still figuring this thing out...

Professional

Robert Goodman

Tue 17 Jun 2003 •

lost in the d-world - lions and tiggers and bares.

Professional

Mary Gordon

Fri 20 Jun 2003 •

Hello! Greetings from Edinburgh Scotland!

I've just found you. Lara Celini in Edinburgh told me about the site.

I've made 2 short docs. My next project is to go with my Edinburgh
Women in Black group to a peace mission to Israel/Palestine. I would
like to hook up with people who have filmed in the Occupied
Territories and get any tips. Also I'm looking for contacts/names of
peace foundations in Uk which would be likely sources of funding.

In mid July I'm going to the Galway Film Festival/Flach so if anyone
on this list is going and wants to meet up please contact me.

Mary

Professional

Mary Gordon

Fri 20 Jun 2003 •

hello there!

I seem to have lost my original post...

Greetings from Edinburgh Scotland. Lara Celini told me about this
messageboard/community.

I've made two short docs (and a drama documentary). My current
project is go document Edinburgh Women in Black going to
Israel/Palestine in Oct as a peace action.

Soooo I'm looking for documentarymakers who have been there recently
who can give me tips and do's and don'ts. I'm getting traning from
ISM on Sunday.

Also any contacts with peace foundations or where to find them who
would be interested in funding this project would be greatfully
recieved.

In mid July I'm going to the Galway Film Festival/Flach and if anyone
else is going and wants to meet up please holler!

all the best

Mary

Professional

Mary Gordon

Fri 20 Jun 2003 •

sorry i@m going to have to get used to the posting format. Sorry for
wigging your ears twice!

Host

Doug Block

Fri 20 Jun 2003 •

Mary, welcome! You'll get more help and support by joining The D-
Word Community: www.d-word.com/join. You have one more step to take
to register. The link will explain.

Host

Ben Kempas

Sun 22 Jun 2003 •

Welcome, Mary, and thank you for the tape with your film. Will get
back to you as soon as I had a chance to watch it.

Professional

Randy Mills

Thu 26 Jun 2003 •

Aloha from Maui,

I am an independent filmmaker recently graduated from the SFSU Cinema
program as well as the SFSU Photojournalism program. Currently
working at Akaku: Maui Community TV (Public access cable on Maui).
As for my own projects I am currently in post-production on my first
music video (heavy metal band called KHRINJ) and will start
production on a documentary "Surf Art Forever: The Life and Work of
Bill Ogden" on June 28, 2003. Will be flying into LA and taking a
road trip up the coast of California with Bill Ogden, the legendary
surf artist, to San Francisco. Currently seeking sponsorship of my
project, but haven't had anything concrete as of yet, but I've only
just begun. Glad to have found this site.

Aloha,

Randy Mills
www.randomdevelopments.com

Host

Ben Kempas

Thu 26 Jun 2003 •

Aloha Randy, welcome to The D-Word!

Enthusiast

John Burgess

Tue 1 Jul 2003 •

Click below to view hidden post. Show hidden content

Professional

Dan Chapman

Tue 1 Jul 2003 •

My first post. I'm making a doc/bio about my brother. A labor of
love. He's the inventor of a musical instrument called The Stick.
I've been in advertising for many years, over 15 marketing major
studio films. I've always wanted to make one, but have been too
chicken. Seems like the right time, now. I'm trying to decide if
using the Panasonic AG-DVX100 is a good idea. I know it's
pretty low end, but you've got to start somewhere. I went to the
Entertainment Technology World Expo at the Los Angeles
Convention Center on Saturday and did some tests of different
cameras. It looked pretty good.

Host

Ben Kempas

Tue 1 Jul 2003 •

Yes, John Burgess - but why hiding?

Dan - welcome to The D-Word. As you've also joined our private
filmmaker conference {LINK NOT IMPORTED}, you should introduce
yourself over there as well.

Professional

Robert Goodman

Tue 1 Jul 2003 •

The DVX-100 is a good place to start.

Host

Doug Block

Tue 1 Jul 2003 •

randy, john, dan... welome!

Host

Doug Block

Tue 1 Jul 2003 •

er... welcome!

Host

Ben Kempas

Tue 1 Jul 2003 •

Forgive Doug, it's his French keyboard in Aix-en-Provence...

Professional

Dan Chapman

Tue 1 Jul 2003 •

Thanks, Ben.
I'm not sure how to introduce myself there. Under which thread?

Dan - welcome to The D-Word. As you've also joined our private
filmmaker conference {LINK NOT IMPORTED}, you should
introduce
yourself over there as well.

Host

Ben Kempas

Tue 1 Jul 2003 •

Dan - It's "Introduce Yourself" as well. Try
{LINK NOT IMPORTED}.

Professional

Charlie Macchia

Sun 13 Jul 2003 •

Greetings one and all ...

I'm a computer programmer, actor, musician, philosopher, who got tired of arguing
with drummers and wanted a way better way to express how I think ...

So I started doing stuff like this:

http://homepage.mac.com/charliemacchia/

... and now I'd like to find a way to do more.

Host

Doug Block

Sun 13 Jul 2003 •

Nice stuff, Charlie. You're on to something interesting. Now if
only broadband would begin to fulfill its promise.

Anyway, welcome to The D-Word.

Professional

Charlie Macchia

Sun 13 Jul 2003 •

Thanks!

Lot's of work, making these "D-Words", it's especially a problem if
you work on your own (Which I sort of have to do, since it's very
expensive to keep any sort of crew waiting while I'm trying out a new
way to explain an Epistemological concept in front of the camera) ...

I originally thought that being a guy who can "do it all" would be a
big benefit ... and it certainly is for getting things done waaaaay
low budget ... I mean I wrote & recorded the music, the script, shot
the video, acted, did the voice-overs, edited the video, color
corrected and was moving onto audio post ... but now it seems the
powers that be don't believe such a thing is possible ...

Apparently I'm too independent to get any help as an independent!

How the Gods of Irony mock me :(

Host

Doug Block

Sun 13 Jul 2003 •

Such misery deserves company! Make sure to join The D-Word
Community, Charlie: www.d-word.com/join

Host

Doug Block

Mon 14 Jul 2003 •

Oops, Charlie, we had an internal mix-up and accidentally turned down
your request to join. Please hang in there and we'll try to
straighten it out today.

Enthusiast

Erika Rydl

Mon 14 Jul 2003 •

Hello Everyone!

It's great to have found this D-world (I stumbled upon a link on
the AIVF web site)! I'm looking forward to meeting everyone soon
at the Community, but first I'm going to take a tour of this lovely
cyber land. See you all in a minute,
Erika

Host

Doug Block

Mon 14 Jul 2003 •

Welcome, Erka. I was on the AIVF board until this year so I'm happy
to know people are finding us from there. It's a great organization!

www.aivf.org

Professional

Pramod Mathur

Thu 24 Jul 2003 •

We have been involved with the documentary for the past 25 years. I
produce, direct and shoot while Neelima is the executive producer,
researcher and the writer. We both come from the field of journalism
of the 70s, she from print journalism and I began with TV News. since
the early 80s we have just been doing documentaries. We are
available on our web site www.spotfilms.net. Working on documentaries
from India does have some advantages and a lot of disadvantages too.
But on the whole we feel satisfied with what we have done so far and
we continue to look for new projects all the time. I am very keen to
participate in the "Art of shooting of documentary" discussion.