Introduce Yourself: Sign In Here First

Alberto,
I am just curious where is your last name from...if you come back to
d-word to answer the question.

Test posting in public conference. Please ignore.

how?

It was me, so it should be easy to ignore.

Hello all,

I've just now joined the community. Currently (and I hope for some
time to come given the state of the Israeli economy) I'm working with
Highlight Films, Tel Aviv (http://www.highlight.co.il) as an 'ideas
developer' (exactly!!!) and writer. Just finished writing/editing a
six-part doc on the nature of religious ecstasy among six sects in
the not-so-Holy Land for National Geographic (any thoughts on
National Geographic... or should that read prejudices)? As I'm a
comparative newcomer to documentaries (having spent the best part of
the last few years keeping body and soul together by writing
corporate videos for high-tech), I'd appreciate any help on how I (we
the company) can go about researching international issues. i.e. does
anyone know of any organisations who hire out researchers (e.g. we
need someone in Taiwan). Any links/contacts/addresses would be much
appreciated.

Regards, David Jones.

Welcome to the D-Word, David.

This is the public conference. I'm sure you want to join us at our
community conference at
http://cafe.utne.com/partners/bin/motet?enter+The_D-Word.Community
(just hope I got this link right)

Yes, see you there, David.

I realize this is where you introduce yourself, not ask questions.
I'm Adele and I live in central Virginia. I have a BFA in sculpture
from VCU. I went to Roger Ebert's frame-by-frame workshop on The
Birds. last year at the Virginia Film Festival. I've accepted an
invitation to produce and host a three part series on emergency
preparedness. I'm a beginner! I hope I can get some pointers. Thank
you for being here.

You're mighty welcome, Adele. Nice to have you. Drop in anytime.

Thank you! :O)

The lady has a nice nose.

Heita Howzit Hola Hi! I'm Sarah, South African and soon to be
dropping into San Fran for a year (maybe more - paternal passport).
I studied a bit of doc film at university, made a couple of 10
minuters (one about an aura soma healer and a sangoma in a madam and
maid relationship and the other a community development report) and
have been working in the tv industry for the past year. Am currently
working on a series called "Get Real" that focuses on teens from all
walks of life (all our presenters/reporters are right off the street
and present their own stories...kids and teens are so out there!).
Anyway, we're wrapping up and I'm looking for new pastures to
explore: hence my entrance to the D-Word Community. So hello
everybody, i look forward to interesting chats and who knows, maybe
I'll even get to meet some of you inspiring people!

Welcome, Sarah. If you are a member of The D-Word Community, you want
to say hello in the private conference (this here is the public one):
http://cafe.utne.com/partners/bin/motet?enter+The_D-Word.Community

Ditto. Or go to www:d-word.com and click on the "members log-in"
box.

Oh right. oops. well hi to "the public" anyway.

For our public conferences:

Whoever will post under the "docsonline" user name during the next
two weeks is a guest at the Amsterdam festival using a special user
name and password.

Hopefully, they will identify themselves in the body of the post.

Or just replace the IDFA Guest User line by their own name ...

I have changed it. Instead of "IDFA Guest User", it says "Please put
your name here" now. The user name remains {docsonline}.

Hello.

I'm Stuart Watson, an investigative reporter working in local TV news.
I learned of the D-Word Community from a group of filmmakers who were
producing a documentary about our television newsroom for PBS.

I'd like to learn how to edit with Final Cut Pro.

Any ideas on the best way to get started are appreciated.

Stuart

Welcome, Stuart. Was that Local News, perchance? David Van Taylor
and Brad Lichtenstein from Lumiere are D-Word members.

We have a thriving FCP topic in our D-Word Community (which you
certainly qualify for) where any and all your questions will get
answered. Email me if you want to join: doug@d-word.com.

Hi,

I am an independent writer/producer from Iowa. Past work has included
corporate, training, marketing, educational and some local public
television work. I am now focusing my career on environmental
education and documentary. Iowa is not a great place to be for this
kind of work. I am lacking a "community" of independent/documentary
producers. Therefore, I look forward to checking in regularly with
the d-word community, to network and learn from you all.

Welcome, Donna. Nice to have you come all this way to join us ;-)

I guess frequent trips to Chicago are in order?

I think I will have to be a lurker for quite a while. I'm an aged dude who has decided to follow his youngest son who has almost completed a New Zealand BA in film and video. Ben's major video was taking an ordinary actor and using real stunt men to make him into a stuntman! (nearly killed the poor bugger). New Zealand is awash with stuntmen and women as we've had Zena and Hercules productions here for years (even I"ve been an extra in both) and more recently Lord of the Ring. I'd like to hear your opinion of Peter Jackson's epic if you wish to post as us Kiwis are enormously proud of his efforts and I would like to keep him buoyed up as he moves to the last two parts of the triolgy.

OK, in a few weeks time I will start my BA in Film, Television and Media Studies at the University of Auckland which should take three years to complete. For your interest, the films we analyse in the first year are "Gladiator" (well it was only the third time a New Zealander had won an Acadamy Award), "Grease", "The Castle" (a quirky Australian film about a dysfunctional family resisting losing their home to an airport extension), "Inside John Malcovich" (a neat film I thought as I'm an SF buff), "Secrets and Lies", "the Price of Milk" (a NZ film which has proved strangely popular, especially in the USA).

I have worked for a zillion years in journalism and public relations (some of the latter, dare I say, multinational). I have made corporate films and videos. One I scripted on introducing the concept of employee shareholding to thousands of employees was put forward by the production company to an Australian version of Bafta and missed out by one point on the top prize. I used a gifted Maori actor as presentor who did not possess a suit until I bought one for him.

Since then I have done the high-tech stuff using laptop-controlled presentations (try coping with it when the idiot presenting it departs from the script).

Ah well...."by the scars on their backs you shall know them." Hopefully I can contribute a little bit to my classes as well as learning heaps in the next three years. What to do with it? Not really sure but maybe producer-screenwriter.

PS. If you enjoy Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" see if you can rent an earlier film "Heavenly Creatures" that he made. This was about two Christchurch 16-year-olds who conspired to kill the mother of one. It was cause celebre at the time with juvenile lesbian overtones, secret diaries, adultery involving senior English academics let alone Mum's grisly end on the end of a frequently wielded brick in a local park in broad-daylight.

In those days I was 18-years-old and a trainee journalist for the morning paper, "The Press". I had to run hand-written copy to Post Office telegraphists to send to several London papers such was their interest in the salacious aspects of the case.

In between hopping on my bike for the sprint to the Post Office (we took life seriously in those days) I would stand at attention alongside the pressbox. As the youngest person the court, Parker, the dark-haired defendent, decided to relieve her boredom by smiling and winking at me. Hulme, the other, ignored me. I was terrified that the slightest response on my part would end up with contempt of court proceedings and losing my job!

Anyway my stocism worked, after both girls serving around 6 years, Parker joined a nunnery; and Hulme, back in England, became a successful mystery writer under another name and was only exposed a few years ago as being involved in a murder herself. I felt sorry for her. I guess, at 66, I am probably the only person left alive who was at her trial.

Anyway Kai I think might know me from other posts in history and political subjects. I look forward to learning from this group. Are there good sources to access film criticism?

Cheers John