Introduce Yourself: Sign In Here First

That's very funny- I was actually watching "Forever" last night, and was going to post about it here on d-word today. I was so moved by your ability to express the humanity of your subjects, and I searched around a bit online about your filmmaking process. I found the following youtube clip, where you say that "when someone is in front of the camera, I have to love them to film them." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWBYf7Je0AM

Anyways, I'm very inspired by your films, and I'd love to learn more about your filmmaking process if you stick around d-word a bit. Welcome!

Hello Amit, John, Erica, Doug, Robert, Ted, Jason, Andy and all the ENTHUSIAST host & members of this great site, D-Word. I love very much NY, SF, Minneapolis, Chicago, Toronto and other cities where I was very welcome in the past and where I had good (and real) discussions about the ins- and outs of filmmaking and the production of documentaries. The discussions are endless because doc-world is absolutely rich. And that is one of the reasons to join D-word: in the Netherlands, with it's big doc tradition (from Ivens till Van der Keuken), the discussion between colleagues is dull and dull are also most of the ones who write about this art. And of course there are exceptions! But I don't think we have a "John Anderson" (the guy who probably everybody here knows and who appears in the youtube short fragment Andy mentions). You have plenty of great festivals arround you, as Tribeca, SFFF, Toronto, Hot Docs, Chicago, etc; you have plenty of people busy deffending the GOOD film, you have Sundance (in all it's forms), ITVS, HBO and others. Colleagues respect the work of others. The documentary film climate seems to be healthy in the US. Or am I wrong? I would like very much to know what do you think about this. It could be that I idealise -if it's a correct English word and do not see how difficult it is for you to find the funds to film.
Best wishes with all your projects!
Heddy

Heddy, glad to see that you followed me, but you're still only half-way there, really. Complete the profile and become a full member. It's free, but it's not automatic, as we're working to keep any fake Heddies out. :-)

A big welcome to everyone else, too!

Oh, it's plenty difficult here, Heddy. Now that you're a full Member, you can go to the Funding (North America) topic and see for yourself. Again, a warm welcome to The D-Word.

Thanks Ben (I became a member), so I followed your advice for the second time. Why you're a host and not a member? And beeing a host how could you welcome me as a member? I'm curious!

Doug, now I go with my laptop from place to place. For some weeks I'm an exile: I needed to reconstruct parts of my house and there are delays (now already 3 weeks). When I'm back home I'll go to the Funding and read. But my questionn was not only in relation to money. I would like to know if there is a bond between colleagues, if makers help each other, are happy when someone makes a beautiful film... that is the idea I got reading personal and general messages in Facebook and maybe it's a romantic idea?

I think you'll find that community spirit in more abundance here at D-Word than just about anywhere else- at least, that's been my experience.

Heddy, if you find time to poke around some of the topics in D-Word, you will see that collegial bond in action. I actually would answer your question about whether the documentary film climate is healthy in the U.S. by saying a resounding "yes." Indeed it is not if one were to only look at it from a money perspective. The competition for limited funds has always been tight in the States and it has gotten much worse this year as arts funding has been cut in many states, corporations have fewer revenues for their foundation sides, and private foundations have been pinched as well. But somehow the scrappy spirit which you need to be a doc-maker in America also creates a deep need for a community in which to share the joys and frustrations of making documentaries, as well as a shared love for discussing documentaries. D-Word and Facebook both provide a place in the virtual world and there are a number of local organizations which provide the regular face to face sustenance which is also so very needed.

Curious to know why you find the conversation among the Dutch colleagues dull? What makes it dull?

P.S. The hosts will probably recommend this conversation be continued in another topic since this one is generally reserved for introductions only. You are well past introduction and into discussion. So maybe continue this discussion in the virtual Bar & Grill?

Yes, Erica's right, this should move to the Bar. So I'll only add that there's a lot of collegiality here in the U.S. among documentarians in person, but I've also found that to be true in most places I've visited. Far more than among fiction filmmakers, that's for sure. But there's always a healthy amount of envy and spite, as well. It's called being human, I guess.

Hey Y'all. I haven't posted in a while and not sure if I ever really intro'd myself. My name is Shelly and I am trying to make my world today in documentary editing. I've been doing it for 4 years now and am thoroughly enjoying all the NYC doc people I've been meeting along the way!

Now for a question: The doc I'm currently working needs a male actor to mimic the voice of one of our subjects for use as scratch narration. We'd like to get some one who can come very close to the person's real voice as we may use a cut with this narration to send into festival applications, etc. Does anyone know the best way to go about finding and hiring voice talent or actors? Our budget is small, so I'm sure we couldn't pay too competitively but, would try to offer a decent wage. I've posted on Backstage but was hoping for more suggestions. Does anyone know anything about contacting talent agencies or casting directors? Any advice would greatly help as I am totally inexperienced in dealing with actors. Thanks!

Hey everyone! My name is Taylor Van Sickle and I'm producing a documentary. I'm a senior at Utah Valley University and I'm in the Digital Media program. I'm doing the documentary for my senior project. It's going to be about my personal discovery and research of my 5th great-grandfather. Frederick Kesler. He was a millwright in Utah in the 1800's and built over 35 mills of different types and was a very interesting character. It's my first project of this size and scope. I'm hoping that this site will help me through the process of production. Any advice whatsoever would be useful!

In reply to Shelly Helgeson's post on Wed 9 Sep 2009 :
Shelly, I've used Voices.com for projects in the past. You can post a project proposal on the site and then different voice talent will send you what they would charge for the project. It would definitely want to check it out! Hope that helped...

this really belongs in the mentoring room. I would contact all the casting agencies listed in the New York Film Guide and ask for their non-union voice-over demo reels. Most are likely to be online at this point. Find the person or person you like and then contact the agency or the person and make them an offer. If you have a little bit of money, make sure you're organized so the person can get in and out in under an hour.

My apologies. I will move now! But, thanks for the helpful info already!

Hi,
My name is Tomás and I am a Colombian TV commercial director currently residing in NYC. My work in advertisement has given me an approach to the audiovisual language, but at the same time it has distanced me form the “reality” that I’m very eager to explore as an individual and through the camera lens. Therefore, since some time ago, I am interested in exploring my own documentary language. I am pursuing this exploration by currently taking the Documentary Production Workshop at The New School in NYC. As a final assignment of the workshop, I will make and present my first documentary short film of 7 minutes. In Colombia I have been working as a documentary theory, film history and filmmaking teacher at a range of universities. I have also contributed extensively to a range of workshops around the country organized by the Colombian Ministry of Culture.
I am 33 years old and for the last 12 years I have been producing images for other people and teaching others filmmaking. Being in NYC has triggered me to do my own film and the time to start to work in my own dreams has come.

Some of my work
www.laolimpo.com
www.imdb.com/name/nm3588348/
http://cinefiliaescrita.blogspot.com/

Welcome, Taylor. I highly recommend you look through our vast list of archived discussions, which is available to Enthusiasts. You'll get all sorts of production advice there. And feel free to ask questions in the Mentoring topic, as Robert suggests.

And welcome to Shelly and Tomás, as well. Both of you should feel free to apply for full D-Word membership (it's free) by clicking here ...

Hello everyone, my name is Esther and I am doing my first documentary. A graduate of Dramatic arts, published writer, done a feature but decided on doing historical documentary of my people. Had it mapped out but now it's a differnt game as I have landed myself with too much researched materials being on it since december 2005. So now I watch the pictures on my editing table wondering which should be relivant? I'm being honest here because I need proffessional advice. I have read so much doc. but still need more info as i draw close to rounding up in early december 2009. Ok! let me talk less after all I just got here. Just one more thing, I think info on presentation style or story structures so as to attract funding for a television broadcast will help. Soon you will read about my experience, that I think should even be another doc. on it's own. An experience. i do love to share my experience and learn more from you out there. Thanks.

In reply to Tomás Corredor's post on Thu 10 Sep 2009 :

Welcome Tomás,

While you are at The New School, be sure and participate in some of the "Doc Talk" events they host. Often it's a chance to meet filmmakers and discuss their work face to face.

A warm welcome, Esther. Glad you found us and good luck with your doc. You might want to read a special week-long discussion we did here devoted to Story Structure in our vast archives.

Hello, My name is Floyd Webb and I am a docfilmmaker living in Chicago. Working on my first doc after working with a lot of interesting people, I also do short 3 minute profiles of Chicago people.

Of late I am working on a project that got me tied up in a Federal lawsuit over Fair Use in Boston. The case may be dismissed Sept 28, we will see. The film I am making covers a century of the marginal social community of martial arts from Teddy Roosevelt's Judo dojo in the White House to the Dojo Wars of Count Dante in Chicago.

This is site looks like it could be a very interesting place.

In reply to Niam Etany's post on Wed 12 Aug 2009 :
Thank you for the nice words...

In reply to Yocheved Sidof's post on Thu 13 Aug 2009 :

Yes, a fellow Minnesotan living in LA... and yes diehard Viking fan. My two biggest passions film and football. It's great to you.

Sounds like an interesting project, Floyd. Welcome to D-Word!

Thanks Ted,
Sounds nice... it is a great option. I have to take a look of the "Doc talk" schedule.
Hope to see you soon and thanks again.

In reply to Ted Fisher's post on Thu 10 Sep 2009 :

It's been some time since I've been on D-Word, so I thought I'd reintroduce myself with a short video some of you may enjoy. It is a rapid-fire slide show of the 240 docs I've watched since I got hooked on them through Netflix. Who knows? Some of you might find your film among them. As you can tell, I am an enthusiast. http://tiny.cc/B28WW

welcome back, chris... 240 docs is sure an impressive amount. have you started any kind of review page where you list your thoughts on them? there have been a lot of people who have said they were going to start a blog reviewing docs, but those people never get very far. i think you'd do well with it.