Introduce Yourself: Sign In Here First

Hi D-Worders,

My name is Jason Thomas Spencer. I've been on the site for a few months reading a lot of very helpful posts and figured it's about time to introduce myself. I've been an editor in NY for about 5 years and am making the leap this summer with my wife into our first feature length documentary. I'm looking forward to being a part of this community. Thanks to Doug for the forum!

Best,
-Jason
spencer4email@gmail.com

Good to have you here, Jason. Lots of luck with your film.

Hello! I'm Erum, the production assistant for a documentary to be filmed in Africa this summer. I'm curious about renting equipment over purchasing. I am aware I can purchased equipment via this site, and wanted to know the experiences people have using this forum.

Looking forward to navigating the D-word!

Hi everyone. I actually registered a few years ago but am just now discovering what a great resource and community Doug has built here. I'm a print journalist and aspiring (and self-taught) filmmaker. In the past two years I've participated in both the Third World Newsreel production workshop and the UnionDocs collaborative project; discovered Bill Nichols, Dziga Vertov, and Walter Murch; and made a short that was screened at the Documentary Fortnight program. But I'm most proud of serving as the volunteer editor of the film "A Future For Meher," which was made by nonprofessional volunteers and so far has helped raise more than $3,500 for the medical care and educational fund of an impoverished girl in New Delhi. I also recently became the blogger for the Stranger Than Fiction film series programmed by Thom Powers. (Doug, I heard you speak at the Resurrect Dead screening a few weeks ago.)I look forward to conversing with you all.

Welcome, Erum and Rahul. Great job you're doing with the blog, Rahul. Look forward to meeting you at one of the upcoming STF screenings.

Hello everyone! My name is Italo Baudo, from Wishaw in Scotland.
I am new to the D- World, as well as to anything related to film making, especially in the computerised era of documentary filmaking.
I studied animation and handled a traditional 16mm camera some 40 years ago and since then I was working as an Illustrator and Graphic Designer.
The seed of Documentary Film making has been planted and stayed dormant for all those years though. Now, gradually, I would like to explore the field and see which educational material I can find to start reading first, and experimenting afterward and try out a short documentary film (1 to 3 min. long) to publish in You Tube and see how it goes. Thank you for reading!

Good to have you back in the fold, Italo. Welcome.

Greetings everyone,

I was introduced to this site by my friend Deirdre Haj from Full Frame where I'm having the world premiere of my latest film One Night in Kernersville – a jazz doc/poem! I'm a filmmaker, screenwriter, ethnographer, multimedia documentary producer and father of two lovely daughters. I've had the pleasure of filming all over the world and working with NGO's making advocacy documentaries for them. I know quite a lot about Mystical Islam and have done some groundbreaking work on the Gnawa in Morocco (http://www.gnawastories.com). I am currently working on 20 (yes that's twenty!) ten minute documentaries of 20 members of the Latino Community Credit Union in NC highlighting financial empowerment. I've worked with the BBC, HBO and Salma Hayek doing narrative screenplays and nothing, truly nothing compares to working in the field and collaborating with people who struggle and still retain their dignity. It reminds me why our work matters.

I speak french and spanish fluently and I look forward to interacting with filmmakers from all over the world and sharing their experiences. You can find some of my work here http://www.melloweb.com . Peace

Welcome to The D-Word, Rodrigo. Any friend of Deirdre's is certainly a friend of ours. Lots of D-Word members going to Full Frame so check out the F2F and Festival topics and hopefully you'll make new friends.

Hi Everyone,
I'm Juliana Piccillo, filmmaker, writer and activist – sex work is my cause. Planning to bust through the shorts ceiling with a feature length doc and I'm so incredibly excited to find this community!

Hola!

My name is Stephanie Frederic. I'm a director/producer/writer based in Los Angeles.

I'm a firm believer that – a laptop and a dream can take you anywhere. As a former TV news reporter, I've been telling stories all my life. If there's one thing I know, I was born to do just this. I own FGW Productions (www.fgwproductions.com) and we are visual storytellers.

Some of the docs I have produced included, "Rwanda Rising," "From Darkness to Light – The Donnie McClurkin Story," and "Planet LA."

I'm here to help and to learn.

Feel free to reach out. I'd love to know more about you and my new doc family.

Steph

Juliana and Stephanie, how nice to have you both find us. A warm welcome to The D-Word.

Hello. My name is Christina. I am a new at this. Two days ago I started shooting my first documentary and I am excited, stressed and hoping for the best. It is called G30 and it is following the life of 30something people in Greece during these times of financial hardship. We are hoping for a positive message out of this documentary! Let's see what happens!

wow, Christina. 30 characters are surely a big number :) Good luck!

Welcome to everybody x

Welcome, Christina, and best of luck with your project.

I think 30-something refers to their age, not the number of them. I could be wrong.

I think the :) indicates Niam was kidding, Jason. Of course, I could be wrong, too.

Oh the subtleties of online language. :{

While we're starting a petition to demand an explanation from Christina, let's see who else is lurking out there...

The next D-Worder to introduce themselves will get a drink from me (if we ever meet in person).

I think she means 30something people. Still waiting for Christina!

Seems like people are scared of drinking with me...

Hello. I'm John and I'll have a drink with you.

Thanks! But co-hosts are excluded from the offer...

The last time I was in a bar with Ben I also didn't feel like drinking. Something strange. I guess it's like being confronted with a cautionary tale of where a life of excess can lead ...

Thanks for making me look like an alcoholic in a public topic, James...

You take over with trying to get the lurkers out of the shadows, please.