Introduce Yourself: Sign In Here First

Greetings! I'm Larry Peter and I've been in the film/video industry since 1985 beginning as an editor in New Orleans, then working virtually all crew positions over the next few years – from grip to sound to cinematographer and director. After several years of national TV commercials and music videos I left the production company and opened a post house so I could stop traveling and raise a family.

With kids grown, I'm behind a camera again with my focus on documentaries.(although commercial work still pays the bills for now) Completed a documentary in 2010,"The Art of Living," currently airing on Midwest PBS affiliates and have just applied for fiscal sponsorship for my current project, "They Wore the Red Suit," a film about the handful of men across the nation who have devoted their lives to being Santa Claus 24/7/365.

I look forward to getting to know all of you and learning as much as I can from your experiences.

Welcome Larry :)

Welcome Larry! I'm fairly new here as well. If you are looking to profile Santa Clause- there is a guy here in Orange County that I know of that does that very thing 24/7/365. Drop me an email if you are interested in someone out here in CA. I'd be happy to help. adam(at)m2gmedia(dot)com

Hello! I am currently working as a production advisor / producer with a Human Rights based organization in Chiang Mai Thailand and I'd like to be able to use the d-word to create links with others working out here and in the field. Thanks!

Welcome, Stephanie. It's easy to find D-Word members who are currently in Thailand. Click on People (at top of every page) and then Advanced Search –> Thailand and you'll find 8 others. Contact info is on their profile pages.

Greetings from Montreal!
I am about to release my first feature film called Neverbloomers: The Search for GrownUphood, which attempts to answer the question: does anyone ever really feel like a grownup??
Neverbloomers evolves from the style of filmmaking I have been producing since my youth, which I call the "autodocumentary" (namely, turning the camera back on oneself to tell one's own story). While in the age of the webcam and YouTube this confessional style of filmmaking is extremely pervasive (perhaps too much so!), when I was a young woman I felt that there was a side of the female psyche not represented by the mainstream media, and I wished to fill that void.
I am really pleased with how Neverbloomers has turned out – after ten years of work! (I am the quintessential Neverbloomer) and look forward to sharing it with the world.
Thank you for this wonderful community, what a great idea.
Sharon.

Welcome to The D-Word, Sharon. Good luck with Neverbloomers.

Sounds VERY interesting Sharon, best of luck! Count me as a "neverbloomer"- I always knew I had it, just didn't know there was a name for it!

Well, there wasn't a name for it, that's why I invented one! Thanks for the encouragement!

Welcome to D-word, Sharon. Your doc idea seems interesting :)

Hello D-worders ! I am a film lover working on my first documentary with my wife Pitchapuk who was a finalist in "The Asian Pitch 2010". The project is about Street Teachers in Bangkok and I am having an amazing ride so far. So much to learn and such amazing stories discovered through this community, it seems that every door that is opened leads to 10 more doors to open ! I was a Hollywood film advertising photographer and have shot a few 16mm video projects, but this is my first leap into the documentary world in HD video. So many QUESTIONS and I am sure you will bump into me on the forums very soon...
I have a whole new respect for you guys and am excited about starting this new journey !

Welcome to The D-Word, Bruce, and feel free to have Pitchapuk register, as well.

Hello,

I'm really excited to find this community. I've been working for a year on my first ever documentary and I think I've found my true calling. Despite never having done this before, things are just clicking.

My film is about people with digestive conditions (IBS, Celiac disease, Crohn's disease & ulcerative colitis) who use alternative treatments when conventional ones fail. Conventional treatments can have dangerous side effects and surgery can lead to a vicious cycle of requiring more surgery.

In the film I attempt to use alternative treatments to put my Crohn's disease into remission or even cure it. I do this by traveling to interview others who have done what I aim to achieve.

I was able to raise over $11,000 late last year for the production of the film using Kickstarter.com. I have a growing community of supporters through Twitter and Facebook.

Autoimmune diseases like Celiac, Crohn's and ulcerative colitis are rising at alarming rates. The idea that they can treated using alternative treatments is met with harsh skepticism from the conventional medical community. My documentary aims to prove this is possible (I'm the proof) and support those who wish to take this route.

The film will explore concepts of what it means to be "healthy", how to "listen to your gut" when everyone has an opinion and to ask just who the medical system is supporting, the patients or the corporations?

I have many questions and look forward to exchanging information with this community.

You can see my work here:
Trailer #1 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nYKYW4hcH0
Most recent piece – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqmOSEmbqAw
http://crohnsend.com/

Regards,

Hi Everyone. My name is Maggie Hadleigh-West and I'm happy to be joining the D-Word (again;). I'm in the process of marketing and distributing my second feature doc Player Hating: A Love Story about a young hip hop artist from Crown Heights, Brooklyn who's trying to pull him and his crew out of poverty and violence. Just screened at Union Doc in NYC (2 sold out screenings) and tomorrow I head to Paris for two screenings in Filmer le Musique.

You can check out my trailer here if you like. http://www.yomaggie.com/currentprojects.html

Look forward to working with everyone.

Maggie

Hi there fellow doc lovers, I recently returned from Hot Docs in Toronto where I listened to Doug speak about this site. Looking forward to some creative conversations. Best, Rachel

Welcome to Reid and Rachel. Good to have you aboard (and glad my panel at Hot Docs bore fruit). And welcome back, Maggie. Player Hating has been a long time in coming, so much congrats on finally finishing!

Sad I haven't discovered this site until today! Happy to be here. Just finished my first feature doc, The Elders (http://bit.ly/iZHYvv) which I'll start submitting this summer/fall to festivals. Been shooting shorts and commercials for years, looking forward to the next phase of "feature" life through distribution.

Headed out of the country (US) for 7 weeks on a shoot for the Joseph Campbell foundation, so I won't be online much until I get back, but I'm hoping to do more crowdfunding articles while on the road and when I get back. You can read the latest one here, for those looking for some tips on getting started: http://bit.ly/jDM3g0

Thanks for the site Doug/Ben – looking forward to contributing.

Cheers
Nathaniel
http://www.nathanielhansen.com

Better late than never, Nathaniel. Welcome aboard and have fun on your Campbell shoot.

In reply to Doug Block's post on Tue 31 May 2011 :

thanks, been an interesting first day here. Nothing quite like finding yourself being called a shameless self promoter on a forum you've never been to. Good times.

Well, hope you'll get past our little opening day blip, Nathaniel and share in the good times. There are good times, really.

Hi, Everyone!

I recently finished my grad school thesis film, "The Past and Pending" (no, it has nothing to do with the song by The Shins), and also graduated with my MFA. I was initially drawn to this site because of Doug Block's involvement, but I hope to make some friends on here, as I plan to move around the world for a while making micro-budget single-person crew films.

"The Past and Pending" is a personal film with me behind the camera (at this point you're probably thinking "oh, THAT'S why he was intrigued by Doug Block's involvement with this forum..."), exploring a broken promise, which caused my family to fall apart, in the process of migrating from Puerto Rico to Florida.

My initial goal with the film was therapeutic and academic, as I did not want to exploit my family's trust in letting me interview them and use the family's home movies and photographs. However, after doing several screenings at my university, and seeing the incredible response the film has received, I've decided it's a film that truly deserves an audience. It seems to hit certain nerves with people, and I truly was not expecting it (although, I never once thought that the film was strictly for me; I always consider an audience).

Now I am in the process of assessing how good my film actually is, and determining which festivals to submit to as a result. I'm also about to make a big move; leaving my comfort zone in Orlando and most likely relocating to Chicago in September.

I'm really excited about being a part of this community! I hope to gain a lot of knowledge and inspiration from fellow documentary filmmakers!

Best,

Sam Torres

What I've noticed

Alright, blushing here, Sam, but welcome to The D-Word anyway. Good to hear about the reaction to your film. Personal docs are exceptionally hard to make. But when they work they elicit strong, heartfelt responses and it's hugely satisfying.

Welcome, Nathaniel and Sam. I already am interested to know more about your doc, Sam!

Hi everyone, my name is Joseph Eulo, I am documentary studies student at the New School in New York. I have just finished a 8 min documentary called the "Last American Shoemaker." http://vimeo.com/23475543 This was my first doc.

I have several ideas in development one call "God, Country, Corps: An American Muslim's odyssey in the US Marines" its about Affraz Mohammad an American Muslim marine who was arrested on base and charged with being a member of a sleeper cell of terrorist. He was charge and tried in Military court and found not guilty at trial. The doc is about what happend and its effect on his life.

I am also getting ready to shoot a documentary on New York's Indie Improv scene centered around six members of an Indie Improv Group called the Day Camp Kids (DCK). I will interview club owners and performers and will follow each member of the DCK during their daily lives. I have a few other Ideas but I will not bore you with them here.

I and a few other doc students founded the Students FILM Collective an organization with the purpose to provide others who are studying the craft a opportunity to gain experience by working on group and individual projects.

Hello D-Word!
My name is Jake Salyers and I'm a recent college graduate who is just getting his feet wet in the documentary game. During my junior year in college, I had the opportunity to study abroad in Tanzania and was inspired to film a documentary. Focusing on a small town on the cost, Bagamoyo, my documentary investigated the litte know east African slave trade, its lingering effects and my journey through the town. It's called "Bagamoyo, Lay Your Heart Down" http://vimeo.com/21568003

I have started to submit the documentary to festivals around the country but am still searching out opportunities for it to be view any way i can. Good criticism is hard to come by and as this is my first documentary, I know I have much room for improvement.

I am happy to have found a documentary community such as this and would love any comments, criticisms, and suggestions(especially about appropriate festivals to submit it to) y'all have to offer about my film.

Thanks,
Jake Salyers