Introduce Yourself: Sign In Here First

Hi my name is Kelvin Dickerson and it's great to be a part of the
d-word community. I produced a PBS documentary a few years
back, "Conscience of Congress", chronicling Blacks in
Congress.

I first got interested in politics, social change and
documentaries in Washington, D.C., where I worked for the
Democratic National Committee, Congressional Black Caucus,
and various political leaders.

I now reside in New York City, where I'm currently toying around
with numerous documentary ideas. And trying to find someone
to work with on a project this summer. Preferably, something
that deals with controversial subject matter, social injustice,
and/or investigative reports.

So if you hear of anything, please let me know.....

Thks.

[tail wagging] Margot's learned how to do Italics :-)

Welcome, Kelvin. The actual D-Word Community is here:
{LINK NOT IMPORTED}

Welcome, Kelvin. Like Ben said.

Hi all,

This is Paul Hough. I made a film called THE BACKYARD which premiered
at Sxsw in March 2002, and will next screen at The San Francisco Indie
Doc Fest (May) Atlanta Film Fest (June) Flordia Film Fest (June) and
Melbourne International Fest (July)

Am excited to have found this community!

Paul

Hello

This is Jesse Turner, I'm a film student in Victoria B.C. I am
looking for everyone's personal definition of the "documentary". If
it isn't to much trouble I would really appreciate it if you
contacted me with your full name, an e-mail adress, and your personal
definition (please don't be afraid to be unique and poetic, though
you don't have to.) This is a study I am doing, your work will NOT be
exploited, I am just a very curious individual looking for a
proffesional opinion on the subject. Thank you for your time and
considerations, I am eager to recieve this information and look
forward to becoming closer to this community of brilliant individuals.
(I also think that this topic would make for a good conversation).

thank you.

please send name, doc-definition, and e-mail to james_pare@shaw.ca

Welcome, Jesse.

Doug, what do you think, maybe we should have a topic in here to
discuss personal definitions of documentary, instead of emailing them
to Jesse?

Hi.

I'm producing a film on a family's fight to keep their son/brother
from dying of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. The film takes
place in a Montana town where the family has access to few
resources besides its own to fuel the fight. Because of their
ingenuity and dedication to their family, 5 boys and their mother
have helped the 6th brother live well past the life expectancy for
someone with his disease. The film explores the 6th son's love
of life and the role his family plays in keeping him alive.

Its an hour long piece that has been shot over the course of the
past 3 years on mini digital video. The director grew up with the
family and has special access to their home and hearts. We are
scheduled to wrap photography this summer and are starting to
cut on Final Cut Pro. In the meantime we have a fundraising
drive underway writing grants, creating an informational website
and starting a grass roots newsletter to keep donors aware of
the project. Montana PBS is interested in broadcasting the film
when it is done.

I'm new to the documentary world after spending years in
animation and television production. I'm looking forward to
meeting everyone and learning as much as I can.

Welcome, Brigid. Looks like you're doing a great job of jumping
right into the fire and producing from the ground up. Glad to give
you some help and support.

Hi there (from Vancouver, BC, Canada),
I found this site a couple days ago and wonder why it took me so long.
I signed up, originally, as my boss, Larry Baker, but it seems that
I'll likely have more opportunity to keep up to date with what's
going on here. Larry is a Sound Designer who has been doing audio
post production for documentaries (and other projects) for nearly 4
decades.
I work with him at his studio, Headroom Studios, doing marketing,
research, general administration stuff, etc...I'm hoping to pursue
some writing and producing in the near future as well. We both have
a love of documentaries and if we had our way, we would work
exclusively in that area.
It seems there are a lot of talented people in this group with
interesting projects and great ideas. Can't wait to get to know some
of you better...

hey all,
I work for a tv station in Northwest Missouri, at the moment I am
working on a behind the scenes doc following a local heavyweight
boxer, Rob Calloway. Possible fight on HBO before Christmas if he
beats his next opponent June 28. Fingers crossed and Las Vegas here
we come !

Welcome Paul and Dani.

Greetings Doc makers,

I'm Danielle Beverly, new to New York City via San Francisco and
Chicago. I've been working mainly for PBS since 1997. I'm in the last
months of production on my first feature documentary. The film follows
a 35 year old bipolar artist/chef/bulimic who destroyed her stomach and
esophagus in a failed suicide attempt, and is currently rebuilding her
life. I've done all the camera and sound on the film, as well as
produce it. Several doc makers suggested "d-word" as an excellent
resource, and I'm happy to now be part of this community.

Well, you're part of this Forum, Danielle, but not part of this
community until you email me and Ben a request: d-word@d-word.com

Bonjour,
I am an Australian currently shooting a doco in France - my wife is
an editor and has worked on several Australian and French
documentaries, and was previously making a series out of Tokyo where
we previously lived.
I am photographer, getting my head around this black art, and an avid
(not the brand, the generic term) forum subscriber/contributor.
Our current project is following the creation of a new political
movement in France in the wake of the recent tumultuous presidential
elections, which yielded yet another notch in the extreme-right
wing's belt.
Looking forward to sharing ideas and experiences (although I am
reletively new to the moving picture side of things - I was
previously a Production manager for a media/internet development
company in Tokyo.)
Voila....
will email now.

Welcome Steve. Hope to see you soon inside the Community as well.

Hello: I am a professional historian who, having spent a great deal
of time as a "talking head" on the tube or on the radio doing
interviews about various contemporary international issues decided a
few years ago that I wanted to learn how to get behind the
camera/microphone and learn to make documentaries myself. I have thus
far produced a number of short mini-documentaries and am working on a
much larger piece. Since I am trying to learn as many aspects of
documentary film making as I can, from the creative to the very
technical, I am hoping this forum will be the right place to do that.

Hey Steven, we can use more historians in The D-Word Community. Why
don't you email me and we'll get you in there: doug@d-word.com.

Hi all,
My name is Kathy and I currently reside in Beijing. My
experience so far in film has been writing and producing
fiction back home in Vancouver, Canada, but I've always been
fascinated with documentaries. Signed up to look for more
information about how to start making a documentary (where
to begin!), and to see if there's anyone in Beijing who
would like to start a project about the quickly disappearing
hutongs. Thanks and looking forward to being a part of this
forum.

Welcome Kat! Of the people who have introduced themselves, I can't
remember anyone being from Beijing. But someone has to do the first
step ...
So what are Hutongs again?

Hi, my name's Erin.
I'm assisting on someone else's project in an effort to learn more
about the process of production. I actually did quite a bit of
documentary work as a student, but it was very low-tech and shoe-
string funding. So now I'm hoping to be introduced to the world of
people who do this professionally.

Welcome to The D-Word, Erin!

Thanks for the warm welcome! Hutongs are old courtyard housing for
families (children, parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents
would live in the same compound but in different quarters with an
open courtyard in the middle) and they've been around for centuries.
With the 2008 Olympics coming, they're being leveled fast and the
ones that are being preserved are becoming very touristy. Are there
books or on-line resources you recommend to give an overview or an
idea on where to start (do I start with footage and see what I get
from that or do I begin with a story in mind...)? I probably have
very basic questions. Thanks!

Welcome Kat and Erin! Kat, try www.aivf.org