Introduce Yourself: Sign In Here First

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.

What if the topic had a less public reach? I'll vouch that you are not an alcoholic in a public topic, Ben, and we can all juice with Kurt any old time.

Hi everyone! Sorry for the delay!
Yes, 30 something refers to age. Our characters are 10, which is a much more reasonable number, I guess!
Our generation of 30 something here in Greece has a difficult task. We grew up believing that things will only get better, at least on the financial front. Unfortunately, for the last few years the financial situation is grim and no one can be sure what will come out of it. In a country run mostly my 50 or 60 something old politicians, who have more than their share for the current situation and still try to convince us that they also have the solution, we decided it was time for our generation to speak up. Because at 30 we are no longer kids, that's for sure. Let's hope we get our message across!

Good luck Christina! Sounds like an interesting project for a just cause.

You don't want to make a revolution like the Arabs are doing? ;)

Christina, I happen to have a number of friends in Greece all of whom are in their 30-somethings, and I my feeling is that you're telling a very important story here.

Thank you very much guys! Let's hope it works out well! I'll keep you posted.
Niam, I am not sure Greece is ready for a revolution yet! What we need is a major change in our way of thinking! Hopefully in a few months I will be able to say that at least young people have started that process.

Hello! My name is Stephen Troy, I'm a young filmmaker who recently created his first feature, a documentary titled Dale and the Duds. Now, as I prepare to sell it and send it to festivals, I am faced with many many questions that I cannot find answers to. Mostly about legal issues. This is a problem that I must deal with! So I have signed up for this site, hoping to get some answers.

My website is: www.RotNproductions.com

You can view some of my older short work online.

Welcome to The D-Word, Stephen. Rights issues are best addressed in our Legal Corner

In reply to Blaire Johnson's post on Thu 3 Mar 2011 :

Hi Blaire I checked your website it is absolutely very interesting, nice project... if I can collaborate... just let me know how

Hi. Am new here. We are finishing up GLOBAL WARNING. A filmmaker's journey into war. We are looking for a sales agent who can help us with it. Any leads kindly appreciated.

Why are societies predisposed to war? And why are completely unrelated wars fatally similar in their making? These questions are on Global Warning's agenda as director Ernst Gossner inquires into his native Tirol's own last war – the war between Austria and Italy on top of Tirol's mountains a hundred years ago. What at first seems like just one more episode of WWI slowly reveals its relevance towards present events, and the grand tragedy of war in general.

Hi folks. Well I'm sitting in my Toronto hotel on the eve of Hot Docs 2011 – what better time to introduce myself to D-word!

I'm an "emerging" filmmaker (I hope!) from Australia with an interest in all things doco – but especially the observational format. If anyone is interested is seeing a very short example of my work, come along and see my film!

It's called "Something To Tell You" and is screening with "Open Secret" 9:30pm Tue May 3 at Cumberland Cinema 3 & 11am Thu May 5 at Isabel Bader Theatre.

The film is about a guy (Gary) who has struck up a relationship with a woman he likes on an internet dating site. As the time for them to meet draws near, he must reveal to her that he has a severe physical disability.

If you want to catch me during the festival to discuss the film or for a beverage, my cell number (till May 9 only) is 647.961.8639

(I'm here by myself – can you tell?)

While much of my work has been connected to disability in some way, I am
interested in all social/human themes and am currently developing projects with themes such as JOURNEY (our attraction to remote journeys and the conscious/subconscious reason people undertake them at particular times in their lives), and the WORKPLACE (the tussle between the personal/workplace "self" in an age of corporate compliance).

I'm also working on a medium-length observational film about disability and romance (an extension of my HotDocs short) which is due for completion later in the year.

For all those at HotDocs, good luck – hope to see you 'round. For all those who aren't – I hope to see you (virtually) 'round soon!

Pete Gleeson
rawandcookedmedia.com.au

Hello all,

I signed up for the D-Word a couple months ago, but never had a chance to introduce myself.... so, here goes. I am a filmmaker based in Missoula, Montana – I recently returned to Montana after 10 years in NYC working with a number of great people, many of whom are probably here on the D-Word.

My company is called BACKTRACK films, and we are pursuing some new ideas for documentaries out here in the West. We also do commercial work (gasp!), and are also working towards some narrative fiction (double gasp!). But my background and first love is documentary, so need to fret.

If anyone is ever out my way and needs any production help, please let me know. As many documentary filmmakers, I have had a hand in all aspects of filmmaking. You can view our portfolio on our website at www.backtrackfilms.com, or email me at elgin(at)backtrackfilms.com.

Glad to be on board, and look forward to listening to all the other expertise out there on the forums.

best,
elgin

Glad to have you finally pipe up, Elgin. Keep it coming. And if only someone would hire me to direct commercials (gasp!).

And a warm welcome to Ernst and Pete, as well.

Hi. My name is Roselly Torres and I've been working in independent film distribution for ten years. Currently I work at Third World Newsreel and I am responsible for acquiring documentary films made by or about people of color. If you wish to submit your film for educational distribution, please email distribution [at] twn.org.

Welcome to The D-Word, Roselly. We love people who acquire docs!

Thanks Doug!

Hello everyone,

I just recently graduated from the National Film & Television School, UK in Documentary Directing but have been working as an editor for about 5 years now. One of the biggest projects I have edited is The Edge of Dreaming by Amy Hardie (one of producers is Doug Block).

Now I am sending my documentary Miles Apart out to festivals which I shot in China and developing a new chinese documentary about a chinese investigative journalist.
Because of my Chinese Malaysian origin I always wanted to connect myself with my chinese roots which has been tricky as a born German. So last year I went for the first time to China to make this film about a rural family that is effected by the industrialization and I really fell in love with this country.

Am happy to be part of this group and am looking forward to chat about more things with you!

Welcome Ling. That's quite a journey of discovery, we're glad it has led you to The D-Word.

Fantastic to have you here, Ling. I can't tell you the number of compliments we've received for The Edge of Dreaming, and it's in no small measure due to your efforts. Looking forward to your new film.

Welcome, Ling and Roselly! Enjoy the ride :)

Hello folks,
I'm an emerging, non-union Director of Photography / Camera Operator with over 10 years of experience working on national TV commercials, music videos, and feature narrative films. My years of working in still photography gave me an extensive understanding of lighting and composition which I've segued into my cinematography. Although, I have no experience in non-fiction storytelling, I am extremely passionate about documenting the truth. As Federico Fellini once said,"My fantasy is to make something REAL". So, please feel free to contact me whether or not your next project calls for a Director of Photography and/or Camera Operator.

I look forward to meeting and hopefully working with all of you.

Thanks,
Mike

welcome to the d-word, michael.

Hello!

I have been a member of D word for a while but haven't really been using it much. Hope to interact much more in future! I am a film maker and cinematographer based in Mumbai, India and I can say that I almost specialise in working in documentary, non-fiction film and video art work, besides doing a mix of other jobs as a technician or for livelihood!

Mukul

Hey there,

I realize that I am probably a bit young compared to most of the people on this site, but I thought I would give it a shot anyways. I am 17 and I currently live in The Hague, The Netherlands. I will be moving back to New Hampshire at the end of the school year. I really haven't decided what I will do with the rest of my life. I really like photography and I would really love to get into documentary film making. I LOVE watching films that are about really current or very personal issues because they really grip me and glue me to the screen. I don't know much about film making and I am hoping to learn a lot!

I am hoping this is the start of something awesome and that I might find a whole new genre of art that I enjoy!!

Thanks!

Greetings Mukul – always good when a long-time lurker puts their head above the parapet. And welcome too Christian – check out our new Topic Recommended Docs for some great films to add to your list.

Hello everyone! My name is Michele Josue, and I'm brand new to this site. I'm currently directing my first documentary feature entitled "Matt Shepard is a Friend of Mine" about my friend Matthew Shepard, who we lost in a brutal anti-gay crime in 1998. Through the voices of his friends and family, our film tells the story of the Matthew behind the headlines.

We're currently going the Kickstarter route and have been doing pretty well. One of our supporters recommended I check out the D-word, and I'm so glad she did!

Our Kickstarter video, which includes our film trailer, can be found here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1253709612/matt-shepard-is-a-friend-of-mine

Thanks for having me! I'm excited to be a part of this community!
Michele

Welcome to D-word, Michele. You'll hopefully get the financial support from Kickstarter, and all the other (equally or more important) forms of support from D-word :)

Hello! Name is Adam Johnson and I'm a first time producer... Green as Gumby. Worked mostly as a Prod. Mgr for the last 5 years to help support a family (barely). Working on a project now, feeling the highs and lows associated. I'm hooked.

Just from reading many of your posts on this great site, I don't know how much I can contribute, but I hope to be in the game for awhile. Maybe over time and some hard lessons learned- someday I can contribute and help others out as you have already helped me in the brief time I've already spent here. But, more importantly I hope to make a few friends along the way.

Please don't be a stranger! I'm located in Orange County, CA and am pretty dialed in to crews and equipment in the area- I personally have access to cameras (AF100, 5D), audio, lighting, etc. and can get them for you for near nothing.

Grateful to be here!
Adam

And we're glad to have you here, too, Adam. Welcome aboard, and thanks for the generous equipment offer.

I help independent filmmakers and documentarians with their copyright problems.

Just a quick e mail or call to 800 370 1776 will get you free advice.
You can check me out at 4cpermissions.com

Excited about meeting new people.
Cheryl

Hey Folks,
My name is Ray Metoyer and I've been a member of the site for a few years, but I just recently filled out the application to be a professional member. Thanks for accepting me.

As for me, I'm a news guy who started as a photographer and became a reporter/anchor and a producer. My early experience as a shooter made me a much better writer for broadcast projects. In fact I can still shoot great video today.

I've been in the business for awhile, working in Omaha, Denver, Houston, Dallas, and Atlanta. Over the years, I've gravitated to long form story telling; first a series of related news stories and eventually entire programs. I hope to meet new colleagues here and that we can inspire each other to do great work.

Welcome Ray, good to have you on board!