Introduce Yourself: Sign In Here First

Hi! I've been on here for a while, but I never introduced myself. I'm a little forum-shy.

So I usually use the old finger quotation marks when I tell people that I'm a "filmmaker". I'm finishing up my first doc, called PEACE AND THE QUIET, this summer (http://peaceandthequiet.com). It's an intimate portrait of two women in the dusk of their lives struggling to make their work matter in a climate of irony, greed, and disillusionment. Looking forward to going through the finishing process with Modulus this fall, and submitting to festivals.

I also work with the Principle Pictures team as a shooter, assistant editor, and associate producer. (www.principlepictures.com)

Looking forward to meeting you on Monday at the Docyard, Doug! I'm thrilled they programmed your film, I have been wanting to see it.

Cheers!
Beth Balaban

Hi Beth,
Interesting trailer. Can you tell me what the speaker (~1:50 in the trailer) says. "The reason that 2% of .... is because they were ... before they went off to war." I've played it a couple times and can't hear well enough to figure it out.

Welcome, Ursula, and glad you overcame your shyness, Beth. Look forward to meeting you on Monday, too, so don't be shy in person, please introduce yourself. In the meantime, I highly recommend you drop the quotation marks. If you're a D-Word professional member then you're a filmmaker, period.

Hello everyone! I am very excited to join d-word!
I have degrees in journalism and film, and have loved documentaries ever since I was little.
The only thing I love more than watching documentaries, is making them. :)
I look forward to collaborate with fellow documentarians in interesting projects.

In reply to Marth Christensen's post on Thu 16 Jun 2011 :

MMM. Could use some audio work, sorry about that.
"The reason why 2% of soldier are never driven insane by war...is because they were already insane before they went to war." That's Paul Chappell, the author of "Will War Ever End".

Ahhh. OK. Must be my artillery ears.
Thanks

Great to have you here, Sharon. We can always use someone who speaks 4 languages fluently (and not even including the language of cinema).

hello to all, I am a writer, nothing published or produced, I have been writing a non fiction book about contemporary America, called The Psychotic Society for alittle over twelve years now and I was thinking maybe I should take this book apart, take out what I consider to be the most important parts and do a documentary film on it, so, of course, what I need it help, I need an Exe. Producer who has done doc. film projects and I need somebody who is familiar with writing grants and/or raising the money to do the project, also I will need a production Mgr. as you can see I have lots of needs, so if anybody has some suggestions on where I can start to look for these souls please let me know, at jmscrosby04@gmail.com, thanks so much, Jim C.

Welcome, Jim. You might want to start at... www.shootingpeople.org

Hello all!

I have a feeling this forum is going to be extremely helpful! I will be working on a few short documentary film projects, the first in Perú over the summer for college credit (topic undecided – suggestions definitely welcome!), and another film immediately following in Cairo, for which I have a more precise plan. These will be my first film projects and I have so many questions that I don't know where to begin. Instead, I will just say hello for now and I'm excited to have found this forum! ~Thanks Fiona Otway!

Cheers everyone!
-Jeff

In reply to Ursula Liang's post on Thu 16 Jun 2011 :

welcome ursula! i always make a point of welcoming other asian american filmmakers – there are so few of us, and we need all the encouragement we can get.

btw, i am intrigued by your film title 9-MAN. that wouldnt somehow be related to that particular brand of absolutely crazy volleyball that is so popular among asian players, is it? just a guess...

Greetings, Jeff. Your questions are welcome in the Mentoring topic whenever you're ready.

Hi All,

I'm new, so I thought I'd introduce myself!

My name is Kali Holloway, and I do work supporting filmmakers in outreach, grant proposals, research, ghost writing interviews, doing PR, social media stuff, crowd-funding strategy, Kickstarter campaign, etc. Recently, I worked on two great documentaries from new filmmakers, Nancy Schwartzman ("The Line" and "xoxosms") and Katie Dellamaggiore ("Brooklyn Castle").

I'm also a freelance writer – I've written for Prefix and eMusic, and I'm the promotional copywriter for the DFA Records label (LCD Soundsystem, Holy Ghost!, The Rapture). I defected to film after previously working as a speechwriter for a NYC Commissioner and as the Deputy Director of Communications for the New York courts.

Thanks so much for having me!

Hi Kali, thanks for joining us. If you haven't seen them already, check out our topics for Marketing and Distribution , Social Networking , and Community Engagement .

[This may have been written by my ghost writer. ;-)]

In reply to Beth Balaban's post on Thu 16 Jun 2011 :

I love that quote! Welcome to D-Word :)

Hello everyone!

I'm new to this forum but I'm very excited to have found a helpful forum. I am currently studying journalism at the University of Wyoming and I have a passion for film which I hope to turn into a career someday. This summer I was finally presented with an opportunity that I've been waiting for, which is to work for a film production company. I currently intern for Burning Torch Productions (http://www.markpedrifilms.com/work.html) out of Laramie, WY and we are working on a documentary called "Energy, Oh Energy," which is about trying to find the best energy using only the facts we get from experts and industry professionals. Working for this production company has finally given me the inspiration I was looking for and experience I know I will need in this industry. If anyone has any film advice, I'd be grateful to hear it!

Thanks everyone!

In reply to Kali Holloway's post on Fri 17 Jun 2011 :

Hey Kali! Welcome to D-word. Wanted to mention how fantastic it was working with you on xoxosms – and let folks know how skilled you are with ghostwriting interviews, social media strategy and outreach for busy and frazzled doc filmmakers!

Welcome Kali and Bridget. Great to have you both here with us. Bridget, easier to give advice if you have specific questions. Feel free to ask them in the Mentoring Room topic.

Hello Everyone,

My name is Nick Bygon and while I am new to the film world I have an extensive background in art. You can view my artwork on my flickr at www.flickr.com/photos/nickbygon My main interest in film came after I researched the spectatorship or audience relation to paintings over time. The conclusion I came to was that at one point in time individuals viewed paintings for extensive intervals of time where they would contemplate its deeper meanings but in the 21st century you are lucky if you can even get someone to look at a painting. In the 21st century films had adopted that space in time, at least for most individuals and because of that I changed my major. My goal is to speak to people in the hopes of engaging them about the pressing issues that are at stake in our day to day activities.

One thing that I am struggling with and hope to get some feedback and guidance from all of you is what should I major in? I have a 4.0gpa and have a good list of resume items to transfer from my community college but I am not certain what programs are the best to take. I have seen that a lot of documentary film makers majored in english, philosophy or journalism and I just want to pick the best programs and the best schools to apply to and any help with that process would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers
Nick Bygon

Hello, again, I was away from this site for a while. Here I am again.

I am storyteller living in LA, I write, I produce, I direct and sometimes I do camera and edition as well. Not new for anyone of us here that has multiple hats.

I have a doc short accepted to be screen at La short films and I am looking for help in advices about transfer. I need to give them a HD cam copy. Is a 3.25 minutes short, I wonder where can I do it that in an affordable rate. I am based on LA but I am in Maine for the following 2 weeks Maybe I can send the short on the web to someone that can make the proper tape in other location. Help!!!

Thanks
Florencia

Hello, My name is Joe. I have always been very into films, especially documentary films. I never thought I would be one to actually create one, but after some major issues came about in my life I thought it was something worth documenting. My sister who after a long bout with pancreatic cancer decided to use the death with dignity law available in Oregon. I was with her thru this process, and was asked to film it. However after reviewing the footage and its personal nature, I have been struggling with how to move forward. I have no professional film experience and no ties with anyone who does. All I have is some very powerful and personal footage of something I think should be shared. So figured some guidance with some people who have dealt with making documentaries of a personal nature would be helpful. Sorry for the long winded introduction.

Well, now what?

Hello folks. I live in Brooklyn with my wife, three kids, two birds, and one freak dog named Smudge. We have a documentary production company, New Animal Productions (note – our site hasn't been updated for some time and I blame Smudge).

We're working on our latest film and should be finished, scratch that, it WILL be finished in August. In fact the edit dungeon beckons.

over and out

Seth Skundrick

Greetings, Seth, Joe, Florencia and Nick.

Nick, hard to advise you on a major. But there are some schools with renowned doc programs, like Stanford, Duke and Temple, as well as up and comers like the School of Visual Arts in NYC.

Florencia, D-Worder Eli Brown can probably help you out.

Joe, as someone who's made personal docs, I can say firsthand they're very difficult to pull off successfully (especially without any filmmaking experience). And you have the further problem that there's a great new doc on the subject, HOW TO DIE IN OREGON, that was at Sundance and has gotten a lot of attention. However, if you're really intent on making it, this might help.

Now back to the dungeon one and all ;-)

Hey everybody, my name's Aaron and I live in San Francisco. I have a long time background with computers, software development, and video production. During the day, I design and make software for iOS devices (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch), but in my spare time I'm trying to make a feature-length documentary about Peak Oil, The Postmodern Condition, and how we need to change the way we address problems in order to coherently address our current energy crisis. I'd like to work on this documentary full-time, but until I secure funding I can't quit my day job.

This is my first feature-length anything and I'm planning on distributing my documentary entirely online. I am also creating an iPhone app that viewers can download after watching the film that will help them take action to reduce their energy consumption and encourage local and sustainable living.

I have a strong editing background using Final Cut Pro, and I think I'm the only one that's really excited about Final Cut Pro X :D

I'd love to meet people that are more experienced with filmmaking, and more specifically, the logistical aspects of putting together a documentary (funding, booking interviews, acquiring licensing rights for music, etc.). I'd also like to meet some great writers!

cheers,
-aaron

Welcome to The D-Word, Aaron. I'm sure you've seen A Crude Awakening and are going to do something different?