"The most important take away was that there is an organized path and pattern to making a documentary that a novice can follow" - Student in Documentary Filmmaking From A to Z
CLASSES AND RECURRING WORKSHOPS HELD AT THE DOCS IN PROGRESS DOCUMENTARY HOUSE IN SILVER SPRING, MARYLAND
To See a List of Upcoming Classes By Date, Click Here. To see a List of One Day Workshops and Seminars, Click Here.
DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKING FROM A TO Z
A survey of the cycle of the documentary filmmaking process, which will help you plan a film successfully. Participants will learn how to plan for research, budget, character development, visual presentation, managing a production, organizing footage for an edit, and how to think about distribution and outreach. Open to new and experienced filmmakers.
DOCUMENTARY FUNDRAISING 101 This one day workshop provides participants with concepts and tools that can help documentary filmmakers complete their documentary projects by securing resources necessary to do so. Participants will learn how to develop a fundraising plan, track the fundraising effort, conduct donor research, conduct a fundraising drive, and solicit grants from corporations and foundations. Open to new and experienced filmmakers. Click Here to See When The Next Session of This Workshop is Offered.
DOCUMENTARY STRUCTURE AND STORYTELLING Now that you have started production and have edited some footage, are you facing challenges in finding the structure of your story? This class will help filmmakers who are at the intermediate stage of production get their films workshopped by the instructor and fellow students. Open to filmmakers who already have some footage edited or have taken "Documentary Filmmaking from A to Z" and have started production. Click Here to See When The Next Session of This Class is Offered.
INTRO TO FINAL CUT This hands-on workshop is aimed at filmmakers who are new to the Final Cut Pro or Final Cut Express editing systems. This class will cover how to establish a workflow in editing; logging and capturing footage; editing clips in the timeline; working with basic transitions, titles, and audio; and outputting to tape and QuickTime files. Source footage will be provided for participants. Open to new filmmakers and experienced filmmakers who are new to Final Cut. Basic knowledge of Macintosh computers is highly recommended. Click Here to See When The Next Session of This Class is Offered.
MARKETING YOUR DOCUMENTARY If you were caught in an elevator with a broadcaster, how would you grab his/her interest in your project? Do you have the perfect two line description and still for your documentary to make it pop off the page? Does the website for your film make someone want to spend more than 10 seconds on it? This interactive workshop will help documentary filmmakers hone your promotional skills and materials and help build a following for your film Click Here to See When The Next Session of This Class is Offered.
LOCATION Unless otherwise noted, all classes and workshops are held at the Docs In Progress Documentary House in downtown Silver Spring, Maryland at 8700 First Avenue (corner of First and Fenwick). We are only a few blocks from the Silver Spring Metro. Some free parking is available in the gravel lot behind our house. Additional parking is available in the Cameron Street Garage across the street (free after 7 pm on weekdays and all day on weekends). Click here for more detailed directions.
PAYMENT Once registration is open, payment may be made by credit card or PayPal account through the online registration process. We also accept payments by personal check. When you e-mail Adele Schmidt, please let her know you will be paying by check. Please make checks payable to "Docs In Progress" and indicate which course(s) it is for. Mail to 8700 First Avenue Silver Spring, MD 20910.
REFUND POLICY If your circumstances change and you must withdraw from a class after registering, please be aware of our refund policy: Withdrawal 30 or more calendar days before the first day of class: 75% refund Withdrawal 11-29 calendar days before the first day of class: 50% refund Withdrawal 10 or fewer calendar days before class: No refund
WEATHER POLICY
In the event of inclement weather, we will make a decision by 3 pm on whether to cancel that evening's classes. (For Saturday classes, we will make the decision by 6 pm on Friday). If you have not received a notification from your instructor, call our office at (301) 789-2797 (if we are not there, we will leave an outgoing message).
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