Documentary
Filmmaking from A to
Z
When?
October
15 -November 19, 2008 (six consecutive Wednesdays) 7-9 pm
Where?
Maryland
Nonprofits Meeting Room
8720 Georgia Avenue - Suite 303
Silver
Spring, Maryland
Located
in downtown Silver Spring in the Metropolitan Building near the
intersection with Cameron Street. Three blocks from the Silver
Spring Metro. One block from the public parking garage on
Cameron Street.
What's
It All About?
Creating an
independent documentary film can be a
challenge. Telling a story which
grasps the attention of the audience from beginning to
end is what every filmmaker wants to
achieve. In this six-week course, led by Docs In Progress
co-founder Adele Schmidt, participants will get a
big picture of what documentary filmmaking is all about:
- What
are strategies to be more
efficient in managing the film?
- How
can you keep control over production by staying
focused?
- How
can you improve your storytelling skills by making the right
decisions at every stage of the filmmaking process?
This is
not a production course, but rather a course which will help
participants identify and define the story; develop a proposal,
treatment, and budget; and learn how to organize and manage the
pre-production, production, and editing process.
Participants
can work on developing an existing proposal or can bring a new
idea to develop during the course. While the course
meets two hours a week for six consecutive weeks, participants
will have work to complete on their own time between
sessions.
This course is open
both to novice
filmmakers and those with media experience who want some help in developing their documentaries.The
course is limited to 12 students to
ensure close personal attention.
Who's
the Instructor?
Adele
Schmidt,
co-founder of Docs In Progress, is an award-winning film
producer, director, editor, educator, and consultant, working in
both documentary and feature films. She is the founder of production
company Zeitgeist
Media and has
produced and edited in the last 15 years eight long-form
documentaries, a docudrama and short feature films. Currently she is
developing a new feature documentary Arriving
Somewhere about progressive music.
For
Journey
Films she
produced and edited the documentaries The Power of
Forgiveness (2008), Cathedral Today (2008),
the docu-drama Albert Schweitzer: Called to Africa
(2006), and Bonhoeffer (2003), all of which
aired nationally on PBS. Bonhoeffer, about the
German theologian who resisted the Nazi regime, was also one of the
biggest documentary theatrical releases at the time. Through
Schmidt's expertise in launching successful grassroots campaigns,
the film was ultimately shown at more than 40 theatres and 50
semi-theatrical screenings at churches and universities around the
country prior to its television broadcast.
Originally
from Germany, Adele lived and worked in Germany and Mexico before
she settled in the United States in 2001. Her films, Juana's
Journey (1997)
and The
Land of the Mennonites (2000)
were shown in more than 30 international film festivals and
broadcast on television around the world.
Adele's
productions have won numerous industry awards. These awards include
the TIVA Peer Award, the U.S. International Film and Video Festival
Award, the Jose Rovirosa Award, the Sun Valley Spiritual Film
Festival Award, and the Society for Visual Anthropology Film and
Video Festival Award.
In
addition to her production expertise, Adele also taught at the
National Arts Center in Mexico City for four years and held
workshops on new directions in documentary filmmaking. She was
editorial coordinator for New Trends in Documentary
Cinema, a publication of the Centre International de Liaison des
Ecoles de Cinema et de Television, Paris. She holds a B.A. in Film
and Video Production and an M.A. in Political Science.
How
Much Does It Cost?
The
cost of the six-week course is $400. Payment may be made by
credit card online or via check.
How
Do I Register?
Registration
is a two-step process:
(1)
Please e-mail adele <at> docsiprogress
<dot> org to request a registration form by e-mail.
(2)
Send payment for the course:
Option
1: Online Payment via Credit Card or PayPal
Option
2: Pay by Check
Make
checks payable to Docs In Progress
Mail
to:
Docs
In Progress
8607
Second Avenue
Suite
402-E
Silver
Spring, MD 20910
A
registration receipt for your tax records will be given to you on
the first night of class.
