Antarctica

Inspired way back in 2000 by the Sundance Film Festival’s premiere of The Endurance, I finally visited Antarctica, where I heroically stripped down to my bathing suit and took a dip in icy waters. (No, this is not a rant about global warming.) To be honest, the beach had a natural hot springs flowing into the ocean, thus making the task bearable and undermining my bragging rights. If you haven’t seen the story of Shackleton’s legendary voyage, rent it to be entertained by a powerful example of a character-driven documentary.

To my point: I need a volunteer to help me teach my popular seminar “Structuring the Character-Driven Documentary”. In return for your help, you get free admission to this weekend course. This San Francisco seminar is taught February 6 and 7. You can find out more here:

http://www.sffs.org/classes-and-workshops/upcoming-classes-and-workshops.aspx

And if you’re not in the Bay Area, you can always get the online version of the seminar on my website.

I’m delighting in the delicious irony that the day after I teach this seminar about the character-driven documentary, I am speaking at a Film Arts Forum about the fact that funders these days are looking for projects that “think outside the doc box”. Having worked hard to help filmmakers adapt the three-act structure to character-driven docs, I am now helping ITVS’s Richard Saiz break the popular myth the largest, full-scale funder of non-fiction films only wants character-driven documentaries.

If you’re in the Bay Area please check out this “Thinking Outside the Doc Box” on February 8th:

http://www.sffs.org/screenings-and-events/sffs-film-arts-forum.aspx

And if you’re not in the Bay Area, don’t worry. We’re filming the event, and will have it available online for free.

You can get the first module of “Structuring the Character-Driven Documentary” for just a buck at https://newdocediting.com/land/editingdocumentaryecourse/