Spring Workshops are now Enrolling! - (Posted: December 19, 2011 @ 03:52 PM)

Join us at NW Doc in 2012 to learn everything you need to know to make your own documentary film. Whether you're a first time filmmaker, or you're looking to enhance the filmmaking skills you already have, we've got a workshop for you! We're especially excited to introduce a brand new workshop on bicycle filmmaking. That's right, how to shoot a doc while riding your bike. All of our production classes end with a screening of your work at the historic Mission Theater in NW Portland. Sign up for a workshop today!

Homegrown DocFest is Friday, 12/16! - (Posted: December 08, 2011 @ 10:39 AM)

Homegrown DocFest

Local cinema starts here: Homegrown DocFest. Join your friends and neighbors as they premiere short documentary films they have made on Friday, December 16th at the Mission Theater.

The new films, freshly-made in this fall's NW Documentary workshops, present stories as fascinating and diverse as our community. The stories include a daughter's reflection on her father's past as a closted gay man in a small town in the 50s and 60s; & the story of a woman that runs a yoga studio & was recently diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. We'll follow an unemployed man as he attempts to make a hobo nickel and trade it for a cup of coffee; & local indie-folk-gypsy band Bad Mitten Orchestra as they prepare to release a new album.

Some are funny, some heart-wrenching, and all an earnest effort to bring new, untold Portland stories to the big screen.

Enjoy conversation with the filmmakers as well as live Northwest Mountain Music from Jackstraw.

Doors open @ 7 & the show starts @ 8.

Admission is $10. All proceeds benefit NW Documentary’s educational programming.

Food & beer available for purchase - 21+ only.

Tickets are available via the Mission Theater.

See you then!

NW Doc Film Series @ The Hollywood Theatre - (Posted: November 12, 2011 @ 11:33 AM)

We're excited to announce a new monthly documentary series created in partnership with The Hollywood Theatre, Portland’s historic non-profit theatre. Each month we'll bring a new documentary to Portland audiences, complete with panel discussions, Q+A sessions and workshops with visiting filmmakers. A focus is put on engaging storytelling and masterful filmmaking. This series is generously supported by the Hollywood's Presenting Sponsor the Documentary Channel and by Supporting Partner the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival in Missoula, MT.

The series kicks off on December 2nd with a double-feature of DRAGONSLAYER and EVERYDAY SUNSHINE: THE STORY OF FISHBONE with directors of both films in attendance.

Dragonslayer documents the transgressions of a lost skate punk falling in love in the stagnant suburbs of Fullerton, California in the aftermath of America’s economic collapse. Taking the viewer through a golden SoCal haze of broken homes, abandoned swimming pools and stray glimpses of unusual beauty,Dragonslayer captures the life and times of Josh “Skreech” Sandoval, a local skate legend and new father, as his endless summer finally collides with the future. Directed by Tristan Patterson, this film won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary Feature at SXSW 2011.

From the shifting faultlines of Hollywood fantasies and the economic and racial tensions of Reagan’s America, Fishbone rose to become one of the most original bands of the last 25 years. With a blistering combination of punk and funk they demolished the walls of genre and challenged the racial stereotypes and political order of the music industry and the nation. At the heart of this film’s story is lead singer Angelo Moore and bassist Norwood Fisher who show how they keep the band rolling out of pride, desperation and love for their art. To overcome money woes, family strife, and the strain of being aging Punk rockers on the road, Norwood and Angelo are challenged to re-invent themselves in the face of dysfunction and ghosts from a painful past. Narrated by Laurence Fishburne.

Join us @ NW Doc on 12/3 @ 2pm for an afternoon with filmmaker Lev Anderson. Anderson will be discussing his doc and will share with attendees what he finds to be the most important aspects of documentary filmmaking - including emphasis on story, relationships with subjects, fundraising, patience and flexibility, and what to do when you’re ready to introduce your film to the world. The workshop is free for NW Doc & Hollywood members, $20 for non-members. Click here to register.

For screening information on the two docs, visit The Hollywood Theatre.

We're in Willamette Week's 2011 Give!Guide! - (Posted: November 09, 2011 @ 12:32 PM)

NW Documentary needs your help! Make a year-end contribution to us through Willamette Week’s Give!Guide and give the gift of story.

What is the Give!Guide, you ask? Every year, alt weekly Willamette Week offers a group of small non-profits the opportunity to raise funds & support through their annual online giving campaign.This is an incredible opportunity because most small non-profits don't have the outreach capabilities that bigger organizations do. Last year we were able to raise $8,000 through the Give!Guide and this year we're striving to reach $10,000 through the generous support of friends, family, alumni, and more! This is critical to our success in 2012.

You can help make a difference! This is the perfect chance to support us and spread the word about the great work NW Documentary does. Your donations will directly help provide quality documentary workshops, host storytelling events, start new productions, and purchase the tools needed to craft and share meaningful stories.

Let us know if you want to be a part of the Give!Guide volunteer team this year & we'll get you on board to help! Is there anything you can donate as an incentive to our potential donors? Perhaps you're a photographer and could donate a portrait sitting. Or you're a massage therapist that could donate a free massage. Please let us know if there's any way you can help!

Also, our Top 10 donors will get a peek behind the scenes at Portland animation studio LAIKA on a private studio tour. Follow us on Facebook & Twitter to find out about other great Give!Guide incentives.

Check out this fun video we made for the Give!Guide, and please share it with others! A very special thank you to all the volunteers, students, and alumni that helped create it.

Click here to donate through the Give!Guide today.

Digital Dialogue: Important Change - (Posted: September 29, 2011 @ 12:33 PM)

For those of you planning on attending the final two sessions of our free documentary series, Digital Dialogue, please note this change. THE EVOLUTION OF INDIE with Thomas Phillipson will run as planned on Monday October 10th. The originally scheduled HYBRID: THE MERGING OF TECHNOLOGY, ART, AND STORY on November 7th has been cancelled. We will now present AN AFTERNOON WITH MICHAEL GALINSKY on Saturday October 8th at NWDoc.

Saturday, October 8
FREE
3:30 – 5:30pm
NW Documentary
115 SW Ash Street, Suite 420
Portland, OR 97204

In partnership with Hollywood Theatre NW Documentary will host an interactive conversation with filmmaker Michael Galinsky. Galinsky’s latest film, Battle for Brooklyn, takes an intimate look at the very public and passionate fight waged by residents and business owners in Brooklyn’s historic Prospect Heights neighborhood who face condemnation of their property to make way for the polarizing Atlantic Yards project, a massive plan to build 16 skyscrapers and a basketball arena for the New Jersey Nets. Galinsky and his partners Suki Hawley and David Beilinson, spent 8 years making the film. We will show clips from this film, as well as an earlier project, Horns and Halos. This will lead to a discussion about how documentary has evolved over the past decade. Galinsky will talk about the struggle of making a film that falls in between the notion of journalism and activism, and how he balanced his voice as a filmmaker with the voices of Brooklyn. He will also discuss his experience travelling with the film and how it has created change beyond Brooklyn.

After the discussion, attendees will be encourage to continue the conversation at the Hollywood Theatre, where the full film will be screened. We hope to show how the documentary form, delivered and spread via various new media outlets, is an increasingly effective vehicle with the power to influence societal conversations and change.

We <3 docs! - (Posted: September 14, 2011 @ 02:23 PM)

And so do you. Why not make your own? This fall we have 11 unique workshops designed for your documentary filmmaking needs. Whether you want to learn interview techniques, or start your next doc project, or tell a personal story with mementos, we have a workshop for you. Most of our classes end with a screening of your work at the historic Mission Theater in NW Portland. So stop waiting and sign up for a workshop today!