I have always felt woefully ignorant of US history, mainly because I spent most of my time in high school classes nodding off, due to less-than-inspiring US history teachers. As I write this on Election Day, however, suddenly I'm wishing I'd paid a bit more time listening instead of napping. Luckily, PBS and WNET/Thirteen have come up with a solution. The Supreme Court, a four-part series about the history of the Supreme Court, premieres on PBS on January 31, 2007. The idea for the series was born about five years ago when executive producer Jody Sheff was thinking about what had not yet been
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Good Cameras Make for Great Documentaries The students of San Pedro High School participating in IDA's Docs Rock program got new camers - thanks to the fundraising efforts of their teacher, Mr. Tony Saavedra, who used DonorsChoose.org to raise the money. Additional funding for the program was provided by City of Los Angeles, Department of Cultural Affairs; Central San Pedro Neighborhood Council; and Coastal San Pedro Neighborhood Council. Thanks to all of you who donated. Here's a letter from Mr. Saavedra expressing his gratitude: I cannot begin to thank you enough for funding our need for
Usually when one is heading to a new place and wants to get an idea of the local culture, a few websites pop up as regular resources for everything from restaurant recommendations to local hikes. But for a deeper dive into the character of a place, the Internet has now become host to mini-documentaries that reveal what lurks beneath the surface of the generic tourism site. Once such series, California Is a Place, played this past fall in the DocLab at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) and was featured as part of a "New Frontiers" panel at the 2011 Sundance Film
One can choose from a myriad of entertainment experiences these days, ranging from online computer games to outdoor theme parks. But with all this entertainment noise, one player has remained strong: Giant-screen cinemas have been around for decades longer than video games, and they are still a viable option for theatergoers of all ages. Giant-screen films, and in particular--nature and wildlife documentaries--have attracted millions of viewers for over 40 years as venues for this unique cinematic experience have proliferated by the hundreds. One of the earliest nature documentaries produced
Excerpt from "Notes from the Reel" - Summer 2011 - Documentary magazine Dear IDA Community, In a US Tax Court trial held in Arizona on March 9, Judge Diane Kroupa made a statement that, if memorialized in a ruling, will have a devastating impact on independent documentary filmmakers across the US. Judge Kroupa questioned whether a documentary could be “for profit,” since by its nature it is designed “to educate and expose,” and she invited the parties to present case law on the issue. Judge Kroupa’s speculation came in a case in which the IRS argued that filmmaker Lee Storey could not deduct
CHAINSAW , an ongoing supporter of the documentary film community, joins as a sponsor of the 15th Annual DocuWeeks Theatrical Showcase. Other DocuWeeks sponsors are FotoKem, NBCUniversal Archives and the Canadian Consulate. Thank you CHAINSAW for being so awesome and for all that you do for documentary filmmakers! CHAINSAW, based in Hollywood, CA, provides editorial services from concept to completion. Emmy Award winning editors Bill DeRonde and Mike Polito used their years of hands-on experience to build a full-service post facility that gives editors what they need to get the client what
At the Los Angeles Film Festival
SOMEWHERE BETWEEN Screens at the Los Angeles Film Festival SOMEWHERE BETWEEN, an IDA fiscal sponsored film, profiles Chineseadoptees in contemporary America. This deeply moving documentary illustratesthat even the most specific of experiences can be universally relatable. Of theroughly 80,000 girls that have been adopted from China since 1981, the filmmakers followfour giggly, typical American teens who reveal a heartbreaking sense ofself-awareness. Issues of identity, race and gender are brought to life throughthese articulate subjects, who approach life with honesty and open hearts. Sat