All Blog Posts (118)

Hello Fellow PBS/CPB Lab Producers.  Check out this nice write up about my film, Cesar's Last Fast.  It's very flattering:  

http://chicanafromchicago.com/2012/03/31/cesar-chavez-todavia-se-puede/

I had a great time last night talking about "Producing for PBS" with Kathy Lo at the DocuLink event in Los Angeles.  Thanks to Sally Rubin for organizing the event!

DOCULINK is a community for documentary filmmakers who share information, leads, ideas, and a commitment to support each other's growth as nonfiction filmmakers. The DOCULINK community consists of…

Filmmakers S. Leo Chiang (A Village Called Versailles) and Johnny Symons (Daddy & Papa, Ask Not), along with co-producers Eva Moss and Brittney Shepherd, were awarded a $5,000 research and development award at the …

Call For Entries is Open

My new project, "MEDAL QUEST: American Athletes and the Paralympic Games," is live at pbs.org/wgbh/medal-quest,and on Facebook and Twitter. 

This is the very first day so there are still a few glitches, but early visitors are great!  Please come share the stories of these amazing athletes as they prepare for the London Games, "like us" on FB, link and re-post, comment and enjoy.  We'll have new videos and posts every day or so, so come back often and join the…

Click here for my best wishes this holiday season,

Judith

PRODUCERS WORKSHOP ONLINE

Producersworkshop.pbs.org

Five resources for public media

Over the last 11 years, over 220 producers from PBS stations and independent media communities nationwide have participated in the CPB/PBS Producers Workshop at WGBH. To share their experiences and accomplishments, these Workshop graduates have created a showcase: the Producers Workshop Online (PWO).  This social media…

I've learned a lot being a Fixer and AP for production crews going to Easter Island.  Here are some tips to make the planning process easier.

CARNET  (I'm putting this one first because most productions do not give enough time or coordinate their flights to accomodate for Carnet processing at customs.  Make sure you or your crew has enough connection time to get this done!  Approximate 2-3 hrs for entry and 2-3 hrs for exit.)  

If…

Saw Chris Metzler's "FISHBONE" last night, screened in Cambridge to a very knowledgeable audience.  Afterwards he fielded questions that ranged from "What happened to...?" to "Why did Gwen Stefani look so made up?" A real upper for a rainy MA night!  Hey Chris, post your upcoming screenings here so Workshop friends can enjoy, too!

New film tonight on Independent Lens, on language revival among the Wompanoags -- thought of you, Boots and Lisa and Larry and Daniel!

A recent TED Talks that I watched which talks about the theory of the Golden Circle and how leaders (and companies) are able to inspire... not by talking about WHAT they do by WHY they do it.

In this video, Simon Sinek talks to the Puget Sound TED talks about why Apple and the Wright Brothers were/are so effective at influencing others.

(Audio starts off bad until they switch out his mic. Stay with it.)

When we, as…

Earlier today we received a $5,000 challenge grant from philanthropists Lyn and Norman Lear. This means every Kickstarter pledge from here on out - up to $5,000 - will be matched dollar for dollar! If you haven't already donated to our Kickstarter campaign please donate today.  There's only 1o days left!!! And if you can help us spread the word: forward to your friends, share on Facebook, and tweet our news, we would be so grateful. Thank you!  Visit…

Yesterday I bought some pears, brought them home, and set them out to ripen on the kitchen table.

This morning, just before I started today’s work on our film, I looked at one of the pears. I realized that it’s more than just a fruit. That pear is a story.

The story starts with a seed that a farm worker planted. With water and proper attention, that seed turned into a sapling that another farm worker planted into a field. That field that grew into an orchard, a fertile forest…

I just finished as an Associate Producer and Fixer on a new National Geographic / NOVA special about Rapa Nui (Easter Island) produced by Committee Films.

The documentary uncovers the realities of the "collapse" theory about the island and it's culture.  This old theory, which has it's roots starting way back in the 1970's was popularized in a chapter of Jared Diamond's recent book "…

For a while now, we have been trying to set up a division of Mara Films (soon to be renamed to Mara Media) that works primarily with mobile phone content, location based media, and augmented reality.  We believe that in order to better serve our audiences we need to provide content and a platform for that content that pulls them away from the dark living rooms, or large computer monitors, and into their physical communities.

There is much to be said about the relationships…

Hawaiian musician, Makana, made national news recently when the played a song resonating with the "Occupy" movement at a VIP dinner during the APEC conference recently held in Hawaii.  The Obamas were in attendance as Makana played different versions of the song (so as not to cause alarm) for over 40 minutes.  No one stopped him.

 …

Here's an article that mentions my latest film, Songs of the Colorado.  It's screening at the LA Skins Fest Nov 19th.
http://www.kcet.org/updaily/socal_focus/commentary/native-singers-keep-bird-songs-alive.html

I'm working as a research fellow at USC's Annenberg School for Communciations and Journalism, producing a new documentary and starting a research project (first blog, then e-book) about ways that professionals in a wide variety of fields have experimented with collaborative research and production methods involving non-professionals.

For the blog, I'm looking for note-worthy examples of documentary films where the…