Welcome to DOCUTAH! We are thrilled that you will be joining us for Southern Utah’s premiere International Documentary film festival presented by Dixie State College of Utah. As part of our festival we invite you to participate in our filmmakers seminars. Your involvement in the educational aspects of DOCUTAH is what makes this film festival unlike any others. DOCUTAH offers an experiential learning and academic opportunity for students, faculty and the community at large. Filmmaker seminars and panels are an integral part of the Festival whereby students and participants will have opportunities to learn from the masters. Typically in our seminars, filmmakers include brief highlights of their film(s), past work, and influences upon their work. The audience is encouraged to participate, ask questions, provoke discussion, and share ideas. Our audience will experience unprecedented access to the films, the filmmakers, their ideas, their work. These artists will share the challenges that inspire their creativity and motivation with you. Seminars are very informal and allow for the open exchange of ideas. They are FREE of charge to everyone. Anyone can attend. You are not required to bring equipment of any kind with you. Only those that want to earn one college credit will need to sign up for that credit and attend 15 hours. The course that they will receive credit for is: THE HUMAN COMMUNICATION DIMENSIONS OF DOCUMENTARY FILM SEMINAR DATES AND HOURS Friday, September 9th, 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. (full day) All Seminars are FREE and are held in the Eccles Performing Arts Center Sears Gallery Facilitator: Kristin DeNure Hunt, Ph.D. |
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DETAILED SCHEDULE WITH TOPICS AND PARTICIPANTS
Friday, September 9th (Eccles Sears Gallery)
| Time | Filmmaker & Film | Topic |
| 9:00 a.m. | Opening Remarks: Phil Tuckett Brent Yergensen Kristin Hunt Eric Young |
Welcome to DOCUTAH! What is DOCUTAH? What is documentary film? What distinguishes this film genre from other digital motion pictures? In what ways have new technologies and new media transformed documentary filmmaking and filmmakers? |
| 10:00 a.m. | Jason Boritz & Jonathan Salemi “Making Your Mark” |
How to make low budget documentary films. |
| 10:30 a.m. | Erica Cohn “In Football We Trust” “Searching Faith” |
Developing topics that fascinate and provoke the filmmaker and the audience. What draws people tp documentary film? |
| 11:00 a.m. | Jennifer Jordan “Boys of Bonneville” & Family of the Wa’a” |
Finding character in historical documentaries. |
| 12:00 p.m. | LUNCH | |
| 1:00 p.m. | Lisa Spurrier “We Were the Vanquished” | Encourage everyone to get their families stories and histories for future generations to enjoy and learn from. |
| 2:00 p.m. | Matthew Callahan “Beaverbrook” | Fundraising, Business Plan, Getting the best investors for a small budget, Pre-production (okay you can just run around with a camera and no budget), Working budget vs. Actual budget-what will get your investors to say "yes". Choosing the right biz lawyer, getting the best interview from the worst person, restoring archival footage: film and video, documentary soundtrack, the editor: the best money you will spend below the line. |
| 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. |
Helen Whitney “Faith and Doubt at Ground Zero”
Phil Tuckett Ben Braten Zach Ciotti “Blackfire” |
Award-winning documentary filmmaker, Helen Whitney, will discuss “Faith and Doubt at Ground Zero” and share her vast experience and knowledge. The discussion with other filmmakers and friends will profile films and issues that touch our lives. |
Saturday, September 10th (Eccles Sears Gallery)
| Time | Filmmaker & Film | Topic |
| 2:00 p.m. | Frank Kanig & David (Chief) Anderson “Astronomers and Sheepherders” Jennifer Jordan |
Filmmaking on a limited budget; Films about petroglyphs, etc., and Native American sites; Films with a Western theme; Actors and Re-enactors
Finding character in historical documentaries |
| 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. |
Edward Payson “Unsigned” Brendan Kirsch |
How to produce low budget films and screenwriting The complexities of shooting sports action - and the "fly on the wall" approach to documentary filmmaking, which is a dying style due to the expense and uncertainties. |
Monday, September 12th (Eccles Sears Gallery)
| Time | Filmmaker & Film | Topic |
| 2:00 p.m. | Michael Wende “The Baton” |
Experiences as a student filmmaker and the use of animation. |
| 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. |
Scott Bayer “Rat Fancy |
Camera work: editing -original music creation -storytelling driven by music |
Tuesday, September 13th (Eccles Sears Gallery)
| Time | Filmmaker & Film | Topic |
| 2:00 p.m. | Jerry Misner (Director) & Stan Wald (Producer) “Southern Exposure” |
How to tell socially sensitive stories with journalistic integrity. |
| 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. |
Craig Constantine “The Forest Prince and the Pig Man” |
Usually the director chooses who he or she wants to interview. The tables were turned on us.
People chose US when they pulled over for our hitchhiker. We had to quickly improvise shots, interview questions,
and capture the story of the driver on the fly. Although not an entirely new way of doing a documentary - by interviewing people at random
- this is probably the most thoroughgoing and pure form of it.
ALSO: We will have just hitchhiked to the festival in the spirit of the film, so no doubt we'll have plenty to say about that experience!” “The Forest Prince and the Pig Man (Hitchhiking in America)” |
Wednesday, September 14th (Eccles Sears Gallery)
| Time | Filmmaker & Film | Topic |
2:00 p.m. |
Brent Smith Michael Sheridan |
Fair Use in Films & a discussion of “Hypothesis” |
Daniel Dumitrescu & Bram Mervillie |
First film experience. What goes well? What goes wrong? |
Thursday, September 15th (Eccles Sears Gallery)
| Time | Filmmaker & Film | Topic |
| 2:00 p.m. |
Jamie Howell & Jeff Ostensen |
How to make low budget documentary films. |
| 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. |
Scott Brigante |
“The Business of Saving Lives” discussion |