When I first started Columbia, the foundations courses in the Film & Video department didn’t include a documentary component. I waited until I could take a pilot of what is currently the foundation courses my sophomore year. Luckily, in the second semester, we got to make a documentary (see a snippet of my first doc [...]
A Guide to Spring 2012 Documentary Film Classes
A Guide to the Spring 2012 Documentary Classes. Spring 2012 Doc Class Sampler It’s that time of the year again – time to register for next semester’s classes! In order to make planning your schedule a bit easier, we have compiled this helpful guide consisting of a list of the documentary related classes being offered [...]
Upcoming Community Screenings
Community Cinema Chicago presents their the 2011 – 2012 season! Where: Chicago Cultural Center in the Claudia Cassidy Theater 78 E. Washington St. (across from Millennium Park) When: SEPTEMBER 29, Thursday, 6:30 PM Women, War & Peace: Peace Unveiled What is it about: When the U.S. troop surge was announced in late 2009, women in [...]
Documentary Faculty & Alumni Inspire Social Change
Documentaries are primarily made to educate and entertain. But in some special cases, the impact of their content goes much further. As faculty member Jeff Spitz would say, “The outreach and impacts from a documentary film can ripple across a decade or more, inspire congress and move mountains.” Jeff’s feature documentary “Return of the Navajo Boy” [...]
Please Join Us on Tuesday, Sept. 13th for a Networking Party!
Viva Doc will be kicking off the Fall 2011 semester by hosting a networking event! This event is for anybody, no matter your year, major, concentration. If you love documentaries — making them or watching them or talking about them — Viva Doc is for you! We have a variety of opportunities for folks from [...]
Viva Doc Alumn Wins Student Academy Award
There was no doubt in anybody’s mind that Wonjung Bae is one of the rising young stars in the documentary production field. She has a considerable knack for capturing emotions and tones, while always having a realistic mindset about what logistics productions will entail. We were so happy for Wonjung when, over the summer, we [...]
Viva Doc Alumns at Kartemquin Films
One of the advantages of being involved with Viva Doc is meeting industry professionals and other great networking opportunities. Recently, Viva Doc is proud to announce that a number of our current members and alumns have found themselves interning and even working for esteemed, award-winning documentary production companies (including Towers, Kurtis, and Kartemquin). Viva Doc [...]
For Those Who Struggle
Friday, September 9, 2011, 6 – 9pm Batey Urbano 2620 W. Division Chicago, IL Batey Urbano Presents: “For the people who struggle” Matt Mcanna is a student at Columbia College Chicago. The documentary, For Those Who Struggle, began as a class project during the 2011 Spring Semester. Well received by his class and professor, Mcanna extended the [...]
PBS Filmmaker to Screen Film, Do Q+A
Scottish filmmaker Amy Hardie has built a career making science documentaries that reflect her rational temperament. When she dreamed one night that her horse was dying, only to wake the next morning and find the horse dead, she dismissed the incident as a coincidence. Then she dreamed she would die at age 48 — only [...]
Tip o’ the Month – Marketing and Social Media Tools
Steph Bleyer, founder of Six Foot Chipmunk, talks about her favorite tech tools that help clients reach and activate new audiences. Here’s a peek inside her toolbox: Call2Action – Customizable, sharable widget. It’s like a mini-website. Trumps YouTube for embedding films trailers on Facebook (and every other platform). It’s a must-have for every film engagement campaign. [...]