“Better than 4 years of film school!”

I came to NW Documentary with less than zero knowledge about how to make a film. With the encouragement of the teachers, staff, and my peers, I made a film in 10 weeks. My film has been included in three film festivals and won “2018’s Best Documentary Short” from The Oregon International Film Awards. I’ve found my passion, made great friends and have built my community. In short, I love NW Documentary.

NW Doc provides the greatest motivational atmosphere for doc filmmakers. I feel at home every time I come in.

The two week experience of Documentary Explorers Camp, out in the California Redwoods creating a short documentary, was the most fun and educational experience I have ever had at camp. In the two weeks I had with NW Documentary, I learned a year’s worth of what I’ve learned in college. After camp I knew that film was something I wanted to pursue for my lifelong career and nothing has changed since. NW Documentary gave me the skill to craft a story, the most powerful aspect film. Now as a film major in college, NW Documentary has positively impacted my educational and professional endeavors and without them I would probably be a lawyer who never got to live his dream.

I found a community at NW Documentary. I moved back to Portland, and didn’t have a doc world to be a part of, which I’m used to, especially after being in New York. So it was nice to find this space and to know that I’m welcome here any time, and that I can find other filmmakers easily—doc filmmakers—because in Portland it’s kind of hard to find out who’s making documentaries, so it feels good to know this place exists. I like it here because of the people that run it; they’re incredibly generous and kind. It does feel like a clubhouse, and you meet other filmmakers, and it always feels like collaboration could easily happen here.

I’ve been involved with NW Documentry for about 10 years now. During that time (and at one time) I held the distinction of having taken the most classes of any one person. Most recently, NW Documentary stood up to support my newest film. NW Documentary supplied me the needed resources to finish the film. These resources included an office, production hardware and a number of very talented crew members. My film, Henry’s Hair, would never have been finished without their support. My film is currently swimming in the film festival circuit hoping to gain some recognition somewhere.

[Podcasting 101] was exactly what I needed to get going. I wanted to start a podcast but never felt I had the skills.

I trust NW Documentary, and when I saw that you were having an online podcasting class, I thought that I would give it a try. So happy I did. Andru Morgan has a great depth of knowledge as well as a very supportive and encouraging spirit.