Applications for the Spring 2015 Transom Story Workshop are now available. The Workshop will take place from March 30th – May 21st here in Woods Hole, MA. Lead radio instructor Rob Rosenthal will run the 8-week program for nine beginning producers. Special guests will include NPR's Deborah Amos and This American Life's Ira Glass. Applications due January 3rd by midnight EST. For more information including links to our Workshop FAQ and the application itself, go here:
http://transom.org/workshops/about/story-workshop/
The Stanford Storytelling Project at Stanford University is looking for an energetic, experienced radio producer in the San Francisco Bay Area to act as Managing Editor of its award-winning radio show *State of the Human* and student documentary projects. The primary duties of this academic-year, half-time position are:
• conceptualizing and developing themed, hour-long shows with other staff (some student, some part-time professional)
• identifying, soliciting, and developing stories
• managing assignments and production cycle of shows in development
• editing pitches, scripts, and audio drafts of stories
• overseeing production meetings and show team meetings
• training staff and contributors in interviewing, scripting, and audio editing
• mentoring grant recipients and other students making documentaries
Experience teaching or mentoring students is highly desired. For information about the Storytelling Project and *State of the Human*, please visit storytelling.stanford.edu. Pay will aim to be competitive in the field and commensurate with experience. If you are interested, please send a resume and short statement of interest and qualifications to Jonah Willihnganz at jonahw@stanford.edu.
Jonah Willihnganz
Director, The Stanford Storytelling Project
Bruce Braden Lecturer of Narrative Studies
Stanford University
Dear Friends,
KCRW's Independent Producer Project is bringing The Kitchen Sisters sound, interviewing and recording workshop to KCRW in Santa Monica. Friday morning, November 21 from 10-1:00. This three-hour session is designed for people who want to acquire and hone their skills for an array of audio and media projects: radio, online, podcasts, storytelling, oral histories, audio slideshows, family histories, news, investigative reporting, documentaries and other multimedia platforms.
The workshop will cover interviewing approaches, miking techniques, sound gathering, use of archival audio, field recording techniques, how to make interviewees comfortable, how to frame evocative questions that make for compelling storytelling, what equipment to use and what to pack in your kit, how to build a story, and how to listen.
The workshop is customized to fit the projects you are working on. People who attend come from radio, film, multimedia, newspapers, blogs, journalism, photography, oral history, historical societies, music, writing, libraries, archives, web design, detective agencies, farms, universities, restaurants, health care organizations, theaters, electrician's unions and beyond. The groups are always lively and good contacts are made.
Of course, snacks will be served.
The workshop will be held at KCRW / 1900 Pico Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90405.
Fee: $135.00. Register at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/898133.
Questions? Email us at kitchen@kitchensisters.org. And please pass this announcement along to your community.
Expand your skills, meet new people, support KCRW and the work of The Kitchen Sisters.
See you at the station,
Davia & Nikki
We’re looking for pitches from freelancers on several themes. If you feel
you have a story that fits or a new idea, please let us know!
We’re also always interested in pitches on any of our regular beats:
prisons, poverty, corporations’ undue influence, reproductive health,
climate change and the environment.
Guns
We're looking for stories that bring new perspectives on guns and gun
violence. These could be personal stories, for example, you could focus on
an ex-NRA member who now opposes guns, or a 60s radical who still advocates
their use. They could also be more investigative/ explanatory pieces.
Perhaps a look at ALEC involvement in crafting gun policies or a look at
the international arms trade. We'd also welcome other pitches related to
guns, maybe the economics of gun manufacturing or creative community
responses to gun violence.
Coffee Shop Workers
Starbucks workers are in the news for attempting to form their own union.
We’re looking for a report on how workers in coffee shops are organizing
for wage increases or better working conditions.
The state of long-term caregiving
By 2030 the number of senior citizens is expected to double to 72.1 million
<http://www.agingstats.gov/main_site/data/2012_documents/docs/entirechartbook.pdf>.
Five Years after Deepwater Horizon
Considered the worst in U.S. history, back in 2010 oil spilled into the
Gulf of Mexico for 87 days. 5 years later, what are the effects of the
estimated 176 million gallons of oil that spewed into the Gulf? Has BP
really taken responsibility, and what has happened since? We are also
interested in stories about BP in other parts of the world. What is this
company’s global environmental legacy? Where are other communities battling
this particular oil giant? How has BP worked to regain their public
reputation since 2010 (this might be a story about their PR effort)
Specifications
Making Contact is an award-winning
<http://www.radioproject.org/aboutus/honors-and-awards/>, 29-minute weekly
magazine/documentary-style public affairs program heard on 140 radio
stations in the USA, Canada, South Africa, and Australia. Amplifying
voices and perspectives rarely heard in mainstream media, Making Contact
focuses on the human realities of politics and the connections between
local and global events, emphasizing positive and creative ways to solve
problems.
This call for pitches is for segments of about 8 minutes (unless otherwise
noted), and we pay $450 per story of this length. but we also occasionally
take longer pieces (12 or 26 minutes).
As with any pitches you send us, please check out our show and read our
guidelines before you pitch.
Consider the following. Does the story:
– Link grassroots issues and human realities to national or international
trends?
– Give listeners a historical, political, or social context of major
national and international events?
– Shed light on social and economic inequities?
– Explore any alternatives or solutions?
Send pitches to pitches@radioproject.org. Please be detailed but succinct,
and include a description of your idea, narrative/story arc, interview
subjects, scenes, and sounds/ambi. If you’re pitching to us for the first
time, please include a brief bio and relevant audio clips.
We look forward to hearing from you!
Laura Flynn, Jasmin Lopez, Andrew Stelzer & George Lavender
Making Contact producers
The next deadline for the I.F. Stone Award for emerging journalists, offered by The Investigative Fund at The Nation Institute, is November 24, 2014 at 5 p.m. Eastern. The award was created to support original investigative reporting by emerging journalists, such as journalism graduate students, recent graduates, and journalism interns.We ask that you please post and circulate the attached call for submissions and encourage promising candidates to apply. The award will support the projects of one to two prize-winners and is meant to support stories that will appear in U.S. media outlets.Winners of the prize will be selected by the editors of The Investigative Fund and announced in January. The emerging journalists with winning proposals will receive between $2,000 and $10,000, depending upon the applicants' budget request and the stories' reporting requirements. In addition, the winners will receive editorial guidance from Investigative Fund editors; access as needed to Nexis, Accurint, PACER, and libel review; and placement assistance in a print, broadcast, or online outlet. Thanks to generous support from Investigative Reporters & Editors, winners will also be able to attend, at no cost, the next IRE conference in Philadelphia in June 2015.The Investigative Fund at The Nation Institute is dedicated to improving the scope and quality of investigative reporting by incubating important investigative stories with the potential for social impact. By providing reporters with editorial guidance, institutional support, and financial support, The Investigative Fund has produced stories that have sparked federal indictments, lawsuits, Congressional investigations, legislation, and the resignation of public officials. Our investigations have appeared in a wide array of outlets, including NPR and PBS as well as The Nation, Harper’s, The New York Times, The New York Review of Books, Mother Jones, Newsweek, Time, Glamour, and GQ. Our stories have also won some of journalism’s top awards, including the Polk, the National Magazine Award, and the Hillman Prize.The I.F. Stone Award honors Stone’s legacy of tireless investigations into issues of vital national interest. As Washington editor of The Nation and founder of the legendary I.F. Stone’s Weekly, Stone combined his investigative zeal with a passionate commitment to exposing injustice. In 1943, after publishing an exposé revealing the questions used by the FBI to identify “subversives” among government workers ("Does he mix with Negroes? Does he… have too many Jewish friends?”), Stone became a target of FBI surveillance. His weekly publication became known for offering up content that other media outlets ignored—such as obscure but revealing testimony at Congressional hearings—and for unsanitized coverage of the Vietnam War.Please feel free to get in touch with me if you have any questions about this award or our broader work.Sarah Blustain
Sarah BlustainDeputy Editor, The Investigative FundThe Nation Institute
The weekend of Nov 22-23 at the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke, I'm set to again offer my workshop on "Working with Music in Audio Storytelling." We had a great group last fall, with participants from NC, VA and MD, coming to the workshop with a wide range of backgrounds in production and audio work.
For more info, and to register, scroll to the bottom of this page:
http://register.asapconnected.com/Courses.aspx?CourseGroupID=500
+++++++++++++++++++
Dear Radio People,
I'm offering my Soup-to-Nuts weekend again in the San Francisco Bay Area on:
December 6 & 7. 2014.
Please see the description below.
If you are interested in attending, please do get in touch (cschoen@earthlink.net) as the class sometimes fills quickly.
AND… check out my website!
Under “Teaching” you can find feedback from previous “Soup-to-Nuts” students.
Under “Biography” you can find out more than you’d ever want to know about me.
Under “Productions” you can listen to the past 25 years of my audio work.
I hope you can join us in December.
Best, Claire Schoen
Claire Schoen Media
======================================================
"From Soup to Nuts"
A 2-day intensive
on documentary radio production
offered in the San Francisco Bay Area
Logistics:
This seminar will be held December 6 & 7, 2014.
Each day's class will run from 10 am to 5:30 pm,
including 6 hours of class work, plus lunch and breaks.
It will be held at Claire’s studio in Berkeley, California
Class will be limited to 8 students.
The cost of the 2-day seminar is $250.
The Course:
Through lectures, group discussion, Q & A, written handouts, and lots of audio demos, this two-day class will explore the ins and outs of creating a long-form radio documentary. Designed to meet the needs of mid-level producers, this seminar will also be accessible to individuals who have little or no experience in radio production.
Compelling audio documentary incorporates a creative weave of elements including narration, interviews, music, vérité scenes, character portraits, dramatizations, performances, archival tape and ambience beds. Students learn how these elements serve to paint a picture in sound.
Emphasis will be put on the production process. To this end, the class will examine the steps of concept development, research, pre-production, recording techniques, interviewing, writing, organizing tape, scripting, editing and mixing required to create an audio documentary.
Most importantly, we will focus on the art of storytelling. We will discuss dramatic structure, taking the listener through introduction, development and resolution of a story. And we will explore how character development brings the listener to the heart of the story.
The Teacher:
Claire Schoen is a media producer, with a special focus on documentary radio. As a producer/director, she has created over 25 long-form radio documentaries and several documentary films, as well as numerous short works. As a sound designer she has recorded, edited and mixed sound for film, video, radio, webstory, museums and theater productions. Her radio documentaries have garnered numerous awards including the SEJ, NFCB, Gracie, Clarion, PASS and New York International Festival. She has also shared in both a Peabody and a DuPont-Columbia award.
Claire has taught documentary radio production at U.C. Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism, Duke University’s Center for Documentary Studies, AIR's mentorship program, the Third Coast Festival Conference and other venues.
To Register:
Contact Claire Schoen
cschoen@earthlink.net • 510-882-6164 • www.claireschoenmedia.com
IFStone-Submission-Guidelines.docx
StoNs-Flier2014-Dec.pdf