The Duke Center for Documentary Studies is one of the finest schools for learning all aspects of the documentary field. I started taking classes last winter and then again this past summer and have to say that the education I have received has been indispensable. The courses have given me an understanding on not only the documentary field, but also specifics towards the video documentary field I desire to be involved with.

I am learning that there is much to learn. I have a very good background in photography and multimedia work. However, I am realizing that there are many different hats which have to be worn when one decides to venture into documentary filmmaking. My first class was "Distribution & Marketing for Documentary Films." This is where I focused my desires to create the "Broken Dreams" documentary film. As you can tell, I may have put the cart before the horse.

Even though I had not shot any footage for the Broken Dreams project, I was able to focus my intentions on how this film will be produced. The press package I created is currently being used to promote the pre-production of the film. I will be creating a separate project page for the Broken Dreams film and will use the Internet to get feedback as I work on this film.

Two additional courses, the "Documentary Video Institute" and the "Intensive Introduction to Documentary Studies" kept me very busy this past summer. These week long 12 to 16 hour per day classes were designed to cram as much information as possible in week-long courses.

I am now registered for two more courses which will guide me towards the video certificate in documentary studies. The classes starting next week are "Directing Your Documentary: Making Choices" and "Pre-Production for the Documentary Film." Both of these courses are eight week courses and will help gain the necessary skills to create great documentary films. I'm excited to delve deeper into the field of documentary filmmaking!