MadPix Films co-founders Lisa Klein and Doug Blush have partnered with the Port Townsend Film Festival to offer The Art of Documentary Film Creation. The online documentary filmmaking seminar will be taught by Lisa and Doug who are PTFF’s 2021 Filmmakers-in-Residence (remotely, this year!).
The goal of the nine-week class is to give students a solid foundation to plan, produce, shoot, direct, edit and exhibit their own documentary films. Each participant will create a short film (likely 5-7 minutes in length) that will be screened at the end of the seminar. Students will also learn about pitching and financing projects and will explore new territories like VR and multimedia non-fiction.
Doug Blush and Lisa Klein are accomplished filmmakers and teachers who’ve attended the Port Townsend Film Festival for years and are now excited to expand their involvement with the organization. Klein directed the award-winning documentary, THE S WORD, which screened at the 2017 Festival. She’s received accolades for her work as a director, screenwriter, producer, editor, and teacher. Blush is an award-winning filmmaker who has worked on over 200 feature film and television projects. His body of work includes three Academy Award winners, as well as a wide range of Emmy, Grammy, Peabody and Sundance winning films. In addition, he has been teaching cinematic arts and production at the graduate level for over 20 years. The pair founded MadPix, Inc. a film production company committed to making powerful and engaging documentaries focusing on social justice issues.
The seminar runs June 1 – July 27, 2021, meeting every Tuesday. There are eight class meetings for instruction and learning, with the ninth class featuring a virtual showcase of final student projects. Zoom class meetings are live and interactive.
Participants of any age, location, and educational level are encouraged to enroll. Program tuition is $495 per student. PTFF is sponsoring two full-tuition scholarships for interested and eligible applicants. Registration is open now at www.ptfilmfest.com and closes May 28th. A full description of the seminar and biographies for Lisa and Doug are available on the PTFF website.
A very big thank you to the Jefferson County Leader newspaper for a great article on our upcoming workshop series.
