I Help People Tell Their Stories

Let’s find a way to tell your story on stage, into a microphone, in a written form, by capturing photo and video.

This is the extended club remix version of the above:

2014- A Book

I endeavored on a unique and memorable spiritual journey for seven months as I figured out how to collect up stories from 40 people who have served in homeless shelters (and similar places). I took apart a writing of St. Francis of Assisi and found 40 themes in it (convenient that the numbers matched up, huh) and assigned one theme per person, asking them to write about their real life experience of being with the materially poor as it relates to St. Francis’ own Testament, written at the end of his life. The result was a beautiful book . I enjoyed helping 40 people think about, process and share their stories of this intense time in their lives.

2015- I showed up at some Spanish Conversation Hours at the International House. A mishap with a lost office key led me there for English Conversation Hour one August day in 2015. I wondered why Raul, the leader kept smiling at me the whole time. Turns out, he was looking for a new co-leader, so one hour turned into five and a half years alongside him, making conversation happen, occasionally misinforming people about the finer points of the language and indulging in countless lunches with various combinations of the adult students. I enjoy helping adults learn English and thereby opening up more audiences to their stories as they increase their capacity to share in the new language.

2016-I first picked up a camera because I wanted other people to be able to hear and enjoy some of the hilarious stories I got to hear from nuns. After learning how to make short documentaries, I taught a few dozen other people how to make their own. I created the Charlotte Unconventional Film School to bring together local film professionals and local adults who wanted to learn from them. We filled 800 seats with students in 2019.

Today-In September, 2022, I was named as one of 20 Fellows of the International Documentary Association. This distinction has caused me to drop a lot of the hats I’d been wearing in order to focus on documentary. I help others, wherever they are in the whole life cycle of a documentary, from building on ramps for newbies to make their first to consulting on nearly-finished films.

As documentary filmmakers, we capture, preserve and share people’s stories so they are not lost. I teach, produce, advise and invite others into this unique art form. On Fridays, I manage the Face to Face (F2F) events for The D-Word which brings together 30-300 documentary filmmakers for enrichment, education, networking and peer support.