THE
NEED
A good story can only be so if it is told.
Scores
of aid organizations perform incredible work continually throughout
Africa. Often, the most productive have the least time for sounding
their own drum, informing and promoting their achievements to
the outside world. They are too busy doing it. From the general
public to affiliated supporters back home, good works need proper
exposure to maintain or increase support. The motion picture can
capture and condense the essence of an operation in an efficient
and entertaining way.
The
quickest way to solve the mystery of the hunt
is to hand the man a spear.
Formal
media production education and technical resources are limited
in much of Africa. As we have seen through its relatively short
history, the motion picture is arguably the most powerful medium
for disseminating information and/or facilitating change. As a
collaborative art, combining the arts and sciences and investigative
skills needed to analyze a 'need' and design a product to address
it, the educated filmmaker is a well-rounded thinker and a productive
agent for social change. Recent technological advances now make
quality video production affordable to organizations with even
the most modest budgets.
Storytelling
is at the heart of African culture. The filmmaker is merely a
storyteller with a louder drum. A good film beats like a thousand
drums.
THE
METHOD
Knowledge is like a garden: if it is not cultivated,
it cannot be harvested.
TeleDrum
proposes to partner with existing educational programs such as
the Film Studies program at the University of Dar es Salaam in
Tanzania (and/or NAFTI, Ghana). This will attract quality students
with basic skills, while utilizing and supplementing existing
human and technical infrastructure.
While
creating a needed product for the client organizations, selected
advanced students and regional professionals will "learn by doing"
while interning with a small core of professionals on TeleDrum
productions. With each production, the intern progresses to a
higher degree of responsibility, ultimately heading their chosen
production track (writer/producer/director, camera/sound production,
or editing).
THE
MODEL
Enjoy the beauty of the home without foundation
only until the long rains come.
Created
by filmmaker-professor Daniel Boyd in 1994, the Paradise
Film Institute at West Virginia State University was established
to support regional filmmaking through resource services, continuing
education and foreign exchanges. The production arm of the organization,
PFI Productions, produces promotional videos for select non-profit,
goodwill organizations that will allow significant student participation
in the production process. Students gain valuable, "real world"
experience by being placed in key production roles, under the
supervision of a professional in each production area.
In
every case the client has received a quality production at a fraction
of the market cost, while contributing to the education of motivated
future film professionals. The inherit nature of goodwill subjects
accelerates the learning process by inviting 'heart' into the
filmmaking process. Scores of PFI participants are now productive
members of the professional production world. If ever the cliché,
"win-win," were appropriate, it is here.
During
the 1998-99 academic year, Boyd served as a Fulbright Scholar
to the Department of Fine and Performing Arts newly created film
studies program at the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
The PFI model was used in teaching the programs first advanced
filmmaking and screenwriting courses. By the end of the term,
the students produced quality programming for receptive organizations,
springboarding themselves into the local professional arena while
providing valuable public service to their clients.
Simply
and plainly, it works.
THE
SCOPE
How long is a piece of string?
Contingent
upon the agenda and level of support of the adoptive parent(s),
TeleDrum can be introduced as a pilot project in one region or
introduced simultaneously in various areas.
THE
COST
The cattle are as good as the pasture in which it grazes.
Again,
dependent upon the agenda and level of support of the adoptive
parent(s). A single production unit can be equipped for as little
as $15,000. A three-person team supervising production and teaching
in each production area is recommended.
THE
REQUEST
Through others I am somebody.
Similar
to the philosophy of the Carter Institute, TeleDrum does not wish
to replicate existing programs, or for that matter, create a new
agency. TeleDrum wishes to join with an established entity with
common interests, already experienced and involved in the market
that we wish to serve.
THE
BEGINNING
No journey ends without taking the first step.
