The Library

My name is Carson and I am a filmmaker who hasn’t made a film in a very long time. Very long. This is my confession.

I began volunteering with NW Documentary shortly after moving to Portland five years ago because I thought that being a part of the documentary film community would inspire me to continue making films. I have had many amazing experiences working with NW Documentary but they unfortunately have not included working on my own documentaries. This leads me to a second confession, the reason I have become a defunct filmmaker is because I am afraid of failure and the longer I have gone without making a film the more terrified I have become. Whew. 

The reason I am blogging about this here on the Library @ NW Doc blog is two-fold. First, my primary goal for this blog is to be a a resource for filmmakers, in particular, student filmmakers. I have a feeling that I am not the only one out there struggling with confidence issues and I hope that sharing my experiences will help someone out. Secondly, I have decided to be defunct no more and have been working on research for a short documentary that I will be making over the next several months. I hope to use this blog to chronicle my journey and hopefully pass along wisdom and resources that I find along the way. 

The first bit of wisdom I will pass along to any of you out there that would like to make a film but have a pile of excuses standing in your way—find a support group. NW Documentary will soon be launching monthly meetings that invite NW Doc alumni, students, and any one else looking for support and feedback to come together and share ideas. If you are interested in joining in on the fun at NW Doc and are living in the Portland area let me know. 

Stay tuned for an introduction to the film I am working on and links to pre-production resources.