Sep 23, 2016 at 6:00 am – Oct 7, 2016 at 9:00 pm
Radio Boot Camp – The Art of the Pitch
With Sally Herships
Don’t just listen to stories, tell your own!
Print journalism may be under attack but when it comes to audio, reporting and storytelling are thriving: Serial, Radiolab, Reveal; Gimlet, Panoply, Radiotopia. The landscape of radio is exploding and new shows and podcasts are being launched almost faster than listeners can decide which episode to download next. These outlets, shows and story making machines are hungry beasts, both for stories, and for the producers with the skills to know how to tell them. Buts it’s no good getting the scoop, if you don’t know how to sell your stuff. This three session class will cover the art of the pitch. That’s industry lingo for selling your story.Note: this is not a production class (if you’re looking for a production class, try Radio Boot Camp.) Instead, this workshop will focus entirely on writing and honing our pitches.
Details
Open to everyone, though the workshop setting is best suited for filmmakers, film producers, journalists, curators and media artists.
Give us an idea of who you are and why you are coming. When you register you will be asked for a short statement of interest that should briefly describe your experience and a film project (it would be great if you have a project in progress that you would present to the group during the work-in-progress critique sessions), plus a bio. There’s a spot for a link to a work sample (and CV, which would also be nice, but is not required).
$350 early bird registration by November 14th, 2016 at 5PM.
$400 regular registration.
The deposit is non-refundable. Should you need to cancel, you’ll receive half of your registration fee back until August 9th. After August 9th the fee is non-refundable.
In order to keep costs down, this workshop is a BYOL, i.e. bring your own laptop. Students must be fully proficient using and operating their computers.
To register for a workshop, students must pay in full via PayPal. After the registration deadline of August 9th, course fees are not refundable or transferable and any withdrawals or deadlines will result in the full cost of the class being forfeit. There will be no exceptions. To withdraw from a course please email info-at-uniondocs.org.
In the event that a workshop does not receive sufficient enrollment, it may be canceled. Students will be notified at least 48 hours prior to the start of a cancelled workshop and will be refunded within 5 business days. If we reschedule a workshop to another date, students are also entitled to a full refund. UnionDocs reserves the right to change instructors without prior notification, and to change class location and meeting times by up to an hour with 48 hours prior notice.
Please note: Participants are accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Schedule
Friday, Sep 9, – 6:00 - 9:00p
Session one: Covers the basics of writing a pitch
Friday, Sep 16 – 6:00 - 9:00p
Session two: You bring a pitch of your own and workshop it
Friday, Sep 23 - 6:00 - 9:00p
Session three: You present your revised pitch with a final chance to get notes from the group
Sally Herships is an award winning journalist who’s been making radio for over a decade. She’s produced or reported for BBC World Service, NPR, WNYC, The New York Times and Studio 360. She’s put in many hours at Radio Lab and is a regular contributor to public radio’s Marketplace. Sally has taught radio at numerous venues ranging from the Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls, to NYU, Smith and the New School and teaches writing for radio at Sarah Lawrence College and Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. Sally has been a Brooklynite for almost 20 years and when she’s not making radio she loves to daydream and paint pictures of robots and cats. You can listen to Sally’s radio work here or here.
