Documentary Outreach - Service Learning for Storytellers

It's an excellent opportunity to make a short film in Less than a month. We learn to work with a team successfully that we had never met. We ended up making a good movie despite the problems that we encountered, and it became fun and straightforward. Overall it was great. I sincerely recommended it.

My experience with Actuality Media was not what I expected - but what I hoped for. As a relative novice to documentary filmmaking, it was hard, stressful and frustrating work, but making a film with three other incredibly talented and intelligent women was so rewarding and an incredible learning experience. Also shout out to our incredible production supervisors who I would not have gotten through editing week without!

This trip was invaluable to me. Someone coming from a non-film school background, I didn’t have a lot in the way of technical film production education. However, after this trip I feel much more well educated, and gained experience that I will carry with me for the rest of my career.

It was an amazing experience and will definitely be something I remember for my whole life. The friendships and connections I made on the trip are ones I hope to keep for the rest of my life. Everyone seemed genuine and real.

This was my first time leaving the country, and I had an amazing time! My instructors (Karsu and Steph) were the best and I couldn’t be happier that this was my first time directing a documentary. I loved having the opportunity to also work with a producer/editor and cinematographer, as this taught me a lot about the importance of collaboration.

I enjoyed my time in Thailand. Robin did not spend as much time as I hoped with my group. I feel like we where just thrown into filming without really knowing anything or how to work the camera. Im glad we had someone on our team who was a film major.

It was definitely ok. Chiang Mai is really loud, especially at night, and as someone who has never visited Asia before, it was a bit unexpected, but it had a good amount of history to behold when you go looking for it. I'd definitely recommend getting out of the city and into the countryside while you're in country.

The outreach programme offers you the opportunity to learn first hand the challenges and joys of developing documentary. It is a deep immersion to the culture and the film making process, working closely with your team to uncover a local story which affects the people f the town. You have the opportunity to understand and see how the people really live and the challenges that affect them, which as a tourist you wouldn't have access to.

As an overall summary: I'm glad that I went. The Lake is absolutely stunning, and the people in the communities around it are just wonderful. I did learn a lot, and I'm grateful for the friendships & connections made ... but I definitely think improvements can & should occur for future Outreach programs.

To anyone considering study abroad programs, I cannot recommend it enough. It truly opened my eyes to the possibilities that surround me, how I can help others, and how much I can learn. It is definitely challenging to encounter another culture and language, but asking questions and truly emerging yourself is all you need to do. I am a better students, and most importantly a better filmmaker after this experience. I cannot wait to learn more and travel to new places. I'm inspired to seek knowledge elsewhere.