New Storytelling: Filming in Findhorn

By Rhonda Fabian

In a few days I’ll be joining a dedicated team of filmmakers at the New Story Summit in Findhorn, Scotland. We have been meeting for several months and our Skypes sometimes feel like meditative gatherings as we reflect upon ‘our impulses for the Summit’, like our charismatic coordinator Arnd Wachter likes to say, and brainstorm ways to deepen our collaboration.

Media making hasn’t always felt this way, believe me. Starting out as a shooter in the early days of cable, it was every man or young girl for his or her self. The early ‘portable’ gear was heavy,  camera and tripod maybe 70 lbs. and the atmosphere on productions fiercely competitive. As an independent, it was tough to get your hands on a good camera due to the enormous cost. Many of us worked for years in community media, so that underrepresented voices could gain access to the means of production. We even took cable companies to court so the promises they made about the ‘democratization of media’ might be fulfilled. That was the new story back then.

So I can’t tell you how heartening it is to work with professional men talking about things like authenticity, unity, freedom and happiness; to hear the question asked repeatedly – how can we best support one another? The other big change, of course, is the ubiquity of cameras – from iPhones and GoPros, to camcorders and sophisticated DSLRs with their wide array of lenses. Truly ‘anyone’ can make videos these days if she or he really wants to. Just today, in Amsterdam, I spent time with a crew of young people shooting a drama- no budget, lots of passion, having the time of their lives.

It’s the openness and collaborative energy of the new storytelling that is most inspiring. At Findhorn we will collectively gather five terabytes of content, or more. It is meant to be shared, used in myriad ways by all members of the team, Findhorn, and Summit participants to advance the New Story through blogs, remixes, educational programs short and long, interviews, and so on. Each of us has a special project as well.

(image) Arnd Wachter

Arnd Wachter’s previous film, “Crossing Borders” follows four Moroccan and four American university students as they travel together through Morocco. In the process they learn about themselves and the relationship between Muslim and Western worlds.  His newest set of young adult characters will meet for the first time at the Summit.

Media activist, Ian MacKenzie and ‘Sustainable Man’ blogger Chris Agnos are already pretty well-known in New Story circles. It’s a great pairing of talents.  If you haven’t yet enjoyed Ian’s thoughtful and provocative works, you’re in for a treat.  Sacred Economics is one of his better-known shorts that I particularly admire.

(image) Andreas Hernandez is Chair of the Department of International Studies at Marymount Manhattan College. His soft-spoken, kind manner puts everyone at ease. When last we Skyped, he was in Brazil documenting an agroecological cooperative of the Brazilian Landless Movement – all part of his planned feature on the New Story.

I’ve stopped trying to keep track of all the things Nick Hart-Williams does – enviro films for the BBC, organizing conferences and the annual Schumacher Lectures in the UK.  Now he’s starting up a web channel exploring crucial areas of change in the world. 

Iain Davidson and Jacqueline Buckingham, organizers on the ground at Findhorn, have provided rock-solid technical and logistical  support as well as encouragement to us all.

In 1990, my partner Jerry Baber and I launched an educational video company, serving learners in K-16 schools. Now, hundreds of programs and 25 years later, I’m checking over my gear like a film student. The cameras feel like toys to me, even though the technology is lightyears ahead.  The  Summit has stirred my  ‘impulse’ to explore intentional community and civic engagement. For days I’ve just been roaming around, shooting..getting ready. Feels like being part of a story. Feels new.

(image)

 

Rhonda Fabian is digital editor at Kosmos Journal, partner at Fabian Baber Communication, a community activist, seeker on a path of mindfulness, and a mom.