J UNE 12-15, 2010 M ARY I NSTITUTE -C OUNTRY D AY S CHOOL

Bill Gentile with American troops while shooting a documentary in Afghanistan, 2005.
Photo by Tomas Munita.

B ACKPACK J OURNALISM
W ORKSHOP W ITH B ILL G ENTILE
We are now at an extraordinary juncture in the history of mankind, technology and communication. Ordi-
nary citizens wield the power to communicate instantly, globally and in a language, the visual language, that
supersedes both the written and the spoken word. This visual language knows no frontiers. It needs no trans-
lation. It is contingent on no corporate support. It is the most powerful cultural tool of our time.

Backpack journalism is the embodiment of this visual language. It is the embodiment of this power. The
Backpack Journalism Workshop With Bill Gentile enables you to harness that power to document and to
change the world you live in.

In a four-day, intensive workshop at the campus of Mary Institute-Country Day School, St. Louis, MO, Bill
Gentile draws upon three decades of field experience to teach you the full range of skills for effective visual
storytelling, from story conception to shooting to scriptwriting, narrating and editing a crafted story.

You will learn:

• To articulate your story idea

• To use filmmaking equipment to effectively cap-
ture images and sound.
• To recognize and to cultivate dramatic story arcs.
• To conduct proper, in-depth interviews.
• To write powerful treatments and scripts.
• To narrate your story.
• To edit with Final Cut Pro for maximum effect.
Who should attend?
The Backpack Journalism Workshop With Bill Gentile is
for beginners with some experience as well as more seasoned
practitioners who want to sharpen their skills and acquire new
ones. We welcome photojournalists making the transition to
film and video. Print journalists seeking to expand their skills
will find the workshops particularly useful. Broadcast journal-
ists accustomed to the technology and techniques preceding
today’s hand-held digital cameras will find that the newer
equipment delivers a more immediate, intimate version of
visual communication than their predecessors. Students,
teachers, video journalists, documentarians, filmmakers and
storytellers who want to expand their skill set and learn from
Bill Gentile with students & assistants at the
one of the pioneers in the field also will benefit from the December 2009 Backpack Journalism Workshop.
Workshops. You must be at least 18 years old to attend.

Bill Gentile: Journalist and Filmmaker

Bill Gentile is an independent journalist and documentary filmmaker

teaching at American University in Washington, DC. His career spans
three decades, five continents and nearly every facet of journalism and
mass communication, most especially visual communication, or visual sto-
rytelling. He is a pioneer of what is referred to as “backpack journalism,”
or “backpack documentary.” And today he is one of the craft’s noted prac-
titioners.

Gentile began in 1977 as reporter for the Mexico City News and corre-
spondent for United Press International (UPI) based in Mexico City. He
spent two years as editor on UPI’s Foreign Desk in New York, then moved to Nicaragua and became Newsweek Maga-
zine’s Contract Photographer for Latin America and the Caribbean. His book of photographs, “Nicaragua,” won the
Overseas Press Club Award for Excellence. Gentile is featured in two award-winning documentaries about international
journalism in Nicaragua, “The World Is Watching,” and “The World Stopped Watching.”

Registration and Accommodation Details

Register Before
The four-day workshop, which runs from about 9 am to 9 pm each day, is only April 1:
available to a limited number of participants on a first-come, first-served basis. $1495

Register before April 1, 2010 to receive a $400 discount!

Register After
Hotel accommodations are available at a discounted rate from the Drury Inn &
April 1:
Suites, Creve Coeur. Rooms include free breakfast, evening appetizers, and $1895
adult beverages.
To register or for more information, contact Call
Mary Institute-
Institute- Country Day School at 314-
314 -995-
995 -7375 314-
314 -995-
995 -7375
or visit us online at For More Info
http://micdssummerpd2010.wikispaces.com/