MORE SEMINARS TO COME SOON!

 The workshop on the 26th and 27th was a great success.  We will post photos/comments in the near future.  

 We want to thank all of the attendees -- we exchanged lots of ideas and learned a lot from each other...making new friendships.  Thank you again folks.  We hope to see you another day.

MULTIPLE AWARD WINNING INSTRUCTOR: PLATINUM HOUSTON WORLDFEST INTERNATIONAL!! 

If you are passionate about wildlife and have a desire to learn about wildlife filmmaking this is the workshop for you. The spectacular Rocky Mountain National Park, a true gem of the National Park Service, is the location for this extraordinary wildlife filmmaking workshop.  The park's lush green valleys, majestic mountains and abundant wildlife are the backdrop for your learning experience.  We are offering two workshops at the peak of the “elk rut”.  There are unbelievable filming opportunities where one will see hundreds of elk up close during the matting season.  The elk rut is just the beginning, there are also opportunities to film deer, moose, coyotes, beaver, marmots, birdlife, waterfowl and maybe the occasional bear.

Students attending the workshop should have a passion for wildlife and wildlife filmmaking.  To produce a successful wildlife film it takes more that just shooting hours of footage of elk.  You must be able to combine your creative story telling ability with your technical expertise in shooting and then putting it all together in the final edit.  In essence the goal of the workshop is to inspire you to develop your skills to be successful wildlife filmmaker.  The workshop will be supplemented by many handouts. 

Day One Itinerary:

• Introduction to wildlife filmmaking; how the wildlife film industry works; viewing program clips.
• Pre-production; purpose of the subject selection, research, reconnaissance of the locations
• Story and sequence; creating a story line, structure, proposal, budgeting, creating a script, idea script, shooting to edit
• Production/Choice of equipment; camera, audio, lighting, shooting skills, shooting to edit, time lapse & use of shooting blinds
• Early evening till dark -- in the field to practice our shooting skills

Day Two Itinerary:

• Early am in the field to practice shooting skills,
• Review and critique raw footage shot by students
• Art of the story; outline development, writing the narration,
• Breaking down raw footage and logging
• Post production; logging footage, paper edit to script, rough cut edit to  narration, fine cut edit, adding music and effects mixing sound tracks, titles and credits
• How to get started in the business; career advice and suggestions, importance of festivals and final questions
  
  COST:  $250 FOR THE WEEKEND (to order, go to PLACE ORDER button)
                 9AM – 5PM, BEVERAGES AND LUNCH  PROVIDED *** (we will go late on Saturday night and earlier on Sunday a.m.)

LOCATION: Estes Park, CO

***MEET:***

8:30 a.m. Sat morning in front of the Convention and Visitors Bureau, 500 Big Thompson Avenue. (You can mapquest the address from the airport or your hotel.) It is located at the intersection of Big Thompson Ave and Highway 86.  We will all meet up in the parking lot -- we have  a black Ford Expedition with a car topper on the roof.   From there we will drive about 10 minutes the workshop location.   It is a bit out in the country and hard to find if you don't follow us out.  CALL US IF YOU HAVE PROBLEMS!!  We will be arriving in Estes Park on Friday afternoon.  Leave a message because cell phone coverage is sketchy in the mountains.  Thanks and we look forward to seeing you all!!!

PHONE:  303.660.8515    CELL:  303.513.3967   EMAIL: tatankaproductions@hotmail.com

TRANSPORTATION AND LODGING WILL NOT BE PROVIDED

Links for accommodations: 

http://www.rmnp.com/

http://www.estes-park.com/

If you are flying -- you fly into DIA.  Rent a car -- drive time to Estes Park is 1-1/2 hr.

WORKSHOP INSTRUCTOR:

Tom Karges has been producing and directing long and short form investigative international documentaries and natural history programs for more than thirty years in the United States and abroad.  He and his wife, Sabrina  (a producer/editor) formed their own documentary company, TaTanka Productions in 1999 which became a 501c3 non-profit in 2004. Tom has spent a third of his career living and working outside the United States primarily for ABC and CBS News divisions, United Press International and most recently HDNet, a High Definition Satellite Network broadcasting in the US, Mexico, Canada, Japan and many other countries on Dish Network and Direct TV. In fact he has produced programs in more than forty countries. Early in his career he was interviewed on a regular basis on National Public Radio during the Iran Hostage Crisis from Tehran and also during the Israeli Invasion of Lebanon.  His programs as a producer/director have appeared on HDNet's World Report, ABC Nightline, ABC News World News Tonight, Al Jazeera International and as a Director of Photography for ABC 20/20, CBS Sixty Minutes, BBC, ITN and Discovery.  In the past six years he has produced 23 half hour documentaries for HDNet in Iraq, Afghanistan, Europe, Mexico, US and 6 short form documentaries for Al Jazeera  International in Afghanistan. Tom has won many festival awards and one of his most recent was for his investigative documentary “Iraqi Athletes, a Test of Endurance," won the prestigious Platinum Remi Award at the Houston World Fest International Film Festival in Houston.  Tom is presently working on two projects. One is in the proposal stage – a docudrama on Charles Goodnight – a Texas trail driver to be funded by the National Endowment of the Humanities and private grants. The second project -- a documentary on the politics of poppies in Afghanistan titled, "The War Within: Afghanistan at a Crossroads."  The proposal and trailer are complete and Tom is seeking funding.
 
Tom and the love of outdoors brought about his passion for wildlife and natural history film making.  His wildlife work can be seen at the Wildlife Experience Museum, Denver, Colorado, National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Centers throughout the United States and on French Television (St. Thomas Productions.)  Presently, TaTanka is in post production on “Elk Wars” a one hour documentary on the over population of elk at Rocky Mountain National Park. TaTanka is also in post-production on “The American Bison”, (working title).  It is the story of President Teddy Roosevelt’s role in saving the Bison from the verge of extinction in 1905.  The two programs will be shown on American Public Television/PBS. “Songs of the Wild” is a television series on the National Wildlife Refuge System is just now in the marketing stage.  The proposal is complete and the pilot “Ghost Herds of the Wichitas” recently won the Gold Award in the TV Pilot Category at the Houston WorldFest International Film Festival.

To order this seminar, go to  the "Place Orders DVD & Seminars" button.